ULTIMA Oslo Contemporary Music Festival 2010
8th September - 18th September 2010 Oslo
Ultima is the foremost festival for contemporary music in the Nordic countries. In 2009, 11 200 visitor came to experience concerts, club nights, exhibitions, musical theatre and educational projects.
Ultima is organized as a foundation where 18 cultural institutions and organizations are members, contribution to the festival. Among Ultima’s members are the Henie Onstad Art Centre, the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra.
His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway is the Patron of the Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival.
One of Ultima’s primary objectives is to contribute to offering a broad representation of the comtemporary music genre, combining a keen interest in innovation and an awareness of tradition. Since the first festival took place in 1991, Ultima has developed into one of the greatest festivals for contemporary music in Europe. Further development of the international aspect is of high priority for the festival.
Ultima was given the status of node institution by the Ministry of Culture Affairs in 2006 and thereby regarded as an important festival in Norway. In its capacity as node institution, Ultima is financed by the Ministry of Culture Affairs (60 %) and Oslo Municipality (40 %).
Program
Wednesday September 8
10:00 am Sound installations
The sound of a hug, admission tests to orchestras, field recordings and iPhone interactivity. Here are the sound installations on Ultima this year.
7:00 pm Music for Oslo City Hall
Mason has composed a work especially for Oslo City Hall in the series Music for Concert Halls.
Thursday September 9
5:30 pm Pre-concert talk: Marina Rosenfeld
Marina Rosenfeld in conversation with Anne Hilde Neset, deputy editor of The Wire.
6:00 pm Teenage Lontano
Artist Marina Rosenfeld presents her cover version of György Ligetis Lontano with a teenage choir equipped with mp3 players.
7:00 pm Verdensteatret
Premiere of the production And All the Questionmarks Started to Sing (Electric Shadows) WP
8:00 pm Pre-concert talk: Kreidler, Poppe & Black
Johannes Kreidler, Enno Poppe and Annesley Black in conversation with Emil Bernhardt.
9:00 pm Musical outsourcing
For a handful of dollars, composers in low cost countries have written music for Kreidler.
Friday September 10
12:00 am Lunch concert
Percussion and guitar lunch concert with Håkon Stene (photo), Anders Førisdal and Origami Metallika.
4:00 pm Sara Övinge
Concert with the awarded Swedish violinist Sara Övinge.
6:30 pm Pre-concert talk: Valerie Tevere, Nils Henrik Asheim
Valerie Tevere (artist) and Nils Henrik Asheim (composer) in conversation with Anne Hilde Neset.
7:00 pm Verdensteatret
Premiere of the production And All the Questionmarks Started to Sing (Electric Shadows) WP
7:30 pm The Norwegian Radio Orchestra
The Norwegian Radio Orchestra invites to a new version of a Culture Club classic, a world premiere and a monodrama.
9:00 pm Ann Liv Young
The performance artist, Ann Liv Young, will perform Cinderella.
Saturday September 11
2:00 pm Cikada Ensemble
Concert with Norwegian Ensemble Cikada. Works by Gerard Pesson and Bjørn Fongaard (photo).
6:00 pm Nordic Voices
The Norwegian vocal sextet Nordic Voices performs Opus 42 by Lasse Thoresen. For this work, he was presented with the Nordic Council Music Award in June …
7:00 pm Verdensteatret
Premiere of the production And All the Questionmarks Started to Sing (Electric Shadows) WP
9:00 pm "The drama of creativity: The art of eliminating perfection. Giacometti, Trier/Leth and Klee."
Pre-concert lecture by author Alexander Carnera.
9:00 pm Ann Liv Young
The performance artist, Ann Liv Young, will perform Cinderella.
10:00 pm Beckwerk
The Danish author and artist Claus Beck-Nielsen declared himself dead in 2001. The year after, he reemerged as the total work of art Beckwerk.
Sunday September 12
10:30 am Professional seminar: Art - a means to change?
The Norwegian Society of Composers and Ultima invite composers, musicians, artists and others with interest in to a two-day seminar investigating the context …
1:00 pm Bjørn Fongaard
Works by Bjørn Fongaard, the foremost electronic music pioneer in Norway.
1:00 pm Blårollinger presents "Cuckoo - My Favourite Things"
Blårollinger and Ultima presents the family concert “CUCKOO – My Favourite Things”
3:00 pm Pierre Henry
The grand old man of musique concrete, Pierre Henry, will be performing at the concert.
7:00 pm Verdensteatret
Premiere of the production And All the Questionmarks Started to Sing (Electric Shadows) WP
8:00 pm Bodø Sinfonietta, SISU and Susanne Lundeng
Fiddle soloist Susanne Lundeng (photo) and Bodø sinfonietta combining folk music and contemporary music.
9:00 pm Ann Liv Young
The performance artist, Ann Liv Young, will perform Cinderella.
Monday September 13
11:00 am Conference: Where Text And Music Meet Theatre
What are the dramas of today? What sort of opera and music theatre is interesting and relevant today?
6:00 pm Pre-concert talk: Magne Hegdal
Magne Hegdal in conversation with Henrik Hellstenius before the Norway premiere on Hegdal’s new work Stort sett.
7:00 pm Magne Hegdal: Stort sett
The Norwegian premiere for the new Magne Hegdal Work Stort sett by Sigyn Fossnes (violin) and Ellen Ugelvik (piano).
9:30 pm Ensemble Ernst
New works by Jon Øivind Ness and Mark Adderley.
Tuesday September 14
7:00 pm Ardittti Quartet
The acclaimed Arditti Quartet is back at Ultima, this time in the noble chapel adjacent to The Royal Palace.
7:00 pm Verdensteatret
Premiere of the production And All the Questionmarks Started to Sing (Electric Shadows) WP
9:00 pm Composition and craftsmanship
An evening of literature and music with talks, concerts, performances and readings.
Wednesday September 15
1:00 pm Carillion concert
Vegard Sandholt plays contemporary music on the carillions in Oslo City Hall.
6:00 pm Kafka transformed
Introduction to Kurtágs Kafka-Fragmente in form of a radio show by Magnus Haglund, writer and artist from Gothenburg.
7:00 pm Kafka-Fragmente
A work for violin and soprano, with texts from Franz Kafka`s journals and letters.
7:00 pm Verdensteatret
Premiere of the production And All the Questionmarks Started to Sing (Electric Shadows) WP
8:30 pm Ultima Noise Fest
An elite lineup of noise artists.
Thursday September 16
6:00 pm Ida Bryhn
Young, acclaimed viola player performing Berio, Kurtág og Bernhardt.
7:00 pm Verdensteatret
Premiere of the production And All the Questionmarks Started to Sing (Electric Shadows) WP
7:30 pm ,said the shotgun to the head
Arne Nordheim’s groundbreaking work Epitaffio and a new work by Norwegian composer Olav Anton Thommessen followed by Saul Williams’ slam poetry.
9:00 pm Ultima Noise Fest part 2
An elite lineup of noise artists visits Blå during Ultima Noise Fest. Tonight: Part 2.
10:00 pm Musicatreize
The chamber choir Muzicatreize from Marseille.
Friday September 17
12:00 am Lunch concert
Two world premieres of works by Karstein Djupdal and Stine Sørlie (picture, right). Musicians from the Norwegian Academy of Music and the ensemble friStad …
1:30 pm Konkressens
Conference on microtonality.
6:00 pm The Netherlands Chamber Choir
Concert with two of the leading chamber choirs in Europe. The Norwegian Soloist Choir celebrates its 60 year anniversary.
7:00 pm Verdensteatret
Premiere of the production And All the Questionmarks Started to Sing (Electric Shadows) WP
9:00 pm Etudes
The projects that has formed part of the music theatre week at Dramatikkens Hus are performed.
Saturday September 18
2:00 pm NMH Symphony Orchestra
The Symphony Orchestra at the Norwegian Academy of Music performs Alban Berg, György Kurtág and the world premiere of Eivind Buene’s latest work.
4:00 pm Pre-concert talk: Thoresen, Rehnqvist & Ratkje
Pre-concert talk with Lasse Thoresen, Karin Rehnqvist (picture) and Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje.
5:00 pm Latvian Radio Choir
Latvijas Radio Koris perform world premieres of composers from Latvia, Estonia, Sweden and Norway. Composer talk before the concert (in Uranienborg parish …
7:00 pm New work by Maja Ratkje
A spectacular concert with three of the Tenso Days choirs, Maja Ratkje, Nils Henrik Asheim and excellent Norwegian noise musicians.
9:00 pm Closing Party
Jazzmontør held a memorable election party at Ultima 2009. These creative project managers ends Ultima 2010 with a party.