For a country of only 4 million people to generate so many extraordinarily talented artists is in itself cause for celebration; the fact that they have established such a distinctive and global impact on music today is remarkable.

Norwegian Voices takes as its starting point some of the key elements that have distinguished the evolution of this unique music, and will include many of its most important figures as well as incorporating work representing present and future generations.

Please note, our competition for tickets has now ended and the winners have been notified.

Barbican, Silk Street, London EC2
Thursday 8 December 2005, 7.30pm
Tickets: £20-£15 + booking fee
Bookings: 020 7638 8891 www.barbican.org.uk

The artists taking part include:

Guitarist/composer Terje Rypdal’s career stretches back some five decades. A pivotal figure in a generation that also produced Jan Garbarek and Jon Christensen, his music uniquely spans the raw energy of rock, eerily spaced-out electronics and delicately-textured chamber and orchestral composition.

Terje will perform in duo with Sami singer Mari Boine, whose forthright and emotional voice evokes a centuries-old culture from the far North alongside an edgy, contemporary feel - one of Europe’s most individual singers.

Sidsel Endresen occupies a crucial space at the core of contemporary Norwegian vocalists, an improvisor and composer of real substance — she has been commissioned to create a new piece for multiple voices for this concert.

Supersilent are possibly the most influential and innovative creators of exploratory electronic sound on the planet, capable of creating the most minimal and abstract sounds as well as rocking out with washes of devastating noise and powerhouse rhythms that have influenced a whole movement of club moves and grooves. Supersilent include Helge Sten aka Deathprod, Jarle Vespestad, Stale Sorlokken and the extra-terrestrial voice and trumpet of Arve Henriksen, also appearing with Berit Opheim.

Brazz Brothers hail from the small island of Sula on the West coast of Norway, and come from a century-old tradition of brass and wind ensembles. Taking traditional music and jazz-inspired improvisation in equal measures, the Brothers will also lead an education project linked to Norwegian Voices.

Ketil Bjørnstad is a major cultural icon in today’s Norway - composer, pianist, lyricist, author (most recently of an imagined autobiography of artist Edvard Munch). He plays here as leader of a new quartet including the seminal bassist Arild Andersen and British saxophonist Andy Sheppard.

Other artists include Karl Seglem, percussionist Terje Isungset, whose music incorporates elemental materials - wood and stone - derived from the Norwegian landscape; the duo of Food percussionist Thomas Stronen and leading British saxophonist Iain Ballamy; and the soaring voice of Berit Opheim.

Norwegian Voices will be kaleidoscopic and dramatic, incorporating a specially commissioned visual backdrop, incorporating prepared images and live VJ-ing created by London-based film-makers Yeast.