Nordic Music Days comes to Glasgow

Long-running contemporary classical music festival Nordic Music Days is set to take place in Scotland for the first time in its 136-year history later this month. The 2024 festival will feature over 200 musicians and composers from Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and (for the first time this year) Scotland.

The Glasgow 2024 festival marks the third time the festival will take place outside the Nordic countries in its history. The event will present a series of concerts, sound installations, talks, screenings, participatory events and industry events throughout the city from 30 October until 3 November.

Martin Jonsson Tibblin, chair of the Council of Nordic Composers and the Swedish Society of Composers, said: ‘Nordic Music Days has been an unmissable event for over a century. It’s a chance for composers from across the region to gather together, hear each other’s music, discuss trends and ideas, and to share and develop cultural and artistic experiences. There’s a strong affinity to Scottish music and culture in the Nordics, so the Council of Nordic Composers is looking forward to seeing the opportunities that open up for composers, performers, organisations, and audiences as a result of this exciting new partnership, which I believe will last long after the festival.’

Emma Campbell, music officer at Creative Scotland said: ‘Scotland’s music is distinguished by an adventurous spirit that’s ready to share with the rest of the world. We are delighted that our own UNESCO City of Music will host a festival that seeks out old, new and surprising points of connection between Scotland and our like-minded neighbours in the Nordic regions. Thanks to the collaborative vision of the Nordic Council of Composers, the RSNO and the festival organisers, audiences can look forward to celebrating bold and ambitious new music that will build a lasting legacy between our countries.’

Established by the Council in 1888, Nordic Music Days are an initiative by the Council of Nordic Composers (NKR), which represents over 1,500 composers and sound artists across the Nordics. The 2024 festival is managed by the Danish Composers Society in partnership with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, NKR’s lead partner in Scotland. The curator team for this year’s festival includes composers Tróndur Bogason (Faroe Islands), Lauri Supponen (Finland), Guoste Tamulynaite (Norway) and Gillian Moore and Pippa Murphy (Scotland).

The theme of this year’s festival is ‘Word of Mouth’, and Scottish partners are set to include Sound Festival, Drake Music Scotland, Hebrides Ensemble, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, Scottish Music Centre, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow Life/UNESCO City of Music and the Centre for Contemporary Arts, which will be the Nordic Music Days’ official Festival Club from 10pm each evening.

The University of Glasgow, will also partner with the festival as well as hosting the Nordic Music Days Conference, focusing on music education and community practice, instruments, sounds and technologies and impacts of innovation and experimentation.