Seven Winds
Over the last twelve years, Unni Løvlid, Rolf Erik Nystrøm and Becaye Aw have performed together in a variety of duo settings. The three joined forces last year following the commissioning of a work featuring music written to accompany the words of writer Olav H. Hauge to be premiered at a key domestic festival. Like the Hauge poems, Seven Winds’ music has its roots in Norwegian folklore, and much in the same way as Hauge employs his distinct dialect to add colour to themes, poems and histories from the entire world, Seven Winds fuse their distinct musical dialects with global influences. During her career, Unni Løvlid has devoted much time to focus on local Norwegian vocal traditions, but she has also found time to collaborate with leading performers on the global stage. Rolf Erik Nystrøm is a highly respected saxophonist and contemporary post-classical composer with a resume that includes projects representing a wide range of styles and genres with an emphasis on new music. Becaye Aw originally hails from Mauritania but grew up in Senegal where he performed with such heavyweights as Baaba Maal and Masour Seck. In order to adapt the guitar to traditional Senegalese repertoire, he has developed a distinct playing style that adds colour and spark to this exciting trio. Seven Winds have collaborated with Chinese, Sri Lankan and Zanzibar performers and have successfully adapted Hauge’s poems for mandarin, Hindi and Swahili audiences.
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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.
