Cellist Truls Mørk and Stavanger Symphony Orchestra team up for German tour.
November 4 to 14 will see renowned Grammy Award winning Norwegian cellist Truls Mørk touring Germany with equally renowned Stavanger Sypmhony Orchestra.
Grammy award winning cellist Truls Mørk is today one of Norway’s most respected cellists. Throughout his career he has established himself as an outstanding performer on his instrument, earning him an expectant international audience. Based in the energetic west-coast oil capital of Norway, The Stavanger Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has developed rapidly over the last two decades, ultimately placing it at the forefront of the Norwegian music scene. SSO has gained international reputation for its performance qualities as well as its refreshing approach to co-operation partners (which include among others the Stavanger Jazz Festival and various pop and rock bands).
The German tour will see Mørk and SSO exploring Dvorak’s well-known Cello Concerto as well as Shostakovitch’s first Cello Concerto. Symphonies from Sibelius and Carl Nielsen’s pen are also featured on the tour programme. Rounding out this varied selection of music are works by Norwegian composers Eivind Groven and David Monrad Johansen. Kristian Ruud will lead the Orchestra at all concerts. The overall aim of the tour is to showcase the qualities and artistic breadth that Norwegian symphonies represent. Sponsors and supportive partners for Truls Mørk and SSO’s tour are the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Statoil.
This tour marks SSO’s fifth visit to Germany. 1996 saw the Orchestra carrying out a similar tour, while in 2000 SSO performed at the World Expo in Hannover for a 1500-strong ecstatic audience. Over the last decade SSO has played concerts in Holland, Belgium, the Baltic countries, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.
Says the orchestra’s director and Head of Information Erik Landmark to MIC’s Norwegian web-site Ballade.no: It takes time and effort to build international reputation and make people aware of the existence of an interesting orchestra in Stavanger. Touring with an international capacity like Truls Mørk acts as an extra door opener for us. We did a concert together in Dublin a few years back, but this will be our first long tour.
While Grieg has been a staple repertory for many Norwegian touring orchestras, Landmark is happy to be able to perform works by Monrad Johansen and Eivind Groven: It’s nice to be able to present something else than Grieg to an international audience. We want to the audience to open its eyes and be able to experience all this wonderful Norwegian music that exists.
For a complete listing of Truls Mørk and Stavanger Symphony Orchestra’s tour dates, go to MIC’s event calendar.
Headlines:
Himmelkvad
Celebrated vocal ensemble Nordic Voices is currently out on its promo tour for their new outing ‘Himmelkvad’, a critically acclaimed album presenting Norwegian composer Lasse Thoresen’s unique vocal universe. MIC Norway takes a closer look at the cutting-edge vocal ensemble and ground-breaking composer.
I was the devil in my younger years
Late Feb sees Enslaved heading out on a month-long European tour. MIC Norway hooked up with Enslaved’s Ivar Peersen to talk about musical cross pollination, inspirational sources, humour and his fascination for singer-songwriter Stein Torleif Bjella.
