March 2009

Norwegian electronica masters Röyksopp return with their much-anticipated third album 'Junior', which features collaborations with rising stars Robyn and Lykke-Li. 'Junior' follows the massive success of Röyksopp's debut album 'Melody AM' and the subsequent release 'The Understanding'. On their third album the band fuses elements of both their previous albums with a blend of electro, house. [+] Read more

The Affluenza exhibition, the brainchild of Norwegian photographer and artist Hege Sæbjørnsen, will open on 19 March, and include the work of 38 different artists, five of whom are Norwegians. Both established and young, up-and-coming artists will present their work at the 10,000 square feet venue, which will accommodate everything from performance events to large-scale installation works. [+] Read more

‘The Discoverer’, the third volume of Jan Kjærstad’s award-winning trilogy, once again follows celebrity Jonas Wergeland who now has served his sentence for the murder of his wife Margrete. Kjærstad is one of Norway’s most acclaimed writers. His trilogy ‘The Seducer’, ‘The Conqueror’ and ‘The Discoverer’ (Arcadia) has achieved huge international success and won him the prestigious Nordic Council Prize. [+] Read more

Making his UK operatic debut with the English National Opera, Eivind Gullberg Jensen will conduct the anticipated return of David Alden’s Olivier Award-winning production of composer Janacek’s 'Jenùfa'. Rising star Jensen will at the start of 2009/10 become chief conductor of NDR Radiophilharmonie, Hannover. 
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Norwegian designer label Elton & Jacobsen, which consists of two sisters, have produced ladieswear for TOPSHOP's latest pop-up boutique project at their Oxford Circus store. Elton & Jacobsen draws inspiration from art, science fiction, drama queens, sport and street style, and their collections are a mix of sporty and dressed up styles. [+] Read more

In 1942, the 22-year-old Austrian-born Jew Ruth Maier was arrested in the Nazi-occupied Oslo and sent to Auschwitz where she was killed immediately. Five decades later her diaries and letter were found by Norwegian poet Jan Erik Vold who edited and had them published, now also for the first time in English.
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One of Norway’s leading choreographers will present her first commission for the Scottish Dance Theatre at The Place in London. Ina Christel Johannessen’s ‘A Visitation’ will run from Thursday 5 March to Saturday 7 March. Johannessen studied choreography at The National Academy of Ballet in Oslo and has worked on numerous productions as a producer, administrator and choreographer. [+] Read more

Nils Økland, the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle virtuoso, and young Scottish harpist Catriona McKay will tour Scotland in March with their sonically exquisite manipulation of their respective countries' folk traditions. Økland’s music draws on Norway’s ancient folk music traditions whilst creating dark, evocative and timeless soundscapes. [+] Read more

Norwegian singer / songwriter Aasa Marie Mollen, whose music has been described as a cross between Coldplay and Joni Mitchell, will be part of the Portobello Acoustic Sessions in Notting Hill on March 19th. Aasa, who reflects Nordic mythology with both her sound and her visual image, will be releasing her debut album, entitled ‘Angels & Stars’, this year. [+] Read more

‘To Die For’, which is co-directed and choreographed by Norwegian Heidi Rustgaard, will return to the Laban Theatre after being on a tour of the UK and Norway. To Die For’ is produced in collaboration with Hedmark Teater and is poetically described as ‘(part) performance, part social experiment, the darkly humorous, it features four dancers stripped down to their psychological essentials'. [+] Read more

Acclaimed Norwegian musicians Trygve Seim, Frode Haltli and Rolf Lislevand will perform at Kings Place in a concert best described as a ‘journey through a landscape of hauntingly beautiful folk music – with Norwegian and Celtic traditions at heart’. The Norwegian musicians will be accompanied by cellist Agnes Vestermann and Garth Knox, who plays the rarely heard viola d’amore. [+] Read more

The newly published book ‘Dancer in the Light’ by Frank Woods recounts the intriguing and multi-layered life of Norwegian-born Gerda ‘Pytt’ Geddes: a dancer, psychoanalyst and tai chi pioneer, who spent the last nine years of her life living quietly in Scotland.
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The artistic collective Henry VIII’s Wives, which includes Norway-based artist Rachel Dagnall, will be exhibiting their work at the Pumphouse Gallery until 15 March. Rachel Dagnall is English, but is now based in Nesoddtangen, a picturesque peninsula overlooking the Oslofjord. While studying art in Glasgow she met the remaining five artists who make up Henry VIII’s Wives. [+] Read more

Norwegian hip-hop duo Madcon, whose debut single ‘Beggin’ spent eight weeks in the UK Top 10 last year, now releases their follow up track ‘Liar’. The single is taken from their multi-platinum album ‘So Dark The Con Of Man’, which has been praised by critics and loved by audiences across Europe. Madcon have been performing for several years and rank as one of Norway’s most popular hip-hop acts. [+] Read more

Along with several other spectacular buildings, Snøhetta’s Oslo Opera House is on the shortlist for the Brit Insurance Design Awards for architecture. The awards conicide with an exhibition at the Design Museum, which presents the finalists in numerous categories, including two other Norwegian contenders.
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