Katarina Barruk and Hildá Länsman meet the Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra

Program

More about the concert

BARRUK AND LÄNSMAN TAKE THE STAGE

Get ready for an unforgettable experience at the Norrlandsoperan. In February, singer, joik artist, and performer Katarina Barruk will take the stage at the Norrlandsoperan alongside Hildá Länsman—who has just released a new album and is also a performer, joik artist, songwriter, and duojár. Two of the brightest stars in the Sámi music scene right now. Both stand out for their artistic uncompromising spirit—at once deeply rooted in Sámi musical tradition, yet forward-looking with a desire to transcend genre boundaries. It will be a meeting between the symphony orchestra’s grand soundscape and the traditional Sámi singing tradition.

Katarina Barruk writes music for both the charts and major musical institutions. With her majestic stage presence, her melancholic vocals, and her artistic charisma, she has quickly become popular among both young audiences and in the classical music scene. Despite her relatively short career, she has already amassed a number of symphonic collaborations —most recently, in August, she gave an acclaimed performance at the Proms alongside violinist and conductor Pekka Kuusisto and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, becoming the first Sámi artist ever to do so. She herself has described the experience as deeply moving.

Katarina Barruk is unique in another respect as well, one that particularly resonates with the Norrlandsoperan audience. She sings in Ume Sami, an indigenous language that long ago dominated the region but is now on UNESCO’s list of critically endangered languages—a language that more and more Ume Sami people are fighting to reclaim.

In her music, Katarina Barruk writes about what it means to be human. About life and death, but also about our relationship to the earth we stand on—the earth that nourishes us with its gifts, and which we so easily take for granted. The wordless melody comes first, she explains in an interview, followed by the lyrics. By consistently expressing herself in her native language, Katarina Barruk shines a light in the darkness; she not only takes on the role of ambassador for this once-vibrant Sámi idiom but also shows the way for others. With her unwavering commitment to Sámi culture, she demonstrates to the outside world that art can offer both comfort and a path forward. History can be turned around.

Katarina Barruk has previously given two acclaimed performances at this venue. This time, the format is somewhat different, as the artist is sharing the stage with Hildá Länsman. A collaboration that lends the concert an even greater sense of uniqueness.

Hildá Länsman is an artist, joik singer, songwriter, and duojár from Utsjoki (Ohcejohka) who has recently launched a solo career. The Sámi cultural heritage forms the foundation of her creative work. Growing up in northern Finland, her daily life was shaped by reindeer herding, Sámi crafts, and music. However, she knew early on that music was her calling. There is a touch of melancholy in her, as she herself has described it. While her younger brother joiked in honor of the sun, Hildá Länsman joiked in honor of the moon. She began singing with her mother at an early age in the award-winning duo Solju. She has also been the frontwoman for Sámi music groups such as VILDÁ and Gájanas. But it is only recently that she has chosen to blaze her own trail. Her newly released album is a collaboration with the Finnish artist and producer Tuomas Norvio. In it, as she herself describes it, “electronic music meets Sámi storytelling.” The songs are poetic, multi-layered, and move seamlessly between everyday life, the trials of love, and larger questions of heritage and identity. The concert with the Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra marks Hildá Länsman’s debut at the venue.

At the podium, we find the Icelandic conductor, composer, and musician Bjarni Frímann, who has already made a significant mark on the music world throughout his career. In 2018, Bjarni Frímann was appointed music director and conductor of the Icelandic National Opera, where he led productions of, among others, *Tosca*, *La Traviata*, *The Marriage of Figaro*, and *Hansel and Gretel*, as well as world premieres of works by Anna Thorvaldsdóttir and Daníel Bjarnason. That same year, he also took up the position of resident conductor with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and has since guest-conducted orchestras such as the Hallé Orchestra, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, and the Orchestra Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.