Nobel Laureate choral concert 2011
A luminous musical programme conveying the spirit of the Symposium. Takes place 17 May at Eric Ericssonhallen, Stockholm.
The concert will be the premiere performance of Sven-David Sandström’s new choral work Human Chain. The concert will be given on May 17 under the leadership of Gustaf Sjökvist and his chamber choir in the Eric Ericson Hall, in conjunction with the 3rd Nobel Laureate Symposium on Global Sustainability. The theme of the concert is linked to the major issue in the Symposium of whether the world’s societal system can be accommodated within planetary boundaries. The concert is being organised by the Symposium organisers and the City of Stockholm.
The City of Stockholm and the organisers of the 3rd Nobel Laureate Symposium on Global Sustainability are arranging a choral concert in the Eric Ericson Hall on May 17 in conjunction with the major Nobel Laureate Symposium at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on May 16-19.
Under the leadership of Professor Gustaf Sjökvist and his chamber choir, the premiere performance will be given of Sven-David Sandström’s specially commissioned choral work Human Chain with text by Seamus Heaney, Nobel Laureate in Literature 1995, from his critically acclaimed collection of poetry with the same title, which was published last year.
Human Chain is linked to important questions at the Nobel Laureate Symposium on how human societies can be transformed into sustainable systems in order to avoid exceeding the planetary capacity to support human development. The actor Elin Klinga will recite the Heaney text as part of the choral performance.
Sven-David Sandström is one of Sweden’s greatest living composers. He made his international breakthrough in 1972 in Amsterdam with the orchestral piece Through and through. His more well-known works include Requiem: De ur alla minnen fallna (1982), High Mass (1994) for soloists, choir and orchestra and the opera Staden (1996) with libretto by Katarina Frostenson.
Gustaf Sjökvist has been working at Storkyrkan in Stockholm since 1967, as cathedral organist responsible for the cathedral’s choral and concert activities. He studied choir conducting with Eric Ericson and orchestral conducting with Sixten Ehrling, and worked as lead conductor and artistic director for Radiokören during the period 1986-1994.
Later in the programme, Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Laureate in Literature 1991, will read her short story The Ultimate Safari on the challenges facing a family fleeing Mozambique for South Africa, as told by a young black girl.
During the evening the Adolf Fredrik Boys Choir will also be performing, under the leadership of Pelle Olofson.
The scenography for the choral concert will consist of large photographic banners installed in the Eric Ericson Hall, with images by the photographer Mattias Klum. These banners will create space and presence in the hall, combining images of urban systems and natural ecosystems. Mattias Klum has also been affiliated with Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University since 2010, contributing for example to the Centre’s Master’s programme.
The chefs Carola Magnusson and Jan Hedh in collaboration with Westers Catering will prepare the organic buffet served during the evening.
“It is wonderful that the City of Stockholm, which was the first city in Europe to be declared an Environmental Capital City, has the opportunity to serve as host for the Nobel Laureate Choral Concert 2011, together with the Symposium’s host organisations. The City of Stockholm has long been working to become a sustainable environmental city of world class standard. My hope is that the discussions between the participants in the Symposium will be rewarding. The world is facing major challenges in the future and hopefully some of the future solutions can be created in Stockholm between 16 and 19 May 2011” said Sten Nordin, Mayor of Stockholm.
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