Arctic Music Circles
A three-year collaborative project that actively works to strengthen and raise awareness of the region’s cultural heritage in the field of music.
Strengthen musical collaboration in northern Sweden, Finland, and Norway
Arctic Music Circles/Arctic Pulse is a three-year Interreg Aurora project running from September 1, 2023, to August 31, 2026. The project is a dynamic and innovative Nordic music collaboration aimed at developing the event organizing and music scenes in northern Sweden, Finland, and Norway. The project actively works to strengthen and highlight the region’s cultural heritage in the field of music. Artists with Sami and minority backgrounds, together with musicians from other cultures, collaborate on music productions that tour festivals, concert halls, and schools throughout the region. Increased cross-border collaboration and bilateral exchange between partner organizations are at the heart of the project’s activities.
Organizer meetings are held where organizers from the three countries come together to establish cross-border collaborations in an east-west direction rather than a north-south one. The host organizations in each country organize annual meetings where professional musicians and event organizers are welcome to participate. The first meeting was held in Kautokeino, Norway, in the fall of 2024. The next organizers’ meeting will take place in Kiruna on November 12–14, 2025, followed by one in Oulu, Finland, in February 2026.
Ensembles from the various countries are given the opportunity to tour and/or collaborate within the shared region, in order to create musical events that would otherwise be virtually impossible to stage. The aim of the project is to establish lasting collaborations that transcend both geographical and genre boundaries.
In addition to the Norrlandsoperan, the Interreg Aurora-funded collaboration is supported by the City of Umeå, Region Västerbotten, Norrbottensmusiken, the City of Luleå, Region Norrbotten, the City of Oulu, the City of Vaasa, Novia, Scene Nord in Tromsø, Musik i Nordland, and the Northern Norwegian Jazz Center, which together form networks to promote music and the performing arts across national borders.
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Arctic Pulse Orchestra – A Nordic collaboration in big band format
The Arctic Pulse Orchestra (APO) is an innovative big band project that brings together music students and professional musicians from Finland, Sweden, and Norway. With balanced representation from across the Nordic Arctic region, the orchestra serves as a meeting place where young talents and experienced section leaders come together to create a vibrant, dynamic, and modern big band sound.
The tour begins in Jakobstad and ends in Umeå in early March 2026.
Workshop and Concert in Jakobstad
The Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra, together with guest conductor Zoi Tsokanou and world-renowned violinist Alexandra Conunova, will perform at Schaumansalen in Jakobstad, presenting a concert featuring music by both Brahms and Dvořák. On the same day, there will also be an Artist Talk & music workshop for interested audience members. The concert is a Nordic collaboration between Arctic Music Circles, Schaumansalen, and the Norrlands Opera, made possible with funding from Interreg Aurora.
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Katarina Barruk and Hildá Länsman will perform with the Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra on tour in 2026
A unique concert tour visiting Helsinki, Kotka, and Turku, featuring music rooted in nature that transcends the power of language. Experience the convergence of a symphony orchestra’s majestic sound and traditional Sámi singing traditions as the Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra joins forces with vocalists Katarina Barruk and Hildá Länsman.
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Arctic Music Circle x Umeå Film Festival
During the 2025 Umeå Film Festival, we will collaborate with the Tromsø International Film Festival to present a silent film concert featuring four musicians performing for the film *With Reindeer and Sled in Inka Länta’s Winterland*, a film that was digitally restored by the Swedish Film Institute in 2021. The live music will be performed by Lávre Johan Eira, a young Indigenous artist and musician from Kautokeino on the Norwegian side of Sápmi, Hildá Länsman, a Sámi singer, joik artist, and musician from Utsjoki on the Finnish side of Sápmi, Tuomas Norvio, a sound designer and artist with a background in electronic music; and Svante Henryson, who grew up in Umeå and composed the Sámi-language oratorio *Vidderna Inom Mig* during his time as an artist-in-residence in Northern Norway.
The event is organized in collaboration with the Tromsø International Film Festival, Norrlandsoperan, Arctic Pulse – Arctic Music Circles, Interreg Aurora, and the Umeå Theater Association.
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Tour with Katarina Barruk and the Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra in 2024
In November 2024, audiences in northern Sweden and Norway had the opportunity to experience Katarina Barruks’ unique voice and Ume Sami songs in grand orchestral arrangements. As guests at this special concert with the Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra, we also heard works by Schubert, Brahms, and Dvořák. The tour stretched from Härnösand to Bodø, Norway.
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