Scandinavian Culture Calendar: April 2019
Where to go, what to see? It’s all happening here!
Northern Rites Concert (18 April)
This evening concert, performed by the award-winning vocal ensemble Sansara, will explore the heritage of music from the Scandinavian and Celtic traditions. The programme includes traditional Nordic tunes such as Bengt Ollén’s Trilo, Knut Nystedt’s O Crux and Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s arrangement of the Icelandic folk song Þann heilaga kross. 6pm. St John’s Smith Square, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HA, UK.
Talk and Supper Club: Henrik Vibskov and Malene Hartmann Rasmussen (24 April)
Messums Wiltshire Gallery’s next Talk and Supper Club is celebrating Danish art and culture with talks by Danish fashion designer Henrik Vibskov and ceramic artist Malene Hartmann Rasmussen, followed by supper in the Mess Restaurant. Vibskov’s immersive installation The Onion Farm is currently displayed at the gallery. 6.30pm. Messums Wiltshire, Court Street, Salisbury SP3 6LW, UK.
Walpurgis Night in Sweden (30 April)
Sweden’s ‘other Halloween’ will be celebrated across the country with bonfires and folk songs on the last day of April. Walpurgis Night (or ‘Valborgsmässoafton’ in Swedish) can be traced all the way back to pagan Norse celebrations in Scandinavia thousands of years before the arrival of Christianity. Various locations, Sweden.
St Paul’s Cathedral Fantastic Feats Organ Festival with Bine Bryndorf (2 May)
The Fantastic Feats Organ Festival at St Paul’s Cathedral features five of the world’s organ-playing masters, performing music spanning five centuries. Kicking off the series is Denmark’s Bine Bryndorf, the castle organist at Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød and a professor of organ at the Royal Academy of Music in London. 6.30pm. St. Paul’s Cathedral, St. Paul’s Churchyard, London EC4M 8AD, UK.
Scandinavian Craft Weekend (4-5 May)
Learn how to carve a Dala Horse, weave a birch-bark basket and make other traditional Scandinavian crafts during this outdoor weekend event in Warminster. Organised by Explore The Great Outdoors, the course will teach you a range of Scandinavian craft techniques and also serve traditional Scandinavian dishes. Warminster Five Ash Lane, Warminster BA12, UK.
Photo: Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen
Live music with Ace Rosewall (8 May)
Ace Rosewall, an acoustic singer and songwriter from Denmark, started playing in London in 2017 and has since become a well-known face on London’s underground music scene. This evening in May, he will be performing together with Ariana Brophy, a Canadian folk singer. 6.45pm. Apples and Pears Bar, 26 Osborn Street, E1 6TD London, UK.
Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen (10-11 May)
Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen 2019 returns to Copenhagen for the eighth time, celebrating the north’s popular drink together with guests and breweries from around the world. Mikkeller is a Danish microbrewery founded in 2006 by Mikkel Borg Bjergsø as an experiment with malt and yeast in his kitchen. It has since opened breweries across Europe, America and Asia. Øksnehallen, Halmtorvet 11, 1700 Copenhagen
Mox Mäkelä: Strange (15 May)
Part drama, part satire, Strange tells the story of an androgynous foreigner who travels the Finnish landscape and encounters a series of absurd yet tragic events. The new audio-visual work by Finnish Mox Mäkelä will have its UK premiere at Tate Modern. Mäkelä is a conceptual artist who, since the late 1970s, has explored literary and ecological themes in her films and installations. 6.30pm. Starr Cinema, Bankside, London SE1 9TG, UK.
Santtu-Matias Rouvali conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra (30 May)
Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali and violinist Pekka Kuusisto will join the Philharmonia Orchestra this spring and, in the words of the organisers, “bring their energy and invention to music infused with rhythmic vigour”. Among other pieces, they will perform Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto and Petrushka. 7.30pm. Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, UK.
Left to right: Ace Rosewall. Photo: Toppedwith, Pekka Kuusisto. Photo: Kaapo Kamu
TEXT BY SANNE WASS
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