Tomorrow is "Musikkens Dag" in Oslo. It's the 15th time the festival is being put on and this year 1600 bands are playing on 27 stages all over Oslo! I think they let just about all bands play, which I think is brilliant. Especially since it's a big community event. All the concerts are free. I'll report back with more details.
Portland is strongly represented in the clubs in Oslo this spring. Menomena, Y.A.C.H.T. and the Helio Sequence are all playing concerts and there are probably more to come. It's no big surprise, really. The Portland Wave still has momentum and who wouldn't want to make some € and NOK's to bring home to their families in these times when the dollar hits record lows...
It sure works out really well for Oslo!
Just like the American dream has often looked better on paper (and TV) than in real life, I think there is a somewhat delusional impression of what Europe and the European dream is like. Take architecture and sustainable design, for instance. I am by no means an expert, but everybody knows about the Armory (or the Gerding Theater at the Armory, which they insist on it being referred to as) and how it's more or less a milestone in green/sustainable design. During the Can You Hear It project I also learned that the South Waterfront has also been certified to some extent by the Green Building Council (of America), which is great.
I've had lots of conversations with frustrated Portlanders fantasizing about a utopian Europe and how everything is better here (as opposed to everything being bigger in America), which naturally can't be true. Sure, some things are better, but other things are far worse. Like the produce selection in grocery stores.
Somehow, I had been given the idea that Europe, and thus Norway, have come much further in building with sustainable design in mind, but I haven't heard nearly as much talk about those here as I did in Portland, which has been disappointing. However, things took a turn for the better this weekend when I talked to my friend S. who is studying engineering. She told me that there have been guidelines to encourage the building of green buildings, which in effect means that nobody does it. Now, things are about to change though. In 2009, new laws for energy efficiency will be enforced and supposedly, one idea is to label every home/apartment according to how energy efficient they are, similar to how refrigerators and other home appliances are today.
Houses and buildings in Norway are responsible for 40% of the total energy consumption and 15% of its green house gas emissions, so there is a huge potential. In Oslo this is particularly interesting now due to the development of Bjørvika, the area by the new Opera House (responsible for putting Oslo on New York Times' list of places to visit in 2008). Hopefully the new standards will be adapted before they put up more buildings like this one, a far cry from an energy efficient, green building.
The exciting thing about this is that these will be new building regulations and not just a optional, idealistic approach, which in turn, can in fact allow Oslo and Norway to catch up to a small part of its glossy reputation.
Price Waterhouse Cooper's new headquarter in Norway, one of several new buildings to be built between the old town and the new opera house, due to open in April.
The opera - an expensive architectural gem designed by Snøhetta, which has the potential to become a Norwegian icon, similar to the Opera House of Sidney.
Thursday's concert at Fridtjof Nansens plass by the City Hall was supposed to mark the end of Can You Hear It in Oslo, but a series of unfortunate events made it impossible for mpo:oslo to play. Plagued by virus infections and sprained wrists, we sadly had to cancel the concert.
Fridtjof Nansens Plass is a powerful city room and when we hung out there for an hour Thursday night to get some interviews with people who showed up, it became obvious that we have to do something there some other time. It might require a big orchestra to really make an impact on that space, so we have something to look forward to there. Now, we'll continue the production of the documentary film in both Portland and Oslo and continue the exploration of the relationship between music and architecture on film.
The following was written after the mpo:portland performance on July 21 at the South Waterfront
The amount of area comprising the South Waterfront is impressive – its full scope becoming evident when you set your focus on a specific destination within its boundaries and work to place yourself at that spot. Upon entering there is a visual vastness to the left and right. And, when finally standing at the foot of the massive towers, you are lead to look higher, higher, and higher before reaching the visual denouement of the massive objects. Every isolated sound echoes off concrete and steel: vehicles passing, a distant construction generator, and human voices.
Opposing this initial effect was our yet unformed group. First on the scene were the performers. The early arriving trumpet player sipping a coffee outside the corner café was joined shortly by a cellist bearing her bulky case. Two soon became five and finally thirteen; all with instruments, and stands, and music. They were in turn joined by another five carrying cameras and film equipment.
The impending weather forced our group to find a sheltered spot, which led to the discovery of a previously unnoticed plaza complete with awning coverage and seating for the audience now gathering. Mixed with those who traveled to get here were those who called the towers ‘home’ and were thus receiving the rest of us as guests. Some were on their afternoon walks and came upon us by surprise. Others heard music from their distant balconies and came to inspect the scene. Regardless of motivation, their presence could not help but contribute to both the creation and effect of this temporary gathering.
Soon the echoes were cluttered with music instead of noise. Where once were isolated sounds now gathered many. The distant generator sound disappeared in the shadow of strings, woodwinds, and percussion. The towers that first seemed outwardly cold and empty revealed the presence of internal vitality. And the empty plaza shaped by concrete and steel was filled with community and life.
We all could not help but notice. And enjoy.
--
David Price
It's not very often we musicians are placed outside of our comfort zones. There are such long traditions for how we perform music – especially within the realms of chamber music. There are obvious reasons as to why chamber music is usually performed indoors, but this is exactly why it’s exciting that the music population orchestra has been performing outdoors this summer. For better or worse, we’re throwing out everything that’s safe about performing music and instead opening up to the uncertainties of stepping outside of the concert hall.
The performance in Vaterlandsparken exemplified this further. As a stark contrast to Ibsenkvartalet, where the space has wonderful, lush acoustics, Vaterlandsparken is a big open space where a park was built instead of the originally planned mosque. Consequently, there are no acoustics to speak of. Instead of being able to hear the music bounce off the walls of the surrounding buildings, the music, played by violins and a saxophone, stood no chance in taking over the city room. Oslo Plaza Hotel made us look and sound tiny, not usually the dynamic you go when you perform music. As an ensemble, we were humbled by our surroundings.
Can You Hear It is coming to life. We’re learning about how music behaves in different settings and how music can affect architecture and vice versa. It’s becoming increasingly obvious why this is a relationship worthy of exploration. We, as musicians, have a lot to learn about how and why we perform music instead of just adapting traditions without any consideration of what these represent and what they mean.
If you’ve missed the performances by mpo:portland and mpo:oslo so far this summer, you have two more chances to come out in both cities. Next performance is on Sunday, July 29th at 2pm in Portland (Bridgeport Village) and 4pm in Oslo (Tullinløkka).
photos by kyrre rørstad
I have always wondered whether music can make buildings taller. This was my question before observing the Music Population Orchestra at Vaterlandsparken. The space itself is round and empty, a big black hole of concrete within a small park by a river. Four musicians and a conductor in the middle, and audience on its rim. And then a vast space for air and wind between us.
-Come closer, the director said, but the audience didn't. The asphalt Colosseum is perhaps intimidating to cross, inviting distance. And around the asphalt: grass. Perhaps we in a big city crave being close to nature, even if it is only a grass patch. I put my hand in it. The orchestra started playing.
Vaterlandsparken is a space of nothing - where something isn't built (yet). It's difficult to create new and smaller spaces within it without actually building something. Instead, the music from a distance infiltrated the speed and movement of the larger space around the circle. The flagpoles in the wind: rhythm. One flag twisted: a vague melody. People walking past towards the SAS Radisson Hotel: feet not touching the ground.
This was the effect of distant music: a driven pulse created by a braid of phrases played by the four musicians. And with it, the soundscape around us changed. This is what I noted:
1. Sounds growing louder as the music played: grass, seagull wings flapping, wind. Shoes slipping on rocks. Joints. Bike wheels.
2. Sounds subdued: traffic, loud conversations (words heated and melted together like steamed milk). The pulse of zebra crossings.
And I forgot to watch the buildings. I still don't know if they grew or not. Have they found an extra floor at the hotel? Will it feature on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow?
Instead, "Can you hear it?" invited nature to become city.