Gothenburg’s Point Music Festival focuses on Beethoven, Sørensen and the mysterious world of the senses.

Sweden’s Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra presents its second instalment of the Point Music Festival which takes place from 15-18 May. During four intense days, the line-up includes two world premières, three orchestras, lectures and over ten concerts – a passionate encounter between art forms and music genres that aim to challenge and enrich the listening experience. 

Highlights include:

Lera Auerbach’s 35 minute a cappella opera The Blind performed by Gothenburg Symphony Vocal Ensemble, in which audience members are blindfolded

The Blind video: https://youtu.be/iYB_WQbzPc0

2 world premières: Number 9 by Andrea Tarrodi (Sweden) and No. 52 by Richard Ayres (UK) as well as performances of Fuel by Julia Wolfe (USA) and let me tell you Hans Abrahamsen (Denmark)

Four works by Danish composer Bent Sørensen whose career has been heavily influenced by Beethoven: Scherie und Melancholie inspired by the Emperor Concerto, performed in the same concert by The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Elisabeth Leonskaja; L’Isola della Città – Sørensen’s triple concerto with ghost like Beethoven fugue quotes; Sounds Like you - a cross-border theatre concert for choir, orchestra, actors and audience and Pantomime – Papillons – dedicated to Sørensen’s wife, Katrine Gislinge, and written in reverence to Beethoven’s deafness.

Dance company Art of Spectra, perform silently in the foyer - creating a living installation that weaves it way throughout the concert hall’s public spaces

Guest performance by Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Polar Prize winner Anne-Sophie Mutter featuring Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Nielsen’s Symphony No 5

“Only Sight in Sound” – blind Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii performs Beethoven in a darkened hall

The festival also includes lectures (in German and Swedish respectively) with Beethoven expert Åke Holmquist and internationally acclaimed pianist/neuroscience Professor Fredrik Ullén in company with composer Bent Sørensen and Professor Emeritus Gunnar Bjursell.

Sten Cranner, General Manager and Artistic Director of Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra:

“Beethoven has like no one else influenced not only European music, but music as an art form. To many composers and musicians, he is still, 250 years after his birth, a great inspiration as well as a towering authority. This year’s Point Music Festival is an exploratory expedition where Beethoven is put in contrast with contemporary composers Bent Sørensen, Hans Abrahamsen, Lera Auerbach, Richard Ayres and Andrea Tarrodi – musical experiences testing our senses. We would like to thank the Stena Foundation for their generous grant which makes it possible for us to arrange this fantastic festival for all visitors to enjoy.”

Madeleine Olsson Eriksson, chairperson of the board of the Sten A Olsson Foundation for Research and Culture, which has donated 6 million SEK to make the festival possible:

“Starting last year, the Point Music Festival will be returning as an annual event during a three year period, culminating in 2021 when the city of Gothenburg celebrates its 400^th anniversary. The Stena Foundation is supporting high quality projects of different kinds, including music and art. It is therefore a joy for us to support this festival where different art forms merge into new experiences and where the artistic quality is of the highest standard.”

See the complete programme with all concerts and events at: http://www.pointmusicfestival.com

Point Music Festival is implemented with the support of the Sten A Olsson Foundation for Research and Culture