{"id":21984,"date":"2024-11-06T12:02:16","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T10:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norrlandsoperan.se\/midwinter-christmas-concert-with-our-music-producer-markus-falck\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T13:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T11:05:13","slug":"midwinter-christmas-concert-with-our-music-producer-markus-falck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norrlandsoperan.se\/en\/midwinter-christmas-concert-with-our-music-producer-markus-falck\/","title":{"rendered":"Midwinter Christmas Concert with Our Music Producer Markus Falck"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Who is Markus Falck, and how did you end up at the Norrlands Opera?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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\u2013 My roots are in traditional folk music. I grew up in G\u00e4llivare and have played in the JP Nystr\u00f6m Folk Music Orchestra for many years. We started playing almost 50 years ago in G\u00e4llivare-Malmberget, and I was only 15 when we began touring. We\u2019ve accomplished quite a lot over the years. We\u2019ve recorded several albums and, as I mentioned, started playing all over Sweden when we were just kids, but also throughout the Nordic countries and Europe, as well as in Canada and the U.S. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m a trained social studies teacher and worked in education throughout the \u201990s, with music as a hobby. But sometime in the spring of 2001, I saw a job posting. The company then known as Botnia Musik was looking for a music producer, and it was the small note saying \u201cspecial expertise in chamber music or folk music is preferred\u201d that made me think, \u201cWell, I\u2019ll give this a try!\u201d It\u2019s been 23 years since then\u2014and how quickly time has flown!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also have roots in the minority cultures found in our part of the world\u2014specifically, the Finnish-speaking culture that has existed in Norrbotten County for as long as anyone can remember. Those who speak Tornedal Finnish\u2014or Me\u00e4nkieli, as it\u2019s also called\u2014make up my father\u2019s background, and that language has been a part of my life from the very beginning. At the same time, S\u00e1mi culture has always had a strong presence. The S\u00e1mi are, after all, the indigenous people of Sweden and Europe, and I have friends, peers, and family members who are S\u00e1mi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What do you like most about your job as a music producer?<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u2013 The best thing about this job is that you get to create music productions of the highest quality, that you get to do it for all the citizens and fellow human beings in our county\u2014and you get a monthly salary for doing it. Taxpayers pay my salary so that I can, at best, make the world a little better for my fellow human beings. It\u2019s also a huge responsibility, which means you can\u2019t cut corners or slack off\u2014you have to deliver. I agree with Gustav M\u00f6ller: \u201cEvery wasted tax krona is a theft from the people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a challenge, but also a great privilege, to be able to work on something like this. The fact that we have a system where the government guarantees high-quality cultural experiences for all citizens is incredibly unique and valuable\u2014we must cherish it. A system where, ideally, every single person in all of V\u00e4sterbotten should have access to culture of the highest quality. That\u2019s important\u2014and I try to do my part to make it happen. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\"Markus<\/picture>\n\n\n\n

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Tell us more about the theme of the Christmas concert\u2014why is it important?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 I\u2019ve been thinking about this Christmas concert for quite some time. Ume\u00e5, like many other municipalities, is the administrative region for these national minorities: the Sami and the Tornedalian\u2014but also, in fact, the Swedish-Finnish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we\u2019ve done is put together a Christmas concert with the Norrlandsoperan Symphony Orchestra that showcases S\u00e1mi, Tornedalian, and Swedish-Finnish elements\u2014through lyrics and songs performed by artists from these various minority cultures. At the same time, it\u2019s a Christmas concert where even those who speak only Swedish should feel welcome. That\u2019s why we\u2019re using Swedish as the main language, but it will be mixed with various S\u00e1mi languages, Standard Finnish, and Me\u00e4nkieli, as well as Northern Swedish dialects. Among the performers is Thomas Andersson, a fiddler and storyteller, who will play the fiddle and also read the Christmas Gospel in the Burtr\u00e4sk dialect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The underlying theme of the concert is midwinter, which is called \u201cKaamos\u201d in Me\u00e4nkieli. In Northern S\u00e1mi, it\u2019s called \u201cSk\u00e1bma,\u201d and it describes the time of the polar night\u2014you know, when the darkness is dense and impenetrable. When everything slows to a crawl and it\u2019s almost impossible to spend time outdoors except for brief moments. The Kaamos season is made for indoor activities, but also for reflection, human connection, and, not least, for music and storytelling. So the darkest time of the year also holds potential. There are opportunities there, and, like the message of the Christmas Gospel, a promise of a better and brighter future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year’s Christmas concert, titled Juvlla-joulu-Christmas Concert!<\/em><\/a> will be held on December 13\u201314 at the Norrlandsoperan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\"\"<\/picture>\n\n\n\n

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When the dense, impenetrable darkness of the polar night has set in, it is also time for human connection, storytelling, and music. 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