National Youth Choirs in the Nordic Countries
For the first time, five national youth choirs from the Nordic countries will come together at the Nordic Children and Youth Choir Festival Norbusang. The aim of the project, which has been granted funding in the 2025 Signatur Programme, is to create a network of young Nordic singers at the start of their musical careers and to enable high-level music-making when the choirs sing under the direction of some of the Nordic region’s leading conductors.
The choirs involved in the project are the Norwegian youth choir Norges Ungdomskor, the Swedish youth choir Sveriges Ungdomskör (SVUK), the Finnish youth choir Finlands Ungdomskör/Suomen Nuoriskuoro, Rytmisk Ungdomskor from Norway and Syng Selected from Denmark. The participating conductors are Julia Blank, Florian Benfer, Elisa Huovinen, Anthony Trecek-King and Line Groth Friis.
The meeting will happen at the Norbusang Festival so that closer ties can be forged between the national choirs and children’s and youth choirs from all over the Nordic region – Ung i kor knows that the best way to promote the national choirs is to let the singers sing for and with younger singers. During a four-day festival in Oslo in August, young choir singers aged 9 to 26 from all over the Nordic region will gather for workshops, concerts, games and socialising. The festival has a strong focus on Nordic languages and on choral singing as an inclusive arena.
The concerts of the national youth choirs will be open to the oldest participants of the Norbusang Festival, to the participants of the Nordklang Festival, and to the public. The national choirs will also make customised performances for the younger participants of the Norbusang Festival, as the festival is an important recruitment base for the choirs. Both younger and older singers will be inspired by their communal singing.
The participating choirs
Norges Ungdomskor
By participating in the Norwegian youth choir Norges Ungdomskor talented young singers aged 16 to 26 develop through programmes with inspiring conductors and challenging repertoire, as well as festivals and competitions. Singers are selected through annual auditions and through the choir they get to know other young singers from all over the country. Most participants come from music programmes at upper secondary schools or community colleges, or are students of music in higher education institutions.
Norges Ungdomskor is run by Ung i Kor with the aim of providing training opportunities for choir singers that is lacking in local choirs and regional programmes. Ung i Kor endeavours to ensure that its projects have a positive impact on youth choirs throughout Norway. This is partly because young singers themselves are inspired to further develop as ensemble musicians with choral singing as a musical expression, and partly because the skills that the singers bring back to their local context inspire other singers in the local choirs.
The choir sessions should be of a very high professional standard and promote youth choir singing as an art form. In this way, Norges Ungdomskor can inspire both the singers who participate and those who take part in the choir’s performances at concerts and festivals.
Norges Ungdomskor has won a number of prizes in international choir competitions, and in 2020 Norges Ungdomskor was one of 24 choirs from around the world invited to participate in the World Symposium of Choral Music in New Zealand.
Norges Ungdomskor is conducted by Julia Selina Blank.
Sveriges Ungdomskör
The Swedish national youth Choir Sveriges Ungdomskör (SVUK) is an national cutting edge education programme and a musical meeting place for young, ambitious choir singers from all over Sweden. The choir consists of 32 young people between the ages of 16 and 25, all of whom have broad experience of and a great interest in choral singing. SVUK places great emphasis on Swedish, Nordic and Baltic vocal music from different eras and genres. New music is important to the choir, and they endeavour to commission and perform choral works by young, still unestablished artists, as well as well-known composers. The choir works in project format under the auspices of UNGiKÖR (the Swedish children’s and youth choir association) and engages its conductors in 3-year project contracts.
Sveriges Ungdomskör is conducted by Florian Benfer.
Finlands Ungdomskör / Suomen Nuoriskuoro (FUNK)
The Finnish youth choir FUNK was founded in 2019 and consists of singers aged 16-29 from different parts of Finland. The aim of the choir is to create high-quality vocal music and offer a musical foundation and springboard for young people who want to develop into versatile singers and musicians. Several of the singers have a background from music community colleges and many have also chosen to study and work in the arts and music sectors.
Since its inception, the choir’s repertoire has mainly consisted of Finnish, Nordic and Baltic music, but also of works with orchestral accompaniment. The choir actively commissions new music, including Säde Bartling’s works Minä yksin ja meri and Triumf att finnas till. These works, premiered in summer 2021 and recorded in spring 2022, were inspired by the texts and poems of the choral singers. The singers’ own artistry is highly valued in the choir, which has led to increased creativity among the young people. Several singers arrange and compose their own music, which is also practised by the choir and performed in concerts.
FUNK is administered by DUNK – the music association for young people in Swedish-speaking Finland. FUNK is conducted by Elisa Huovinen.
Rytmisk Ungdomskor
Rytmisk Ungdomskor is a Norwegian national project choir for ambitious singers aged 17-26 who want to immerse themselves in and explore the rhythmic choral tradition. The music is based on and draws inspiration from the many different rhythmic genres.
The working method is largely based on interaction, listening, improvisation and physical anchoring such as groove and rhythm. The choir was founded in 2019 and as the artistic director is chosen for a project period of 1-3 years, the repertoire list and focus varies according to the artistic director’s vision. Artistic Director for 2025 is Anthony Trecek-King from the USA. Previous artistic directors have been Elisabeth Anvik, Benedikte Kruse and Anja Skybakmoen. Rytmisk Ungdomskor is run by Ung i Kor.
Syng Selected
Syng Selected is a rhythmic a cappella choir consisting of 32 of Denmark’s most talented young choir singers aged 18-30. The choir was formed in 2014 and has quickly gained a good reputation within rhythmic choral music culture. Syng Selected meets 4-5 times a year to rehearse and prepare for concerts. Members then spend a whole weekend together, taking part in a packed programme of rehearsals of new and old repertoire, exploring vocal technique, performance and artistic work on the songs, and not least, taking time to cultivate community in the choir.
The choir weekends are spent at one of Denmark’s beautiful boarding schools or community colleges, and the weekend often ends with a concert at the school in question as a thank you for the accommodation. Syng Selected also takes the opportunity to talk to the pupils about singing in a choir and all the cool things that this entails. It is part of the choir’s vision to spread choral singing among young people.
Syng Selected is conducted by Line Groth Friis.
About Ung i kor
Ung i Kor is a nationwide, independent and democratic organisation for children’s and youth choirs in Norway. Ung i Kor aims to strengthen the spread and quality of children’s and youth choir singing in Norway by promoting musical development, providing help and support to members, and providing training in democratic work. Ung i Kors’ vision is that ’Young voices should be heard!’ and the organisation has a strong focus on skills development for participants, members, instructors and conductors.
Ung i Kor is very happy about this collaboration between the national children’s and youth choir organisations Ung i Kor, UNGiKÖR, DUNK, Syng! and Norbusang and hope that it can be the start of a long-lasting co-operation for young choir singers at a high level in the Nordic countries!
Read more about Ung i Kor on their website www.ungikor.no
