Gränslandet – A Symphonic Festival
With a strong commitment to take classical music to new places and reach a wider audience, pianist David Huang and conductor Christian Karlsen founded Gränslandet – A Symphonic Festival in the summer of 2017. Since then, they have collaborated with some of the best musicians and artists of our time. With support from Signatur Foundation Sweden among others, they create unique music experiences for people of all ages, regardless of background and previous musical knowledge.
The 2022 festival
Gränslandet – A Symphonic Festival 2022 was produced by David Huang and Christian Karlsen in partnership with Trädgården. The festival attendees met explosive, maximalist symphonic dance music by Kleerup, whose biggest hits will be performed by a symphonic orchestra for the first time, and by Sergei Rachmaninoff. SYMFONIORKESTERN and Christian Karlsen offered boundless and epic love through Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Rachmaninoffs expansive second piano concert and surrealist, superb virtuosity in Anders Hillborg’s Violin concert.
Robert Fux returned as Master of Ceremony, and solists included Norwegian violinst Eldbjørg Hemsing, one of the leading young violinists in the world according to BBC Music Magazine, and star pianist David Huang. Apart from Kleerup, the main pop collaboration in 2022 came from Frida Hyvönen, who has won multiple awards for her compositions and lyrics.
Family concert
On Saturday afternoon, the festival offered a variety of experiences to families with children up to the age of 12, ranging from SYMFONIORKESTERN’s performances of excerpts from Bizet’s Carmen, the Young at the Opera show ”The Greatest Feelings”, trying out costumes and instruments, a player piano and a creative recycling workshop with scenographic artist Anke Laerenbergh.
More about Gränslandet 2022
The festival opened with pioneer Grazyna Bacewicz’s spectacular concert ouverture and Ester Mägi’s masterly Symphony. It was the first performance in Sweden of Mägi’s intense music, composed during Soviet occupation of Estonia.
The festival nights ended in a club frenzy with Gränslandet Silent Experience, a concert concept in collaboration with Yamaha Music Scandinavia, which allows the audience to experience live performances in wireless headphones.
For more information, please visit Gränslandet’s website: symfoniskfest.se
