Soprano Camilla Ediassen (30) and pianist Joachim Kjelsaas Kwetzinsky (29) are travelling to Sudan together with archaeologist Henriette Hafsaas (30) on Thursday 17th of January. The musicians will stay in Sudan for a week, and they will give concerts in the Sudanese cities Omdurman and Khartoum. The main event will be a free concert on Saturday 19th of January in the National Theatre in Omdurman for an audience of around 350 persons.
16/01/2008 :: The duo is invited to Sudan by businessman Mahmoud Salih and PhD researcher Henriette Hafsaas – both connected to the Sudan milieu at the University of Bergen, Norway.
The musicians are looking forward to the concerts, where they will present works by the Norwegian composers Edvard Grieg, Geir Tveitt, and Harald Sæverud. All of them are known for having used folklore as an inspiration for their music. Geir Tveitt himself toured North Africa in the 1940s and 50s with his piano carried between two camels, but he never made it to Sudan. Joachim remarks that although classical music from Norway has an entirely different sound than traditional music from Sudan, many of the songs in the program have connections to North Africa.
The aim of the concerts is to present Norwegian music to the Sudanese people, and the entrance will be free. The concerts are financed by Mahmoud Salih, the Norwegian Foreign Department, the Royal Norwegian Embassy to Sudan, and the Municipality of Bergen.
The Concert Programme:
19.01: National Theatre in Omdurman in cooperation with Abdel Karim Mighrani’s Cultural Centre
21.01: Ergamenis in Khartoum in cooperation with the Greek Community.
22.01: National Theatre in Omdurman in cooperation with Abdel Karim Mighrani’s Cultural Centre.