2024 has given us many new favourites, and reminded us of music we never get sick of.
From Beverly Glenn-Copeland to Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Okkyung Lee to Ævestaden, Sarouna to György Ligeti – sneak out and listen to our delicious playlist!
Peter Meanwell has served as Artistic Director of Borealis – a festival for experimental music – since his first festival in 2015. Under his leadership, the festival has established itself as one of the most important platforms for innovative and boundary-pushing music in Norway and internationally.
Meanwell has played a key role in expanding the artistic profile of the festival through programming and commissioning a bold mix of local and global experimental music and strengthening the organisation’s focus on diversity, sustainability, and social engagement, creating unique connections between music, society, and audiences.
“Led by Peter Meanwell (…) Borealis (…) has created a rare space for lively exploration in a notoriously selfserious field.” Jennifer Gersten, The New York Times
His last term will conclude after Borealis 2026, and the position will be advertised in the course of 2025.
Photo: Thor Brødreskift
We are so happy to have a diverse and dedicated board who takes care of Borealis’ values and vision.
Together with the Chair of the Board Elise Sæle Dahle we would like to thank Jostein Gundersen, Inish and Carol Stampone who finished their term on our board this spring, and welcome our new board members Ruth Grung, Katarina Dorothea Isaksen and Sergei Chirkov!
We are so happy to have Aistė Žumbakytė join our team as our new Head of Production!
Aistė comes from Lithuania, where she studied Art Management and worked with film, music and festivals. In Bergen, she started as an intern during Borealis 2013, and volunteered for BIT Teatergarasjen’s Oktoberdans. This was the start of her professional journey with experimental music and interdisciplinary stage production. She has worked as a freelance producer for Neither Nor, Ursus Produksjoner, Open Window Theatre, nyMusikk Bergen, Alwynne Pritchard and a number of other artists. Previously, she has been a Producer and Managing Director for the concert series Avgarde, and recently she has been substituting for the tour manager of Carte Blanche, as well as having been employed in project positions for Borealis. Now we are very happy that she is more permanently joining our team!
We have a team of six people working throughout the year, but as the festival approaches, we need more hands and energy to contribute to the realisation of the festival in March. Would you like to be part of our team? Apply by December 5!
We’re looking for:
🚗Transport & Logistics Coordinator
🎟️Ticket Coordinator
💪Event Managers
It doesn’t get any cheaper than this! Get your Early Bird Borealis Pass now – limited amount. The Borealis Pass gives you access to all the concerts at the festival for only NOK 50,–. Like last year – our pricing system is scaled so you can choose the price that fits you and your life situation best.
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.
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.
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
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.