The Nordic Choir Expedition –
Ars Nova Copenhagen: One foot in Eden

Sat. 3.6.2023 6.30 PM 
Paavo Hall, Musiikkitalo
Tickets: 25/20/15 € from Ticketmaster

The Festival Pass to all four concerts 70/56/42 €,  from Ticketmaster.
Note! The Festival Pass also includes the concert at Kallio Church on 2.6.2023.

Ars Nova Copenhagen
Graham Ross, conductor

CAROLINE SHAW: How to fold the Wind 
NICHOLAS MAW: One foot in Eden still I stand
ROBERT PEARSALL: Lay a garland
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Turtle Dove
JOHN FRANDSEN: Weather4Casts
JAMES MACMILLAN: The gallant weaver
JAMES ERB (ARR.): Shenandoah

This concert, presented by Ars Nova Copenhagen, offers a thought-provoking journey through the evolving relationship between humanity and the natural world. Spanning centuries of musical composition, the concert explores how art reflects the evolution of our relationship with nature.
    The program takes its name from Nicolas Maw's hauntingly beautiful One foot in Eden still I stand (1990), a profound reflection on the impact of industrialisation on our connection with nature. Wind and weather are the inspiration for two pieces that could be seen as examples of this detachment, Caroline Shaw's enigmatic How to fold the wind (2020) and John Frandsen's Weather4Cast (2014), which incorporates actual weather forecasts in a prosaic and ironic way.
    This perspective on nature is balanced by a selection of pieces that evoke an older, more immediate relationship with the natural world. Nature is used here as a metaphor to express complex human emotions such as loss, hope, longing, and joy. Several of these pieces draw on the traditional folk songs of the English-speaking world, with Vaughan Williams The Turtle Dove (1924) and James MacMillan's The gallant weaver (1997) serving as notable examples of this stylistic inspiration.
    Through this journey of contrasts, the program invites us to reflect on our own relationship with the natural world and to consider how we might rediscover a sense of connection and immediacy in our own lives.
ARS NOVA Copenhagen is a 12-piece vocal ensemble founded in 1979 and is widely recognized as one of the world's finest of its kind. The ensemble specializes in the interpretation of the polyphonic choral music of the renaissance and new vocal music. Ars Nova is also building collaborations with creative artists in different fields, as well as cultivating new modes of concert performance and innovative repertoire. The group's performances are marked with precision and nerve and with a sound that attracts attention worldwide. The ensemble is joined by guest conductor Graham Ross who has established an exceptional reputation as one of Britten's most sought-after young conductors and composers.  He is co-founder and Principal Conductor of The Dmitri Ensemble and Director of Music and Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and his extensive discography has earned consistently high praise. In demand as a regular guest conductor collaborations have included BBC Singers, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, and DR Vokal Ensemblet.

 The Nordic Choir Expedition has received funding from the European Union
and the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Culture and Art Programme