The Oslo Chamber Choir on Minnesota Concert Tour

August 27, 2009

For the kick-off of its 2009-10 season, the Edvard Grieg Society of Norway House will present The Oslo Chamber Choir in a Minnesota concert tour.

Oslo Kammerkor (Oslo chamber choir), among the leading choirs in Norway, has become particularly famous for its groundbreaking exploration of vocal folk music. They have brought the ancient Norwegian singing tradition called "kveding," usually done by single voices, into innovative choir performances.

In 2009, The Oslo Chamber Choir celebrates its 25th anniversary. It was founded by Grete Pedersen and has established itself as one of the leading choirs in Norway, performing different genres of music at a high artistic level. The choir holds a unique position, both nationally and internationally, because of their innovative work with the traditional Norwegian vocal music.

Conductor and Artistic Director, Håkon Daniel Nystedt, grandson of renowned Norwegian conductor/composer, Knute Nystedt, took over directing the choir in 2005. Under Nystedt’s direction, the choir and soloists have become one of Norway’s premier musical performers.

In 2005, the choir was invited to the World Symposium on Choral Music in Kyoto, Japan, where it performed several successful Norwegian folk music concerts. Since then the Oslo Chamber Choir has performed in Denmark (2006), Minnesota USA (2007), Italy (2008), and Japan (2008). Wherever in the world this repertoire is presented, the response from the audience is strikingly similar – this music goes directly to the heart.

Conductor Håkon Daniel Nystedt (born 1980) has been the artistic director of the Oslo Chamber Choir since 2005. Apart from his work with the Oslo Chamber Choir, he works primarily with orchestras. He studied at The Norwegian Academy of Music with Grete Pedersen and Ole Kristian Ruud. At the moment he lives in Copenhagen where he is specializing in opera conducting, studying with the Italian conductor Giancarlo Andretta. Nystedt has worked with several of Norway’s professional orchestras, and in 2007 he received The Norwegian Radio Orchestra’s prize for young talents.

Soloist Bjørn Sigurd Glorvigen (born1972) is a Norwegian folk singer (“Kveder”) from the small mountain village Dovre in Gudbrandsdalen. He has lived in Oslo for the last ten years where he studied music at the University of Oslo and at the Norwegian Academy of Music. Bjørn Sigurd’s career started as a member of the folk-jazz band “Østenfor Sol”, a group which made use of lyrics in Dovre dialect combined with melodic, jazz-inspired melodies. Glorvigen had been a member of Oslo Chamber Choir from 1998 until 2008. He has had a central role in the choir’s folk music projects because of his stylistic knowledge and his soloist engagements.

Soloist Liv Ulvik (born 1979) is a highly educated singer that has specialized in Norwegian traditional singing. She has been working both in – and outside Europe for some years. She likes using the traditional music in old and new ways, and is cooperating with jazz musicians and classical musicians as well as other traditional musicians. She is also working with actors and dancers, in both improvised and non-improvised performances. Her last theatre engagement was on the Norwegian National Theatre.

Tickets for the Twin Cities performance are $20 (general seating) in advance, $25 at the door. Group, student, and senior discounts available. Call 1-800-838-3006 to purchase tickets. For all other information, call 1-877-247-7439 or go to www.norwayhouse.net. The tour is sponsored in part by The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Washington, DC.

Friday, September 25th

Moorhead, MN – Memorial Chapel, Concordia College, 7:30 pm

Concordia College, 901 8th Street South, Moorhead, MN 56562

For ticket information contact: Roxane Case: 218-299-4366, case@cord.edu

Saturday, September 26th

Minneapolis, MN – Hoversten Chapel, Augsburg College Campus, 7:30 pm

Riverside Ave. Between 22nd and 23rd Avenues

Ticket information: 1-800-838-3006, www.norwayhouse.net

Sunday, September 27th

St. Cloud, MN – Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 4:00 pm

Church Sanctuary, 4310 County Road 137, St. Cloud, MN 56301

For information, contact: Brenda Handel Johnson 320-252-6230, Bhandeljohnson@hotmail.com