With most knots untangled

Peder Niilas reflects around the progress after the third gathering with Borealis Ung Komponist 2022!

Peder Niilas Tårnesvik | Photo: Thor Brødreskift

At the end of November the four participants of Borealis Ung Komponist met up for their third workshop, together with ensemble they are creating music for, TABULA RASA. The mentor for workshop number three was violinist and composer Harpreet Bansal. 

We’ve had a little chat with Peder Niilas Tårnesvik to hear how far the four participants have come!

Peder Niilas: We have now finally found the framework for how the compositions are going to be put together and performed! Until now there has been a lot of testing – some ideas have been exciting and some have been less practical. I’m so relieved that I’m now in a more settled place with the project, where both the ensemble and I are happy, yet still being challenged in a good way. What’s left is to really finalise the draft of the piece, formalise it into a score, and let the ensemble practice until the last workshop. 

The workshops have definitely been intense and challenging – but in a good way! It feels incredible to be at the stage where I can see all the progression that I’ve put behind me. It’s been a new experience for me to work so closely with the other composers, and have time to get to know the ensemble. I come from a more solitary creative background, where I’ve had a lot of time for thinking, planning and fine-tuning. This project is in many ways the complete opposite – a new type of platform and a new way for me to make music! It’s sometimes felt like a bit of a battle to see the finish line, when so much is new to me. But I really enjoy how everyone comments and helps out with each other’s compositions throughout the days, and how much inspiration there is to gather from all the minds and works being figured out together.
 
Now that I’ve untangled most of the knots with the piece I am only looking forward to the last gathering in January! I think I’m at a place where the last bits of the process will go pretty smoothly. But first I am looking forward to Christmas Holiday, after this unusually intense Autumn with the country having been more opened up again. Now I only have one more concert to perform, before I can put down the laptop for a while and charge the batteries again. And then I look forward to being fresh and ready with lots of energy and motivation for 2022! 

Peder Niilas Tårnesvik has establised himself with great power in the last couple of years as one of the most interesting electronica artists and producers in Norway. With his project Niilas he stepped out of the shadows and released his first full-length album titled Also This Will Change in 2020. The album received astonishing reviews and the success was further emphasised when he won a Norwegian Grammy for “Best Electronica” in 2020. In addition to his participation in Borealis Ung Komponist, Niilas is creating a commission piece to be performed for swimmers at the Nordnes Sjøbad in Bergen during Borealis 2022.