Bergen Interactive Music Conference

posted on: April 29, 2007

Previously, when I would join Alex for international music conferences, I was an active participant- engaged in the educational research and international implementations of curriculum and ideas. This year I took a less active approach, and only attended a few bits of the actual conference.

Even though my body wasn't quite ready to wake up for Alex's 8:30 am presentation, I made it and was happy to be there right up front cheering on my hubby.
Alex Presenting at BIMUC

Since I was already hanging out with the conference group, I joined them to see a performance dedicated to mid/high school students at Greig Hall, named after the famous Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.
BIMUC Goes to Grieg Hall

We made our way into what must have been the basement of the hall where hundreds of students were already gathering.
Student Concert at Grieg

Sondre Lerche was the featured musician, who seems to be quite popular here in Norway. He's a great songwriter, and when he stopped the show to break up a fight happening in the audience among the students, I gained a lot of respect for him as an artist.
Sondre Lerche gives Student Concert

We followed with lunch at Macumba Cafe: Social Club..
Macumba Cafe Social Club

... loved the interior design, and the food was equally fabulous!
Macumba Cafe Social Club

The next day of the conference we joined the local Grieg Academy (college) students
for a presentation of traditional Indian music...
Presentation of Indian Musicians

As you can see, we were all very intrigued...
BIMUC Attendees and Grieg Students Listening to Indian Music

Music is one of those things that simply cannot be captured in an image alone, so I took a few video clips of their performance to share with you. The experience in person was very meditative and transcendent, which is hard to capture in a few seconds of video. In any case, click play to watch, and more importantly, listen...


Magne, who is an amazing music educator and innovator as well as the main organizer of this conference, is the person who brought all of these people together to share their music, as well as making it possible for Alex and I to attend.
Magne


After the performance, the group received traditional Norwegian fishing hats as a gift... which reminds me... I need to get a picture of Alex in his hat too. ;)
Indian Musicians don their Norwegian Hats

As they were putting their instruments away, I wanted to get a close up of this instrument. The intricacy of the carvings is absolutely amazing.
Traditional Indian Instrument

What I didn't blog about were the other research presentations and interesting ideas from the other conference presenters, but I figured that probably wasn't the most intriguing aspect for my blog readers, so hopefully what I did blog about was interesting to you. ;) If you are interested, and can read Norwegian, you can visit the BIMUC Blog.

Should my next post be about Bergenfest or sightseeing? You decide! Click on the poll below to vote!

7 comments, to add [click here]:

  1. great pictures!
    looove the video. that music is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That looks like it was super fun Makes me miss playing my sax. :( How is life?? It seems like you've disappeared from certain forums lately and I miss you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous4:20 PM

    Hello Anne,
    That instrument is called Veena. Mostly used in South Indian Music(Carnatic Music). It is very similar to Sitar but with less strings. Have fun.cheers
    Taffy Johnson
    taffyaj@comcast.net

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nicole - if you get a chance to see them perform in person, it's totally worth it!!

    Colleen - I'll be back soon!! I have to make sure I take care of my clients first!

    Taffy - thank you so much for letting me know the name of the instrument!!! It's definitely unique and beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AHAHAHA! I LOVE Norway! I was there about ten years ago and really enjoyed it - lucky you! Thanks so much for sharing, Anne! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for your information about Bergen. I am going there in a few month to work and I didn't really know what its like. Is it a good place to live and work? What is the nightlife life.

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  7. The last sentence in my previous comment should be: What is the nightlife like?

    ReplyDelete

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