Festivals expand in time and space
Many festivals are not limited to just their FESTIVAL. Two Stockholm festivals, Stockholm Early Music Festival (SEMF)* and Festival O/Modernt, are expanding and operate throughout the year. SEMF organizes their X-MAS Edition on December 15th. Festival O/Modernt operates a chamber orchestra for young musicians and recently organized a Nordic-Baltic Mini-Festival - a musical journey around the Baltic Sea with musicians and composers from the Nordic and Baltic countries - in collaboration with Länsmusiken in Stockholm and Blåsarsymfonikerna.
The Nordic-Baltic festival started with a round table discussion with composers Erkki-Sven Tüür, Anna-Lena Laurin and conductor Mark Tatlow on the subject: What does it mean to be a composer with a Nordic-Baltic identity? Then followed a concert with a first performance of a piece by Anna-Lena Laurin and music by Erkki-Sven Tüür, Sebastian Fagerlund, Anders Mogensen, Harald Haugaard and Raminta Šerkšnyte. The musiicans were Christoffer Sundqvist - Clarinet, Janne Thomsen - Flute, Hugo Ticciati Violin, Ellen Nisbeth Viola Jakob Koranyi - Cello, Heini Kärkkäinen - Piano, Anders Mogensen - Percussion. The next day a first performance of a piece by Ann-Sofi Söderqvist and the first Swedish performance of the Violin Concerto no 2 byErkki-Sven Tüür. Hugo Ticciati conducted the O/Modernt New Generation Orchestra, the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra and Blåsarsymfonikerna.
*) Stockholm Early Music Festival have founded NORDEM - a network for organizers of early music throughout the Nordic region and also initiated the European Day of Early Music, now celebrated annually on the 21 March around Europe.