It is autumn, and even though I am working a lot, it seems like the season makes everything just a little smoother, slower and more quiet.
Some highlights from the past four months:
Summer was festival time. The most charming of them all was the Dragon Festival in Jæren, with their 25th anniversary. We did a concert for the festival volunteers and partners in a cottage on Ølberg Beach. Outside the wind howled, and inside were the dragon enthusiasts, sitting close together in the tiny concert venue, listening to traditional Norwegian music arranged for voice, piano, accordion and an orchestra of wine glasses. It was as if I could breath them in, and after the concert I met them all personally. What a lovely bunch of people!
In August, September and October I had the pleasure of doing concerts in collaboration with a culture network organizing and financing culture events for elderly people. It was an enriching experience. I also had some deeply fascinating personal meetings on the way.
Before the summer I was assigned to write a piece for solo flute, and during the summer months I studied flute mechanics and technique, and rediscovered the instrument. I worked closely together with the Norwegian flutist Elisabeth Barstad and the first première took place in Stavanger on the 22nd of October. I am planning to publish a video performance of the piece later this year.
I have also had the pleasure of working with the pianist Lena Wegemo (Sweden / Norway). Together we rehearsed and performed music written to poems by the French poet and symbolist Paul Verlaine. The project is developing steadily in new directions. What a joy!
I am recording a new cd this autumn, «Dette er verda«, based on a commissioned piece I wrote for ICORN and Kapittel International Festival of Litterature and Freedom of Speech in 2012. The text is written by the wonderful poet Mansur Rajih (Yemen / NO). Read more about the projects here: https://runesdatter.no/category/projects/?lang=en ). The cd will be released next year. Participating musicians are Abdulrahman Surizehi (benju), Snorre Bjerck (percussion), Tor Yttredal (saxophones), Henning Rød Haugland (piano, accordion and percussion), Ilmari Hopkins (cello), Ivan Zavgorodniy and Roar Skjelbred (double bass).
And then my chamber ensemble Song Circus: In October we guested the GAS Festival and Levande Musik in Gothenburg. And in December we will be doing a tour in Rogaland with a music project that is new for us: meditation concerts and live contemporary music for yoga. The project is done in collaboration with Satya Yoga. In spring we will record a Blueray in cooperation with Lindberg Lyd / 2L, with music by Ole–Henrik Moe and Ruben Sverre Gjertsen.
I have been teaching cultural entrepreneurship at the University of Stavanger this autumn too. I also moved into a new studio this month: «Absinthen» – a newly renovated former cannery, the perfect working space for me.
I wish you all a lovely autumn!
Liv