One of the world’s oldest celebrations of
contemporary classical music and sound, Nordic
Music Days takes place in Scotland for the first
time in its 136-year history.
Glasgow: 30 October – 3 November
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TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE TO BOOK – https://nordicmusicdays.org
One of the world’s longest running festivals for contemporary classical music,
established in 1888 by the NKR (Council of Nordic Composers), Nordic Music Days takes
place outwith the Nordic countries for only the third time in 136 year-history.
Uniquely curated by composers and creators, Nordic Music Days presents almost entirely
contemporary classical music and sound, featuring over 200 musicians and composers from
Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland – and, for the
first time this year, Scotland. Partnership and exchange are key to the Festival’s legacy which
is also focused on sustainable practice and social responsibility.
Set to take over Glasgow from 30 October until 3 November, the Festival sees concerts,
sound installations, talks, screenings and participatory events as well as a wide-ranging
industry programme happening across the city – from Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and The
Old Fruitmarket, through the Centre for Contemporary Arts and City Halls to Kelvingrove Art
Gallery and Museum and Glasgow Film Theatre.
The Festival brings together a Who’s Who of music across these countries. From Scotland’s
vibrant and diverse music scene participants include Sound Festival, Drake Music Scotland,
Hebrides Ensemble, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, Scottish Music
Centre, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and staff and students from the University of
Glasgow. The incredible network of the Council of Nordic Composers comprising composer
societies of Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden represents 1500
composers and sound artists across the Nordic countries. The Nordic partners include Art
Music Denmark Faroe Music Export, Iceland Music, Music Finland, Music Norway, Nordic
Film Music Days, Nordic Theatre Laboratory, Northern Connection, Nuuk Nordic Festival,
STATUS and Young Nordic Music.
Alongside this huge coming together in the music sector, are partners in wider cultural,
education and communities. Helping to bring depth and breadth to the project, these partners
include Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow Life/UNESCO City of Music, Centre for
Contemporary Arts and the University of Glasgow which hosts a conference concurrent with
the festival, focused on the role and value of experimentation in new music.
Its 2024 curator team includes: Tróndur Bogason (Faroe Islands), Lauri Supponen (Finland),
Guoste Tamulynaite (Norway), Gillian Moore (Scotland) and Pippa Murphy (Scotland). The
Festival is an initiative of the NKR (Council of Nordic Composers) which works in collaboration
with the lead partner in Scotland, Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
The theme running through the Festival is Word of Mouth. It invokes something personal,
informal and close: the passing on, movement and the spreading of ideas, stories, knowledge
and traditions.
PROGRAMME
From working with lung cancer patients on exploring breath as a source of sound, a computer
game opera combining Greek mythology, internet culture and AI generated material, to a
musical exploration of the intersection point between Shetland and Greenland at 60°N and
connections between folk traditions, Nordic Music Days delves deep into the cultural and
musical resonances between Scotland and the Nordic countries, featuring major new orchestral
works, Academy Award-winning composers, Indigenous artists and many more.
Browse the programme here – https://nordicmusicdays.org/whats
The Festival’s opening concert with Scottish Ensemble will see the world premiere of Qullaq;
a new work devised in collaboration between Aidan O’Rourke, Arnannguaq Gerstrøm, Nive
Nielsen, Hans-Henrik Suersaq Poulsen and Mike Fencker Thomsen following residencies in
Greenland and Denmark. The project involves traditional, electronic and experimental musicians
alongside the virtuosic strings of the Scottish Ensemble.
There are major orchestral concerts, including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with
An Extraordinary Voyage! at City Halls, taking the audience on a fantastical musical journey
with Maja S K Ratkje’s trombone concerto Considering Icarus (with Stephen Menotti as soloist),
and through recurring orchestral transformations in Britta Byström’s Voyages Extraordinaires,
inspired by the enchanting (and impossible) journeys depicted in Jules Verne’s famous novel
series. Conducted by Emilia Hoving, the programme also includes Faroese composer Eli
Tausen á Lava’s re-imagining of Handel’s Let me cry, and a choral work from Hildur
Guðnadóttir, the extraordinary, Academy Award-winning musical imagination behind
Joker and Chernobyl, where the BBC SSO is joined by the University of Glasgow’s Chapel
Choir.
Scottish Chamber Orchestra presents Borealis at City Halls, uncovering new sounds from
both Sweden and Scotland. Swedish composer Anders Hillborg’s 2021 Viola Concerto is a
thrilling, high-energy ride through glistening sonic landscapes, performed by its dedicatee, the
remarkable British violist Lawrence Power. Fellow Swede Madeleine Isaksson, meanwhile,
transports us to the raw, ethereal beauty of her country’s far north. The programme also takes in
the austere beauty of Sir James MacMillan’s powerful Ayrshire-inspired Second Symphony,
written for the SCO in 1999. The programme opens with SCO Associate Composer Jay
Capperauld’s witty, macabre Death in a Nutshell, which challenges audiences to find the clues
and solve the case.
And finally, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra is joined by its Danish Music Director,
Thomas Søndergård, to present Dark to Light, a programme with superstar violinist Isabelle
Faust as the soloist for Rune Glerup’s Of Light and Lightness. Performing in the Glasgow Royal
Concert Hall, the programme opens with a new work from Lisa Robertson, where the RSNO is
joined by the young musicians of Big Noise Govanhill. Music by Errollyn Wallen, Aileen
Sweeney, and a reprise of a work by Bent Sørensen that was a hit with RSNO audiences in
2022, sit next to a well-known work from a trail blazing Nordic composer of days past – the
seventh symphony of Jean Sibelius – which is performed at the same time as a thought-
provoking work for silent performer by Hildur Elísa Jónsdottír.
Outwith new major orchestral works, in what’s set to be a festival highlight, Kelvingrove Art
Gallery and Museum plays host to phōnḗ, a new work for massed choirs by Finnish composer
Tytti Arola. The performance in Kelvingrove will be the hub performance, with choirs
throughout Scotland and the Nordic countries (and further afield) putting on their own
performances concurrently. Phōnḗ is a playful work which uses old-school technology in the
form of homemade tin can telephones to underline the importance and value of communication
between people and cultures in the modern world.
The Hebrides Ensemble are joined by Sámi vocalist Ánnámáret, as well as Scottish
composer/performer Clare Johnston in a new work that explores the similarities and
connections between Scottish and Nordic languages and dialects.
There are also film screenings and exhibitions, pop ups across the city, and opportunities for
international exchange, including:
NordEX: Music Exchange Programme (30 October – 2 November): a collaboration between
various Nordic and Scottish composer societies, export offices, policy and diplomacy
organisations, NordEX is dedicated to building connection, dialogue and international co-
operation across the contemporary classical and sound scene. With a focus on sustainability,
the programme will explore both culture’s role in climate adaptation and innovative approaches
to ensure a thriving cultural eco-system. Supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers, LiveMX
and Creative Europe, NordEX will welcome delegates from across the UK, Nordics, Ireland,
Canada and the rest of Europe. Some of the sessions’ topics include, among many others:
Youth Access – a discussion on the access and engagement of younger audiences,
composers, and players in the music industry;
A masterclass in accessible composition;
Nordic Council of Ministers’ Green Roadmap – a session to guide participants
through this invaluable resource designed to support cultural institutions and artists in
taking actionable steps toward green transition;
Nordic Music Days Conference presented by University of Glasgow (29 – 30 October)
focuses on areas such as music education and community practice, instruments, sounds
and technologies and impacts of innovation and experimentation, featuring, among many
others, panels on remote co-creation platform for musicians with disabilities and Listen to your
dog! What 200 primary school collaborators taught us about artistic honesty, joy, and what the
world should look like. Also presented is Afterlife, developed and performed by
interdisciplinary duo ONLY SLIME (Tobi Pfeil and Claudia Cox), a computer game opera
which combines elements of Greek mythology, contemporary internet culture, AI
generated material, and computer game narrative techniques. Conference tickets can be
booked here.
UNM x NMD Composer Exchange (30 October – 3 November) saw four Scottish composers
visiting the UNM Festival in Örebro, Sweden in August for the annual Ung Nordisk Musik
(Young Nordic Music) where they spent time with four UNM composers. In pairs, the composers
then worked together to create new short works to be performed in Nordic Music Days. The line-
up will include defunensemble, Finnish experts in electroacoustic music, and Riot
Ensemble’s Marie Schreer, along with Philharmonia Orchestra (formerly BBC Scottish
Symphony Orchestra) Principal Viola Scott Dickinson, among others.
The Centre for Contemporary Arts becomes the Nordic Music Days’ official Festival Club
with its spaces crammed with performances, installations and films from 10pm each evening
and its Third Eye bar seeing composers, creators, performers, programmers, producers and
audiences mix, socialise, and find new musical experiences behind every door. The Festival
Club programme will feature artists including Catriona McKay, Chris Stout, Joanna Nicholson,
Red Note Ensemble, Michael Francis Duch, Norwegian improvising group Lemur, and
hardanger fiddle expert Sivert Holmen.
Forever Changes is an exhibition of work by Nordic photographers which looks at the impact of
the climate crisis, created by Street Level Gallery in collaboration with the Nordic Embassies.
At Glasgow Film Theatre, a screening of Apolonia, Apolonia will be followed by a panel
discussion with soundtrack composer Jonas Struck (Denmark). The film has been chosen in
collaboration with GFT and Nordic Film Music Days.
QUOTES
Martin Jonsson Tibblin, Chair of the Council of Nordic Composers and the Swedish
Society of Composers said: “Nordic Music Days has been an unmissable event for over a
century. It’s a chance for composers from across the region to gather together, hear each
other’s music, discuss trends and ideas, and to share and develop cultural and artistic
experiences. There’s a strong affinity to Scottish music and culture in the Nordics, so the
Council of Nordic Composers is looking forward to seeing the opportunities that open up for
composers, performers, organisations, and audiences as a result of this exciting new
partnership, which I believe will last long after the festival.”
Alistair Mackie, CEO of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra said: “The truly remarkable
thing about this project, which has been supported here in Scotland for this special edition by
Creative Scotland, is the number of partner organisations who are working together, pooling
resources and facilitating each other’s performances in order to share a common artistic goal
and conversation. So many are contributing to the project and looking towards future
collaborations and partnerships throughout the Nordic region.”
Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: “We are delighted to welcome Nordic Music Days
to Scotland for the first time in its 136-year history. The five-day programme is truly innovative
and a celebration of contemporary music from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Greenland,
Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Scotland.
“The festival brings together artists from these countries in venues all across Glasgow to
showcase the exceptional diversity of music that is being created and performed. We are
looking forward to giving a very warm welcome to all those performing at, and attending, Nordic
Music Days in Glasgow, a UNESCO City of Music.”
Emma Campbell, Music Officer at Creative Scotland said: “Scotland’s music is distinguished
by an adventurous spirit that’s ready to share with the rest of the world. We are delighted that
our own UNESCO City of Music will host a festival that seeks out old, new and surprising points
of connection between Scotland and our like-minded neighbours in the Nordic regions. Thanks
to the collaborative vision of the Nordic Council of Composers, the RSNO and the festival
organisers, audiences can look forward to celebrating bold and ambitious new music that will
build a lasting legacy between our countries.”
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