This year’s Cheltenham Music Festival has amongst others a focus on music and musicians from Norway - including Jan Garbarek, Gunilla Sussmann, and the UK premiere of composer Rolf Wallin’s ‘The Curiosity Cabinet’.
The HSBC Cheltenham Music Festival takes place from 2-17 July this summer and has announced its most diverse and richly-layered programme yet, with a special Norwegian element to it. On 4th July the renowned Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek will play his atmospheric music in the Gloucester Cathedral with vocal quartet The Hilliard Ensemble. With their collaboration on the 1994 album 'Officium', The Hilliard Ensemble and Garbarek redefined ‘crossover’ with music of great beauty and sophistication. The Evening Standard wrote: ‘A cross-cultural combination that produces some of the most beautiful acoustic music ever made.’ This 'Officium' project moves into a new phase in 2010 with the forthcoming release of their third album. Gloucester Cathedral’s lofty stone spaces and resonant acoustic will be the perfect partner for these five remarkable musicians.
The second Norwegian contribution to the festival is pianist Gunilla Sussmann, who will perform the mightly brilliance of Chopin’s first concerto with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in Cheltenham Town Hall on 5th July. Sussmann, who was born in Bergen in 1977, is one of the most sought after Norwegian pianists of her generation. Over the last few years she has had an increasingly growing international career and is highly acclaimed by both audience and press. She has been awarded numerous awards in Norway, and in 2006 she was nominated for Les révèlations Internationales d´année in Midem, Cannes.
The Solstice String Quartet will give the UK premiere of Norwegian composer Rolf Wallin’s ‘The Curiosity Cabinet’ on 8th July, and there will be a pre-concert talk where Wallin will discuss his works. Wallin wrote 'The Curiosity Cabinet' as the test piece for 2009’s Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition.
Norwegian composer Edward Grieg’s ‘From Holberg’s Time: Suite in olden style’ will be performed by the Festival Academy Strings and the String Quartet from Trondheim Music Conservatory on 7th July. This composition is Grieg’s homage to the 18th century world of Norwegian/Danish playwright Ludvig Holberg.
On 5th July there will be a concert, talk and film celebrating the life and work of the Norwegian violinist Ole Bull. You can find more information about this event here.
Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble
4 July, 7.30pm
Gloucester Cathedral
12 College Green
Cheltenham
Gloucester GL1 2LX
Tickets: £8-£30
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
5 July, 7pm
Cheltenham Town Hall
Imperial Square
Cheltenham
Gloucester GL50 1QA
Tickets: £12-£32
The Festival Academy Strings
Back to the future
7 July, 8.30pm
Pittville Pump Room
East Approach Drive
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL52 3JE
Tickets: £15-£25
Solstice String Quartet
8 July, 11am
Pittville Pump Room
East Approach Drive
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL52 3JE
Tickets: £13-£22
For full programme and tickets visit www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/musicbrochuren