– a musical performance based on The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen
November marks the beginning of Advent — a season filled with expectations of togetherness, joy, abundance, and belonging. We draw closer to those nearest to us, and it becomes so easy to lose sight of “what lies outside.”
Little Match Girl Passion is based on the story of The Little Match Girl — a tale many of us know well. It speaks of poverty, loneliness, exclusion, hardship, injustice, and indifference, but also of hope, beauty, memory, and longing.
The performance in Stavanger Cathedral is created by Liv Runesdatter and Liv Kristin Holmberg, for the award-winning vocal ensemble Song Circus. The music is composed by the American composer David Lang, who received the Pulitzer Prize for this work.
Director Liv Kristin Holmberg draws inspiration from one of the oldest cultural structures we have — the liturgy.
She has created a performance that becomes a sensory ritual of care. During parts of the performance, the audience is invited (voluntarily) to wear blindfolds — an act that heightens the other senses.
Little Match Girl Passion engages both thought and emotion — in the best possible way. Our wish is to create an atmosphere of safety, trust, calm, and community.
Artistic Director: Liv Runesdatter
Director: Liv Kristin Holmberg
Singers (Song Circus):
Liv Runesdatter, Ingeborg Dalheim, Eva Bjerga Haugen, and Sindre Øgaard
Dance Artists:
Ingvild Maria Thingnes, Cesilie Kverneland, Marie Bru Eide, and Viljar Irtun Moe
Other Participants:
Local contributors from the Stavanger region, dialogue priest and therapist Silje Trym Martinssen, parish priest of St. Johannes Per Arne Tengesdal, Dean Sølvi Vinnes, and Bishop of Stavanger Anne Lise Ådnøy. Texts from 3rd-grade pupils at Storhaug School, in dialogue with teacher Tine Andersen.
Presented by: Song Circus, the Norwegian Organ Festival, and Stavanger Cathedral
The production is supported by The Bergesen Foundation and The Norwegian Organ Festival. Song Circus is also supported by Arts Council Norway and the City of Stavanger.