Bergen International Festival 2024

Founded in 1953, the Bergen International Festival is the flagship of music and theater festivals in the Nordic countries. It takes place every year for 15 days in May and June. A hub of the Northern European arts scene, the festival offers a diverse program known for world premieres and new productions in music, opera, theater and dance. Unique venues, including the home of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg and the 760-year-old royal hall Håkonshallen, provide an impressive historical setting for a vibrant festival that offers audiences live events on numerous indoor and outdoor stages each year.

This year’s program focuses on the compositions of Norwegian composer Øyvind Torvund. Torvund is one of Norway’s most prominent and sought-after composers. The program includes a site-specific adaptation of Øyvind Torvund’s symphony for the Kunstnernes Hus in the Grieghallen. The work will be performed by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in the foyer of the Grieghallen, on the first and second floors and in the main hall, on a small stage, in a corner, under the stairs and on the main stage. The various instrumental groups are divided up and the audience wanders back and forth between them, sometimes experiencing the music simultaneously, but also experiencing it more separately the closer they get to one of the instrumental groups. In the second part of the concert, the audience gathers in the Grieg Concert Hall and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra plays Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor. Another program highlight of the festival is a concert with Yarn/Wire and JACK Quartet in the Håkonshallen. The two quartets will perform the world premiere of a new version of a composition for octet by Øyvind Torvund. In an interactive concert with Yarn/Wire, children are the participating audience, contributing to the sound with various instruments. The project is based on the Forest Concerts compositions by Øyvind Torvund and illustrations by Åshild Kanstad Johnsen. The Bergen International Festival 2024 is supported by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

Further information:
fib.no

Dates

May 22 – June 5, 2024
Various locations, Bergen