This March Anders Hillborg will be joining the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra as their Composer-in-Residence. The orchestra will be performing six works by Hillborg over three concerts including four regional premieres at the Konserthus Stavanger.
The 11 March programme includes Liquid Marble, ...lontana in sonno... with Marianne Beate Kielland, Kongsgaard Variations (string orchestra) and Violin Concerto No.2 with Eldbjørg Hemsing. This will be the Norwegian premiere of the Violin Concerto and the world premiere of the string orchestra version of Kongsgaard Variations. Christian Karlsen conducts.
The string orchestra version of Kongsgaard Variations was commissioned specially by Stavanger Symphony Orchestra for the Hillborg residency. The original 2006 string quartet version was written for the composer’s friends, John and Maggy Kongsgaard. Their ‘Arietta’ wine quotes a musical excerpt from Beethoven’s final piano sonata. Hillborg uses this Beethoven quotation to build a 16-minute set of variations which swims meditatively through its transformations; the source material surfacing through Hillborg’s voice intermittently.
The Stavanger concerts on 18 and 19 March have James Gaffigan conducting a programme of Debussy, Stravinsky, plus two Hillborg pieces: Norwegian premiere of Mantra – Elegy, and the Scandinavian premiere of Cello Concerto with soloist Amalie Stalheim.
The Cello Concerto was commissioned by Stavanger Symphony orchestra and only recently received its world premiere in October 2020 with Nicolas Altstaedt and commissioner Antwerp Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fabien Gabel. There are plans for a number of future performances involving the rest of the commissioning orchestras: Münchner Philharmoniker, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Cello Biënnale Amsterdam with Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Orchester symphonique de Québec, and Sinfonieorchester Basel. The work was written for Nicolas Altstaedt and made possible by the generous support of Margarit Jacobs.
More information on the Hillborg residency at Stavanger Symphony Orchestra is available on their website.