Vestfold International Festival

The festival reveals and revels in the region`s cultural heritage through music and other performances. The festival is a meeting place for Norwegian and foreign artists, both amateurs and professionals, in a setting that ranges from the traditional to the avant-garde. A hallmark of this festival is the informal and sunny profile where the entire county is used as a festival arena, the jagged, rocky slopes along the coast and the inland waterfalls being used as backdrops.

English version by Jan Risvik

Jazz and World Music

Lila Downs. Larvik. Bølgen 4 June 08.00 pm

The Vestfold Festival 2010 opens the season with top-notch world music. With her crystal clear voice, Grammy winner Lila Downs from Mexico has conquered audiences all over the world.

Hot Latino Experience. Sandefjord. Verdensteateret 10 June 08.00 pm

Luizón Medina heads the Hot Latino Experience from Cuba. The music is a fascinating hybrid of Cuban salsa, Brazilian bossa with a dash of American jazz from Russia.

Sinfonia Flamenca. Sandefjord. Hjertnes. 11 June 07.00 pm

Flamenco guitarist Juan Carmona and his septet in a breakneck session with eminent KORK (Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra). ”Sinfonia Flamenca” is an audacious meeting between classical music and flamenco.

Egil Kapstad and Halvard Kausland. House Concert. Horten. 11 June 08.00 pm

The duo format piano and guitar is not frequently heard in a jazz setting. Best known is probably the cooperation between giants Bill Evans and Jim Hall.

Hilde’s bossaHefte. Jazz Brunch. Sandefjord. Rica Park Hotel 12 June 12.00 am

Hilde Hefte is undoubtedly one of the country’s most prominent jazz singers. In the hotel’s beautiful banquet hall, she invites us to an easy-going and exotic bossa nova brunch; inspired by the Latin cuisine.

Siwan. Larvik. Bølgen 13 June 08.00 pm

More than anything else, ”Siwan” demonstrates the powerful voice of world music star Amina Alaouis, hovering over Jon Balke’s remarkable music – composed for baroque soloists, with elements of jazz and improvisation.

Brazzfiesta. Nøtterøy Culture House. 18 June 08.00 pm

The Brazz Brothers take the New Orleans road to Cuba. A steady flow of music used to cross these waters, both ways, leaving its mark on early jazz as well as on Cuban popular music. Festive rhythms will echo through the Nøtterøy Culture House!

Oquestrada. Nøtterøy Culture House. 19 June 08.00 pm

Oquestrada counts among Portugal’s most brilliant and imaginative groups ever. Though their roots are deeply embedded in the fado tradition, they effortlessly take on a host of other genres.

Classical Music 

Munch suite for violin. Vestfold Haugar Art Museum. 5, 11, 12, 13 and 14 June 06.00 pm

Munch suite for solo violin performed during Haugar Vestfold Art Museum’s exhibition Munch and Åsgårdstrand – Beach of Love. Fifteen composers have been assigned to write a piece to accompany each of Munch’s pictures at the gallery as a musical interpretation of them. With violinist Henning Kraggerud

Alvesang. Tønsberg domkirke. 5 June 08.00 pm  

Beautiful song is the centrepiece of this concert. Besides Norwegian and English medieval music, the work “Eldarinwë líri”, with lyrics by J.R.R. Tolkien, will be performed for the first time. Written by Martin Romberg.

Gunilla Süssmann. House Concert. Bjerkø Nøtterøy. 6 June 08.00 pm

Gunilla Süssmann, one of Norway’s most accomplished young pianists, takes us through a diverse programme of music by i.a. Schumann and Grieg. Music tailor-made for a smaller audience.

Travelling with Gulliver. Løkken Tønsberg 8 June                                                     House Concert. Sandefjord. Traneveien 6. Both days 08.00 pm

Baroque composers and rowdy gipsy musicians; have they got anything in common? Evidently a lot, judging from Peter Spissky and Bjarte Eike’s concert. These mad-hatter violinists take their audience along on an exciting trip around Europe.

Salve Regina.  Larvik. Hedrum Church. 11 June 08.00 pm

Alessandro Scarlatti and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. No poem of the Italian baroque period has inspired more composers than has ”Salve Regina”. The lyrics stem from the vespers of the monasteries. These two beautiful versions are written for mezzo soprano and strings, and will be performed by Tuva Semmingsen and the Baroque Soloists.

La Serva Padrona. Larvik. The Mansion. 12 June 04.00 pm.                               Tønsberg. Jarlsberg Mansion. 14 Jun 08.00 pm

Pergolesi’s little opera, “La Serva Padrona” from 1733, is composed à la intermezzo italiano and is both light-hearted and diverting. The story deals with a glib-talking housemaid who dupes her master into marrying her.

Duo Gvito. Horten. Stallen 12 June. 09.00 pm

Two little first performances and a bundle of Latin American tunes. Duo Gvito, established in 1998, early showed their artistic qualities and have ever since reaped much acclaim for their musicality and ability to reach through to their audience. ”Masterful and energetic guitar play” Aftenposten

Sunrise Concert. Tjøme. Verdens Ende 13 June 04.00 am

At the mouth of the fjord, at sunrise, we will be listening to an exciting and sprightly version of one of classical music’s most well-known works. The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra presents Antonio Vivaldi’s ”The Four Seasons”.

Oslo String Quartet. House Concert. Sandefjord. Nordby farm. 14 June

Music by Grieg and Puccini. Edvard Grieg was a master of the small formats, and his music is just right for a house concert. Oslo String Quartet today enjoys a position as one of Scandinavia’s most sought-after and critic-acclaimed chamber ensembles.

Schumann in Evening Sun. Tjøme. Engø farm. 15 June 05.00 pm

Gunilla Süssmann and Oslo String Quartet play together for the first time, celebrating the 200th anniversary of Robert Schumann’s birth. The concert venue is the garden of beautiful Engø farm. Your concert ticket includes a tapas dish and a glass of wine.

Maria Vesper and Stabat Mater. Tønsberg Cathedral. 16 June 08.00 pm

Pergolesi’s ”Stabat Mater” for soprano, mezzo soprano and strings counts among church music’s most loved and frequently played works. With its ingenious simplicity and emotional depth, it has moved audiences through three centuries. His “Maria Vesper” will be performed by the Baroque Soloists and a group of first-rate singers.

Mar y Montana. Tønsberg Cathedral. 20 June 08.00 pm

A mass in 17th century Catalonia was quite different from what we envisage today.
Their musical instruments were typical of the Spanish tradition and a feast for the ear! With the Baroque Soloists and The Harp Consort.
 

Summer Concerts

Breaking Free. Songs to Edvard Munch. Åsgårdstrand. Raadhuset. 6 June 06.00 pm       

Ketil Bjørnstad and Kari Bremnes
Norwegian composer Ketil Bjørnstad has written music to several of Munch’s texts. Munch always wrote about his motives – poem fragments, prose lyrical pieces and novel drafts. ”Listen to” Scream, Melancholy, Sick Child a.o.

Ila Auto.                                                                                                            Stokke. Sundåsen Fort. 8 June 08.00 pm
Svelvik. Fossekleiva. 9 June 09.00 pm

Few things create more fun and recklessness than banjo and washboard. ”A Humour Bomb!” VG. Spellemann Winners (2006) Ila Auto is one of the countries best live bands – bluegrass and country rock.

Kim Larsen and Kjukken. Larvik. Bøkeskogen. 10 June 08.00

Potent rock’n roll and dancing Danish poetry. Prepare for noisy singsong under the tree crowns when Denmark’s greatest senior pop artist, Kim Larsen, and his band enter the stage in beautiful Bøkeskogen (the Beech Forrest).

Ole Paus & Gerhardsen’s Children. Holmestrand. Biorama. 16 June 08.00

Join in on a soulful journey with Norway’s finest ballad poet. His entourage is a charming bunch of vintage musicians of jazz rock.

Fjeld and Kvitnes. Veteran Trip. Kjærrafossen 17 June 08.00 pm

A down-to-earth concert with heart-warming songs by two of Norwegian root music’s most eminent artists. Perfect music on a summer’s day by the waterfall!

Andebu Children’s Festival. 18 June 04.30 pm. 19 June 04.00 pm

For the fifth year in a row, kids, big and small, gather at the Andebu Festival for children. This year, the pop stars of tomorrow conquer the stage.

Friday: Swedish comet Ulrik Munther and Andebu’s very own favourite Jørgen Dahl Moe.Saturday: Spellemann Winner Malin Reitan (Best Children’s Record 2009).

Fireworks Concert. Horten. Karlsjohansvern. 25 June 10.00 pm

This year, the Marine Music Band is joined by perhaps Norway’s most media-exposed young singers, namely Eurovision Song Contest winners Alexander Rybak and Didrik Solli-Tangen. The Fireworks Concert is simply pure magic.

Fjord Cruise with the Polar Vessel Berntine
26 June 01.00 ang 06.00 pm 27 June 02.00 pm

The Prune Princes take us along on a nostalgic cruise out the Sandefjordsfjorden, entertaining us with songs and exciting stories of the district’s rich marine and whaling history. 

Scene

William Shakespeare. A Midsummer Night’s Dream                                                               Horten. Karljohansvern. 13 June 16.00 and 19.00 pm 

Fantastic Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on Tour at Karljohansvern, with the immortal “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. A playful, teasing, funny and amazingly imaginative piece, where Shakespeare is lavish with some of his greatest dramatic poetry. Performed in English!

The Ash Lad and the Hundred Helpers
Tjøme. Engø farm. 21, 22, 23, 25 and 27 June 05.00 pm

Marvellous Engø farm provides the setting for the princess’s 16th birthday party. Guests are invited into the farm yard for champagne to celebrate her. The king wishes everybody welcome and the palace orchestra is playing. Then …! A performance extracted from Norwegian popular culture, for young and old, for the whole family.

 

 

All in all; the possibilities are countless!

For programdetails and booking, see www.vestfoldfestspillene.no
For assistance, call + 47 33 30 88 50

Ticket Information: 815 33 133