Description
"Musica Borealis" is created for facilitating contact with the public through the contemporary music and Norwegian culture. From the point of view of artists and people involved in cultural activities, the needs refer to the exchange of best practices between artists from Romania and those in Norway, fostering intercultural dialogue, increasing the mobility of artists and their works, and education through art namely, improving knowledge in the field. Also, reinforcing cooperation relations between Romanian and Norwegian cultural operators, create prerequisites for this evening of contemporary Norwegian music to be repeated in future editions of the “Cluj Modern” Festival The project contributes to increase awareness of cultural diversity and cultural dialogue. The general objective of the project is promoting cultural diversity through contemporary classical music. The specific objectives are better understanding of cultural diversity by exposing the general public to Norwegian culture, increased mobility for artists and their works at international level, strengthening intercultural dialogue and the exchange of good practices. The project will organise 'Musica Borealis' - a concert of contemporary-classical Norwegian music performed by Norwegian and Romanian artists, with participation of the famous composer Lasse Thoresen. The concert will be preceded by master classes held by Lasse Thoresen for 10 students from The Faculty of Composition at the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy, and a conference that will gather 60 people interested in Lasse Thoresen’s perspectives on contemporary music analysis. To ensure better visibility and increased audience, the Music Academy Gheorghe Dima will organize this thematic event within the international festival of contemporary music “Cluj Modern”. The target group is the general public in Cluj Napoca, musicians, students and pupils profile academic community from Cluj (teachers, researchers, musicologists, young composers).
Summary of project results
The project, Musica Borealis aimed at present contemporary art afficionados some of the most important contemporary Norwegian chamber music works, a musical territoire quite unknown to the Romanian public. The whole project was built around Norwegian composer and musicologist Lasse Thoresen’s presence as main guest, together with Duo Interplay (Maiken Mathisen Schau – flute and Trond Schau – piano). The concert featuring Duo Interplay and Romanian artists (AdHoc Contemporary Music Ensemble, conducted by Matei Pop), took place on 14 October 2015 and was very well received by the audience. Besides the Norwegian conteporary music concert (8 works written by some of the most important Norwegian composers – Lasse Thoresen, Arne Nordhorn, Bjorn Kruse a.o.), the project consisted also in two conferences and two composition workshops held by our main guest, professor Lasse Thoresen, on 12 and 13 October 2015. The first conference focused on techniques Mr. Lasse Thoresen uses in writing his own music, while the second discussed Enescu and Bartok’s music in Norwegian culture. During the workshops, young Romanian composers, students at the Music Academy in Cluj, were welcome to present some of their works and to discuss technical and philosophical aspects of musical composition. All the activities of the Musica Borealis project were well received by the audience, teachers, and students alike. The outcomes of the festival - the Musica Borealis concert (7 composers, 8 works, 2 Norwegian players, 11 Romanian artists, approx. 150 persons in the audience), the two conferences held by Lasse Thoresen (32 and 46 participants, respectively) and the two musical composition workshops (roughly 13 young composers, each) – are very significant, being an important step in the process of raising the level of understanding the cultural diversity by exposing the general public to Norwegian culture, reinforcing the relations between the Norwegian and the Romanian cultural organizations, finally, strengthening intercultural dialogue and the exchange of good practices.
Summary of bilateral results