The participants in the EX.TRA program

Get to know the nine artists

Written by Kristiane Lunde, 26. April 2022

Music Norway and FolkOrg's export program for traditional musicians - EX.TRA - has started and nine artists have been selected to participate in the project, which runs over one year and consists of gatherings, travels and mentoring.

- There has been great interest in the program and we received as many as 39 applications. Many good and qualified candidates made the jury work difficult, but I think we have selected a good group with a good genre spread, says Aslak Oppebøen, project manager in Music Norway.

The first gathering was 19th of April where they got a visit by Chris Cooke, one of England's foremost experts in the music industry, as well as PR agent, manager and industry veteran Inger Bråten who will act as a guide for the artists throughout the period.

- We hope that this initiative can help the artists we have to reach a larger audience internationally. We want to gather and share knowledge and networks, and make the way out shorter and more efficient, Oppebøen concludes.

The project is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The nine artists are: