This project was initiated by Arnulf Mattes, leader of the Grieg Research Centre, and Dániel Péter Biró, professor in composition at the Grieg Academy (UiB).
Bringing together artistic, historical, and musicological perspectives, the overall aim of this project is to increase the awareness of Jewish cultural heritage in Bergen, Norway, and Scandinavia.
Little is known about the Jewish composers and musicians living in Scandinavia, most of them immigrating during the early 20th century, or driven into exile during World War II. What do we know about their biographies, their social and cultural conditions, their educational or institutional significance and impact? How did their reception as artists and migrants with Jewish background in local and national contexts shape their identity and relationship to the majority?
A further goal of this project is to revisit the history of Jews in Scandinavia in the light of the overall narrative of persecution, trauma, and Holocaust. New compositions to texts of Nelly Sachs by the composition class of the Grieg Academy explore these aspects from different, individual points of departure.
Finally, by inviting projects from visual arts to contribute, the aim is to initiate an interdisciplinary exchange on how historical testimonies and stories of persecution, trauma, exile, and survival can engage new audiences, challenging and complementing traditional forms of historiography by means of participatory methods of storytelling.
The results of this project are presented in cooperation with BIT20, the Grieg Academy, and the Grieg Research Centre, University of Bergen.
Concert 2. May 19:30, St. Markus Kirke
Remembering Lost Music:
Julia Constance Wiger-Nordås
Resitasjon
Olve Haugen, Voice
Diego Lucchesi, Clarinet
Peter Kates, Percussion
Francisco Corthey
but who?
Filip Eriksen, Voice
Jon Behncke, Trumpet
Peter Kates, Percussion
Isak Hård
Om eg berre visste
Louise Engeseth, Voice
Diego Lucchesi, Clarinet
Martin Shultz, Violin
Emiliano Ortíz Benítez
Ágata Blanca
Maria Myklemyr Reite, Voice
Jarle Lars Rotevatn, Piano
Diego Lucchesi, Clarinet
Dániel Péter Biró
Gvul (Border) for Piano and Electronics
Ermis Theodorakis, Piano
Dániel Péter Biró, Electronics
Program for the Seminar 3. and 4. May(PDF)