What can you expect at Nordlysfestivalen in 2014?

To create a festival is in a sense making dreams come true. Thus the choice of theme for the next edition of the festival: Fantasy! And being able to present the Bolshoi-ballet in Norway for the first time since 1960 is just a “fantasy – come true”.

In music, the word “Fantasy” means a part of the piece of music where the musician is allowed freedom to interpret or improvise. Some composers even put this label on whole compositions or their variations over someone else’s work.  Through Nordlysfestivalen in 2014, you will find several examples of such fantasy elements; - the opening concert where Norway’s foremost violinist Henning Kraggerud invites the internationally famed philosopher and author Jostein Gaarder (Sofie’s World – author), the American jazz singer Simone’s presentation of her mother Nina’s songs with Tromsø Big Band or the beautiful soprano Julia Novikova’s “Songs to the Moon”.

The festival takes place from the 24^th of January through the 2^nd of February and ends with the Bolshoi-ballet as a grand finale. There will be some forty concerts at ten different venues, and the program will be varied including dance, jazz, contemporary music and of course several classical music concerts.