“Salmeklang” og traditional music with Gjermund Larsen Trio

Wednesday March 13, 19:00
(Doors open at 18:00)
Ris Church

Adult: 400 NOK
Senior/student: 300 NOK
Child: 100 NOK

Duration: 1 hour

Gjermund Larsen, fiddle
Andreas Utnem, piano/ harmonium
Sondre Meisfjord, double bass
Tuva Syvertsen, vocals

Gjermund Larsen Trio is an ensemble that has charmed and impressed audiences, critics, and award juries since 2006, with their innovative folk music projects. The trio consists of Gjermund Larsen (fiddle), Andreas Utnem (piano/harmonium), and Sondre Meisfjord (double bass). They welcome us to an unusual concert, with a programme that includes traditional hymns from Trøndelag, new music by Andreas Utnem, and a re-encounter with the commissioned work Salmeklang (‘Hymn sounds’), written on commission by the Church Music Festival in 2015. Together with Salmeklang, Gjermund Larsen Trio performs a selection of hymns that Larsen brings from the tradition in Trøndelag, some of them after Hilmar Alexandersen. Last but not least, there will be extracts from Andreas Utnem’s newest solo album, Du kjenner meg, released in 2023. On the album, Utnem has composed music for texts by Nobel Prize Winner Jon Fosse, giving them a sort of hymnal form. Tuva Syvertsen, known from Valkyrien Allstars, sings.

Gjermund Larsen Trio has taken traditional music from the area North Trøndelag as their starting point, creating a musical universe that breaks genre boundaries within folk music. As well as Gjermund Larsen himself, the trio consists of Andreas Utnem (harmonium and piano) and Sondre Meisfjord (double bass). The trio presents music with elements from Baroque music, contemporary music, pop, rock, bluegrass, and Scandinavian folk music. The trio has received several awards for their albums, among them Spellemannprisen (the Norwegian Grammy Awards) in the category ‘folk music’ for the album Ankomst (2008), and more recently for the album Salmeklang, with the Swedish group Nordic making a guest appearance. Salmeklang won TONO’s composer prize under Spellemannprisen. Gjermund Larsen Trio recently released its fifth album, Tøyen Sessions.

Tuva Livsdatter Syvertsen is a Norwegian musician and Hardanger fiddle player. She is best known as the fiddle player, vocalist, and front woman in the music group Valkyrien Allstars, which she started together with Ola Hilmen and Erik Sollid. Together with Erik Sollid, she won the Edvard Prize in 2015 for the music of Valkyrien Allstar’s album Farvel slekt og venner. During Spellemanprisen 2020, Valkyrien Allstars won in the category ‘folk songs’ for the album Slutte og byne, and Syvertsen was also nominated in the category ‘lyricist of the year’.

Photo: Gjermund Larsen Trio: Agnete Brun, Tuva Syvertsen: Knut Utler