The Oslo Philharmonic launches its 26/27 season
For the first time in over 10 years, the Oslo Philharmonic engages a dedicated composer-in-residence. They have secured one of the most internationally awarded Norwegian composers, and the first Norwegian composer to receive the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation's Composers' Prize, Kristine Tjøgersen.
Written by Liv-Randi Holann
The three-year collaboration means that Tjøgersen will write new commissioned works for the orchestra and serve as an artistic dialogue partner throughout the period. Her music, characterised by a curious exploration of the nature of sound, drawing inspiration from biology and the natural sciences, is already well established on European concert stages, but the 26/27 season marks a new chapter in the relationship between her and the Oslo Philharmonic.
Three of Tjøgersen's works will be performed during the season: Wolpertinger receives its world premiere at the opening concert of the Ultima Festival on 10 September, in collaboration with IRCAM. In January, Ambra will be given its world premiere in a programme featuring Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. In February, Tjøgersen returns with Bioluminescence, a work in which the orchestra members themselves flash LED lights in choreographed patterns. The same programme includes Schumann's Violin Concerto with Vilde Frang and Stravinsky's The Firebird, conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado.
Read more about Tjøgersen in this article.
The 26/27 season comprises a total of five new commissioned works and ten contemporary works. In addition, the Oslo Philharmonic will bring Øyvind Torvund's Morning in the Forest to The Proms in London on 29 August, one of classical music's most prestigious venues.
Among the season's other highlights are Daniel Harding's performance of Mahler's Second Symphony in September, with soloists Sabine Devieilhe and Marianne Crebassa. September and October bring two of the world's foremost violinists, Veronika Eberle and Janine Jansen, performing Sibelius's Violin Concerto and Shostakovich's Violin Concerto respectively. In November, the orchestra opens a full Brahms festival with the 99-year-old Herbert Blomstedt on the podium. Emanuel Ax is the soloist in John Williams's Piano Concerto in February and Joyce DiDonato makes her debut with the Oslo Philharmonic in April, performing Berlioz's Les nuits d'été. The season concludes with Strauss's An Alpine Symphony under the direction of François-Xavier Roth, a work that requires 125 musicians.