Nordic Music Days 2017

  • Martin Q Larsson

For four exciting festival days, Southbank Centre in the heart of London bubbled with activity as new musical encounters, installations and performances occured in every nook and cranny – concert-halls to public-spaces – in and around Southbank. A founding concept of the festival was Audience Engagement; finding a new audience for new music. A part of the year-long festival Nordic Matters, Nordic Music Days 2017 was a happening of new encounters, creativity, and receptiveness. It promoted an environment that supports the playful, the inclusive, and the innovative: a rendezvous between the Nordic and British, audience and artist, composer and musician, children and adults. The festival’s general goals were grounded in inclusivity, with a foundation of gender equality and diversity. We explored emancipated traditions, relaxed encounters, Nordic magic and mystery.