Norway in focus at one of Europe's most important folk music arenas
In January 2024, Norwegian traditional music will have a central place at the prestigious showcase festival Showcase Scotland in Glasgow.
Written by Tina Brodal,
Norway has been selected to be a "partner country" during Showcase Scotland in Glasgow. This means that six selected artists get a unique chance to play exclusive concerts in front of 200 of the most important booking agents and industry professionals in Europe. At the same time, the artists are offered to do a concert at Celtic Connections, which runs parallel to Showcase Scotland and is one of the largest folk music festivals in Europe with over 130,000 audiences over 18 days.
Three year Partner agreement
The news were announced during an official reception in Glasgow on Sunday 29 January where the group Ævestaden played. Representatives from Showcase Scotland and the Norwegian Consulate General in Edinburgh, as well as the Norwegian partners Music Norway and FolkOrg, were present. The project is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and the Foreign Ministry, and the partnership agreement runs over three years, where we work closely with the organizer to get the most effect and visibility both before and after the focus year.
- We are extremely happy to have the opportunity to showcase our fantastically talented folk musicians to an international audience, says project manager in Music Norway Aslak Oppebøen. This is also a strategic milestone in our export program for traditional music EX.TRA where we run an artist development program in parallel to internationalize the Norwegian musicians, Oppebøen concludes.
During this year's Celtic Connections, Ævestaden also played at the Theater Royal, while the duo Sarah-Jane Summers and Juhani Silvola played a concert in Glasgow's concert hall together with Scottish string players.
The application deadline for taking part in next year's Showcase Scotland will be announced in March.