Information in English

Welcome to the Choir Festival at Skinnskatteberg

The Festival is the only one of its kind in Sweden. The first Festival was in 1982. There has been music every year since then, apart from a break in 2009. The Festival is now back, with a full programme for people who love to sing.

All the choirs in Sweden have contributed songs to the Choir Festival's new songbook. For the first time, Sweden's entire choral music has been gathered together in a joint songbook. With this, we can enjoy the rich prism of music to be heard in one of the world's most choir-minded nations.

The aim of the festival is to be a meeting place for everyone who enjoys singing together. That is why we are making an extra effort to highlight Swedish choral singing. The new songbook is one aspect of this, and another is the programme which provides lots of opportunities to get together and sing. ”Busking” on Herrgårdsängen is one of the cornerstones of the Festival that we want to encourage and invite you to join in.

Our ears need something to listen to, and this year there are guest appearances at the Festival by the highly-regarded choir Voces Nordicae with their presentation Catching Eyes; the popular band Rongedal; Skinnskatteberg’s own church choir the St David’s choir; the jazz and folk singer Lina Adolphson; and many more.

For inspiration and delightful musical encounters, we offer an extensive programme of workshops led by outstanding music teachers. Below we present these:

Workshops

Choral fun and happiness with Arvid Nerdal & Peter Ekengren

They are back! These wonderful guys who set the 2007 Festival bubbling with Afro and gospel music. Arvid and Peter live and work in Uppsala. Their choir, Afro, has taken the concert halls by storm. Meeting and singing with Arvid and Peter is a guaranteed vitamin injection – lots of swing, fun and beautiful music.

You will find Arvid, Peter and lots of music at:
www.myspace.com/arvidnerdal
www.myspace.com/lionyouthsraspeter

Choral fun and games with Jörgen Krantz

Jörgen is an improvisation actor and teacher, and one of the originators of a new way of working with staged choir performances. With the improvisation theatre's equipment and playfulness to go with the singing, this offers an entirely new landscape for us choir singers. Blending warmth, humour and inquisitive senses, Jörgen’s workshop will open new perspectives for choral singing.

Read more about Jörgen at www.synergy-arts.com

Choirs for everyone with Simon Ljungman and Anci Hjulström

Choirs for everyone? Of course! In Sweden, this movement of new choir singers is growing. Everyone is welcome to come along and enjoy singing together. Simon and Anci are well-known and popular musicians, singers and teachers. You may have heard them in performances by the Amanda ensemble? If so, you will know that you – and why not your loved ones, your brother or colleagues at work – have a terrific workshop to look forward to. Seize the opportunity, and take everything you know to the Choir Festival, and sing in the Choirs for Everyone workshop.

Read more about us at www.hjartatsorkester.se and you can also see Simon and Anci at www.myspace.com/anciochsimon

The Choir Festival's new songbook with Marit Zetterström

What could be more glorious than hundreds of people singing together? The Choir Festival's new songbook contains songs from choirs all over Sweden, now brought together in a shared treasure-trove of songs. Which are today's favourite songs? This was the key question when compiling the new song book. We hereby invite you to enjoy this palette of songs forming the central repertoire that we can all share during these summer nights. Marit Zetterstöm, an inspiring choirmaster and devotee of choral music actively involved as a choir consultant in Western Sweden, and in building up choirs for the Sensus adult education institute, will take us through some of the songs. We will then hear these songs day and night during the festival in all sorts of unexpected situations. They will form a new and delightful repertoire for many choirs.

Moved by choirs with Lone Larsen

In 2008 Lone Larsen was voted Choirmaster of the Year in Sweden, reflecting Lone’s considerable and inspiring leadership. Lone is originally from Denmark, but has lived and worked for the last 10 years in Sweden. With her choir Voces Nordicae Lone has demonstrated the capacity of choral music to touch our hearts, both thanks to deep musical understanding and by its staging, a key part of our experience of the music.

Lone’s wonderful way of working with choirs promises an inspiring experience. Do not miss this opportunity to meet and sing with Lone during the 2010 Choir Festival.

More information about Lone at www.vocesnordicae.se

God is God (sung Mass) with Östen Eriksson, Anders Skogh & Lina Adolphson

Anders Skogh composes music for choirs and instruments. Working with people like Åsa Jinder, Ylva Eggehorn, Ulf Lundell, Linn Maria Wågberg and Lars Björklund he has arranged their poems and texts as texts – the musical contents in themed Masses during the year. The performances at church music festivals have brought together audiences of many hundreds. The growing interest in themed Masses lay behind the formation of the new Themed Choir (Temakören) in Bollnäs parish.

Östen Eriksson was born at Boda Game Research station at Enånger on 1 March 1958. From an early age, music was a vital part of his life. In 1980 Östen began to devote himself entirely to music. For five years he played with Iggesundsgänget (the Iggesund gang), toured, performed in plays and revues, until his band Östen med Resten was formed in 1985. Read more about Östen Eriksson at http://ostenmedresten.se

The choirmaster and singer Lina Adolphson will be leading the Mass workshop and the music during the church service. Read more about Lina Adolphson at www.linaadolphson.se


Matkullen early in the morning with Kerstin Sonnbäck and friends

If you are longing for a choral experience out of the ordinary, where nature and our folk music have pride of place, then make your way to Matkullen on Saturday morning. Kerstin Sonnbäck and friends will meet up, and we will get to know songs that have sprung up from Swedish soil. Magical, beautiful, close to nature.

Programme

We reserve the right to make changes

Friday 18 June

11:00 - 13:00 Arrival and registration
13:00 - 15:00 Workshop 1
16:00 - 18:00 Workshop 2
19:00 - 20:00 Welcome concert at the church with the St David’s choir from Skinnskatteberg
20:30 Singalong (Sporthallen)
21:30 Busking in the summer night (Herrgårdsängen)

Saturday 19 June

08:00 Workshop: Matkullen with Kerstin Sonnbäck
10:00 - 12:00 Workshop 3
13:15 Meeting up for the choir march
14:00 - 17:00 Opening ceremony and concert including Rongedal (Herrgårdsängen)
19:00 Catching eyes. Staged performance with Voces Nordicae and Lone Larsen (Sporthallen)
20:30 Ballads cottage with Bertil Olsson (Saltkällaren)
21:00 Busking in the summer night (Herrgårdsängen)

Sunday 20 June

09:00 - 10:15 Seminar for choirmasters, “Easy arranging for choirs” with Irene Perdahl
09:00 - 10:30 Rehearsal for choir members taking part in the Mas
11:00 - 12:00 High Mass (The church)
12:00 - 13:00 Sing as we walk to Herrgårdsängen and the closing ceremony