Cheltenham Festivals news archives

8 months
2 weeks ago

From Ian George
Jazz Festival Executive Director

Bonfire night last week for us was all about celebrating our exciting partnership between Cheltenham Festivals and the Norwegian Embassy. The evening welcomed musicians, media, agents, record labels and many more in a taster of what to expect in May next year.

The Festival office is still buzzing from our Festival Launch courtesy of the Norwegian Embassy, where we were honoured to be hosted by the Norwegian Ambassador and his wife, Mr Bjarne Lindstrøm and Mrs Berit Lindstrøm, at their beautiful residence on Palace Green.

At the 2010 Jazz Festival we’ll be showcasing the best of the rising talent coming out of Norway (check out Farmers Market and Beady Belle to get you started) and working on an exciting education exchange with the Trondheim Conservatory and Birmingham Conservatoire. Cheltenham’s commitment to the new will also continue with a commissioned world-premiere from one of our Norwegian guests.

Working with the Norwegian Music community and its partners is an exciting prospect for all in the Cheltenham team. They of course have a history steeped in great names: Garberek and Arve Henriksen are most obvious of choices, but for me it is their desire for exploration that drives their thriving scene.

I was lucky enough to make it to Oslo (my thanks go to the Embassy for their support in this) in the summer for what turned out to be a double hit of music festivals. The Oslo Jazz Festival was a more traditional affair in terms of venues and style but still very intriguing. Oslo’s city centre is a beautiful setting for such a festival and it was clear that they have a strong focus on emerging talent, something we have in common at Cheltenham.

It was the second Festival visit that had a bigger impact on me, and that was at a Rock Festival. Courtesy of our friends at Musikk Profil I attended the Oya Festival where the international touring names were bands like Wilco, Arctic Monkeys and Lilly Allen, but it was the balance of the diverse programme which took my attention.

Oya is a rock festival where classical and jazz sit comfortably both in the programme and with audiences. Bands such as Atomic and Farmers Market were just as anticipated by the masses as the international rock acts. It seems to be ingrained within Norwegian music lovers that categorising does not really matter, and this is something that comes through their school system, their media and the Government’s support of their music industry as a whole.

Where in the UK, outside of Glastonbury, can you find such a festival offering classical and jazz in the same line up as modern rockers…are we, both promoters and audiences, even brave enough to try?

Ian George
Cheltenham Jazz Festival Executive Director

We’ve tagged this post with 2010, Ian George, jazz on Friday 13 November 2009.