<\/p>\n
New oratorio from Bj\u00f8rnstad (Songs of Belonging)<\/p>\n
Bj\u00f8rnstad is presenting a new, modern oratorio, and has written both the music and the text. \u201cSanger om tilh\u00f8righet\u201d (\u201cSongs of Belonging\u201d) was commissioned by the St Olav Festival, and had its world premiere at a very special concert at the Nidaros Cathedral on 27 July 2014. The critic for the newspaper Adresseavisen gave the concert a glowing review: \u201cWith this world premiere the St Olav Festival was given a worthy opening. Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad emerges here as a full-fledged oratorio composer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bj\u00f8rnstad himself says about the piece: \u201cIt was fifteen years ago that I wrote \u2018Tusen\u00e5rsoratoriet\u2019 together with Stein Mehren. It was a difficult period for the world, with a great deal of fear and anxiety for the future. And the world hasn\u2019t become a safer place since then. On the contrary. I want to use both text and music to reflect on what is perhaps the most important element of our lives, regardless of where we find ourselves on this planet: a sense of belonging to something or someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Nidaros Cathedral Oratorio Choir, under the direction of Petra Bj\u00f8rkhaug, sings all the choir parts on the album. As in the past, Bj\u00f8rnstad displays here an impressive ability to choose his musical collaborators. H\u00e5kon Kornstad (saxophone and vocals), Tora Augestad (vocals), Anja Lechner (cello) and Birger Mistereggen (percussion) assist the composer, each in his or her own way, in imbuing the work with life and giving it wings. The concert recording from the Nidaros Cathedral was made by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), and was later mixed by Jan Erik Kongshaug at Rainbow Studio. The album was produced by Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fifteen years after \u201cHimmelrand \u2013 Tusen\u00e5rsoratoriet\u201d, which Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad wrote together with Stein Mehren, Bj\u00f8rnstad is presenting a new, modern oratorio. This time he has written both the music and the text.<\/p>\n
The Nidaros Cathedral Oratorio Choir, under the direction of Petra Bj\u00f8rkhaug, sings all the choir parts on the album. As in the past, Bj\u00f8rnstad displays here an impressive ability to choose his musical collaborators. H\u00e5kon Kornstad (saxophone and vocals), Tora Augestad (vocals), Anja Lechner (cello) and Birger Mistereggen (percussion) assist the composer, each in his or her own way, in imbuing the work with life and giving it wings.<\/p>\n
Tora Augestad juggles several careers in her roles as soprano, conductor and actor. In 2015 she was nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize. She sang in the Norwegian Soloists\u2019 Choir from 2000 to 2005 and with the vocal group Pitsj from 1999 to 2006. She is the vocalist in the ensemble Music for a While, which has released three critically acclaimed albums on the Grappa label. Augestad moved to Berlin in the spring of 2007, and is currently working with some of Europe\u2019s leading ensembles for modern music, including Ensemble Modern and Klangforum Wien. She has been working with the renowned Swiss director Christoph Marthaler since 2009. <\/p>\n
H\u00e5kon Kornstad had an outstanding career as a jazz saxophonist behind him when he became interested in opera during a stay in New York in 2009. He began taking lessons with singing teachers there, and started studying opera at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts in 2011. He held his debut at the Norwegian National Opera in February 2012 in the role of Il Podesta in a student production of Mozart\u2019s La Finta Giardiniera. <\/p>\n
German cellist Anja Lechner studied with Jan Polasek, Heinrich Schiff and Janos Starker. In 1992 she was a co-founder of the now disbanded Rosamunde Quartet, which achieved a major international breakthrough, toured extensively, and released a number of critically acclaimed records on the ECM label. Lechner has also worked with improvisation for a long time in a variety of contexts and traditions. Her interest in Tango Nuevo has resulted in a close collaboration with bandeonist Dino Saluzzi. She has also collaborated with Misha Alperin and Mark Feldman, and contributed to Bj\u00f8rnstad\u2019s album \u201cLa Notte\u201d on the ECM label. <\/p>\n
Percussionist Birger Mistereggen was educated at the Norwegian Academy of Music (1992), where he also specialised in Norwegian folk music (2001). He played for many years with Ophelia Ragtime Orchestra and is currently a member of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. He collaborated with Trio Medi\u00e6val on the album \u201cFolk Songs\u201d (ECM, 2005). He was the drummer and an associated member of the group Vamp from 2008 to 2009, playing on the album \u201cSt. Mandag\u201d and joining the group on their subsequent tour. <\/p>\n
The Nidaros Cathedral Oratorio Choir refers to itself as a choir suited to major events. With 90 singers, the choir fills the cathedral with powerful, monumental church music works. The choir collaborates regularly with institutions such as the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and the St Olav Festival. Precentor Petra Bj\u00f8rkhaug studied to be a music teacher and a precentor at the Tr\u00f8ndelag Music Conservatory from 1983 to 1993. She is engaged as the precentor of the Nidaros Cathedral and of the Church of Our Lady, and has taught organ improvisation, church music performance and methodology at the Department of Music at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.<\/p>\n
Composer and pianist Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad must be regarded as one of Norway\u2019s most productive artists. His list of accomplishments is impressive, and he is a prize-winning author and musician. He has a large audience both in Norway and abroad. Up to now he has managed to publish more than 40 books, and has released over 60 records in a variety of genres. <\/p>\n
The concert recording from the Nidaros Cathedral was made by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), and was later mixed by Jan Erik Kongshaug at Rainbow Studio. The album was produced by Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad.<\/p>\n
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Fifteen years after \u201cHimmelrand \u2013 Tusen\u00e5rsoratoriet\u201d, which Ketil Bj\u00f8rnstad wrote together with Stein Mehren, Bj\u00f8rnstad is presenting a new, modern oratorio. This time he has written both the music and the text.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":27197,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[6],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-25738","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-grappa","7":"product_shipping_class-cddvd-shipping","8":"uni_artist_tag-anja-lechner","9":"uni_artist_tag-birger-mistereggen","10":"uni_artist_tag-hakon-kornstad","11":"uni_artist_tag-ketil-bjornstad","12":"uni_artist_tag-nidaros-oratoriekor","13":"uni_artist_tag-petra-bjorkhaug","14":"uni_artist_tag-tora-augestad","15":"uni_main_artist_tag-ketil-bjornstad","16":"uni_artist_genre-chamber-music","17":"uni_artist_genre-choir","18":"uni_artist_genre-jazz","20":"first","21":"instock","22":"taxable","23":"shipping-taxable","24":"purchasable","25":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/25738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25738"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=25738"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=25738"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=25738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}