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As a volunteer you get to see how the festival works from the inside, meet interesting new people, have great concert experiences and get certified work experience.

We need people to be Front of House, Drivers, Riggers, Poster and Programme Distributors, Runners and Artist Contacts.

Stories of Home in Bergen and Hong Kong

Connected to Tze Yeung Ho’s new opera Nara which will open Borealis 2025, Hong Kong based artists Dorothy and Benjamin join Borealis to research the wider stories of the Hong Kong diaspora in Bergen, and how tales of migration and the sea connect our two communities. 

On Saturday 23 November they invite you to Northing Space, where they will present their previous work and the research they are doing in Bergen, and to sit down with them to listen to stories the way people used to sit around a fire listening  to stories a long time ago. 

Listening with Okkyung Lee

Join us for this exciting edition of Borealis Listening Club with our very special guest; exploratory cellist, composer and improviser Okkyung Lee – this time in meat factory turned culture house Bergen Kjøtt! Okkyung will join us in Bergen to share music that inspires and gives her joy. The bar in Bergen Kjøtt will be open.

Tuesday 26 November, 19.00–21.00, Bergen Kjøtt – Fabrikkhallen, free entrance

Listening Sauna at Laugaren

1-3 November Laugaren celebrate their birthday with a sauna marathon spanning three whole days! Day and night from Friday at 07:00 to Sunday at 23:00, Laugaren will be filled with rituals, concerts, lectures, courses, workshops and much more!

18:00–19:30 on Saturday, we take over the sauna with experimental music and sound for warm bodies! Join us when we press play, and take you through a listening session that awakens all the senses. Open your ears and experience the magical combination of Laugaren’s lovely open atmosphere, combined with our passion for explorative music.

BLC #51

In our next listening session, come hear what’s on the inspiration list of composer, viola player and music educator SIGURD FISCHER OLSEN! His projects range from sound installations and stage art to contemporary music and miniature forms. His works have been performed by ensembles and orchestras like Oslo Sinfonietta and KORK, and he is currently one of the mentors for the Borealis Ung Komponist programme. At BLC we get deeper insight into his composer practice by listening together to what inspires and occupies him.

A new Borealis face

Our team is constantly developing! This autumn we celebrate one year together with Agnes Hvizdalek as Managing Director, and that we have gained a wonderful new employee: Güliz Portakaloğlu!

Güliz will work as a Project Manager and Administration Assistant through the aspirant programme by Arts and Culture Norway, and has main responsibilities for Borealis Ung Komponist and Borealis Listening Club.

Photo: Eleni Ieremia

BLC #50

Welcome to the 50th edition, and a brand new season of Borealis Listening Club on 10 September, 19:00–21:00 in Studio 207! 

For the first BLC gathering of the season, we invite the four exciting young voices selected for this year’s mentor programme Borealis Ung Komponist! Daiyen Jone Castro, Eira Sjaastad Huse, Evelin Lindberg and Jakob Thonander Glans will each present music and sound that inspires or occupies them, drawing on punk rock, opera, latin jazz and futuristic technology in their music-making. We’ll get to know the four participants through the sound and music they share with us, and together reflect around the inner workings and various stages of creating music.

Photo: Magnus Trevisan, Astrid Solberg, Jonas Gren & Jin Kazama

Save the dates!

We’re thrilled to invite you to a brand new season of Borealis Listening Club! This season, we’ll get the unique chance to get deeper insight into the process of creating music by reflecting with and listening to inspiration from the participants and mentors of this year’s Borealis Ung Komponist

Awaiting you as always is tons of popcorn on the tables, exciting juice and topp stemning! See you at 19:00–21:00 in Studio 207 (Strandgaten 207) on these dates: 10 September, 22 October, 26 November & 21 January!

Podcast with Liisa-Rávná Finbog

Listen to the reflections of Liisa-Rávná Finbog that was recorded by Radio Web MACBA at Borealis 2024

In this podcast, Radio Web MACBA talks with indigenous Sámi researcher, curator and artist Liisa-Rávná Finbog about museums, collections, and colonialism, to challenge hierarchies, cultural extractives, and the hidden violence in any process of cultural assimilation.

At Borealis 2024 she was part of Borealis Conversation: Sámi Listening

Co-produced by Radio Web MACBA and Borealis – a festival for experimental music. Made possible by Borealis’ delegate program and New Perspectives for Action – a project by Re-Imagine Europe, co-funded by the European Union.

Abigael on new adventures!

Abigael Asgedom aka DJ Joy has worked with us since 2019, and has given the festival and us in the administration a lot of joy and learning.

We thank her for five wonderful years together and wish her the best of luck in the future with all her projects and endeavours!