Grieg, Wallin and Monteverdi with The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir

Friday 28 March, 20:30
(Doors open at 19:45)
Ris Church

Adult: 480 NOK
Senior/student: 385 NOK
Child: 100 NOK

Duration: 1 hour and 15 minutes

The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir
Grete Pedersen, conductor

Monteverdi, Grieg, and Wallin with Norway’s leading choir conductor

The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir celebrates their 75th anniversary and marks 35 years with artistic director Grete Pedersen, as she enters her final season with the Soloists’ Choir. On the program, we find Edvard Grieg’s (1843–1907) Four psalms and the world premiere of Rolf Wallin’s (b. 1957) new work Utopian Folk Songs, written for the Soloists’ Choir.

 Four Psalms is built over old Norwegian folk songs from the collection of Ludvig Mathias Lindeman, and is characterised by Grieg’s rhythmic, harmonious, and dynamic radicalness. The work uses vivid chords that were unusual for church music at the time. With his last work, Grieg shows a boundary-pushing modernity.

In a turbulent present affected by war and disasters, Rolf Wallin presents Utopian Folk Songs, performed in its premiere by the Soloists’ Choir. Throughout the centuries, people have dreamt about a problem-free fantasyland where things are only happiness; a Utopia. And what would a choir sing in Utopia? Utopian folk songs, of course! An energetic and happy work song, a lullaby, an ode to the new spring, a funeral hymn, and other songs following life in Utopia. The texts are in Utopian, a language we do not know, so that each one of us can put what we want into this fantasyland.

The Soloists’ Choir will also perform music by the Italian Baroque composer Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) from the collection Selva morale e spirituale (Moral and spiritual forest) from 1641. This is a retrospective collection, drawing on decades of compositions in an anthology of sensational stylistic range and variation. The collection contains motets, sacred madrigals, hymns, solo songs, and a mass. The Soloists’ Choir is accompanied by a continuo group for this work.

Rolf Wallin (b. 1957) is one of Scandinavia’s leading composers, and is regularly performed and commissioned all over the world. His musical background ranges from avantgarde rock, jazz, and early music to traditional classical training. This versatility is seen in a multifaceted list of works, and in collaborations with important artists within other art forms and different musical genres. Many of his works are directly connected to the world around him, for example Act (2004), which celebrates the power of collaboration, Strange News (2007), which is about the rehabilitation of child soldiers, and the opera Elysium (2016), a fable about our innate fear – justified or unjustified – of change..

The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir is an innovative ensemble with a rich history. As one of Europe’s leading chamber choirs, they give spectacular concerts in Norway and abroad, in concert halls and churches, caravans and abandoned factory halls. The Soloists’ Choir consists of 26 hand-picked, professional singers with great expressiveness that creates the choir’s distinctive character. Together with their respected artistic director Grete Pedersen, the choir is constantly working towards making their ambitious artistic goals a reality.

Grete Pedersen is one of the most acclaimed conductors on the international choral scene, known for her stylistic accuracy and musically convincing performances both within Baroque, Classical, and contemporary music. Pedersen also conducts orchestras, and has worked with the Norwegian Baroque Orchestra, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (KORK), and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. She has also worked with choirs such as Groot Omroepkoor (Netherland’s radio choir), Pro Coro Canada, and World Youth Choir. Furthermore, she has engagements with the Swedish Radio Choir and The Netherlands Radio Choir. Since autumn 2022, Pedersen has been the artistic director for the Carmel Bach Festival in California. She is the chief conductor for the orchestra and Baroque orchestra at the same festival. Pedersen is a professor of conducting at the Norwegian Academy of Music. She has received a number of awards, and was named a knight of the first class of the Royal Norwegian St. Olav Order in 2019.

Photo: Rolf Wallin: Benjamin Ealovega, The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir: Bård Gundersen, Grete Pedersen: Signe Fuglesteg Luksengaard