About NOPA
NOPA Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists is a society dedicated to the interests of all composers and lyricists in Norway. We work to ensure the best possible conditions for songwriters and composers in Norway and one of our principal tasks is to ensure that Norwegian music is created and performed. The society has more than 1400 members.
International Performers
Stian Carstensen
Carstensen is a multi-instrumentalist and performer from Norway. He is actively involved in a range of musical genres and performs in a growing number of solo concerts, including classical, jazz, and folk music, at festivals all over the world. He is also the frontman of the highly acclaimed band Farmers Market. Over the past 25 years, he has also traveled extensively in search of musical inspiration. Bulgaria has been a particular focus of his studies with Roma musicians.
Follow him here: https://www.instagram.com/stiancarstensen
John-Kåre Hansen (18-20 June – Fakulteta)
Hansen has a successful career as a touring musician, recording artist, songwriter, producer, lyricist, arranger, and bandleader. He has also founded the band Ánnásuolo as a proud representative of his Sami heritage. With a diverse sense of music and as roughly as a dozen original music albums under his belt, he has more planned for the years to come.
Follow him here: https://www.jkhansen.no/
Ingrid Kindem (18-20 June – Fakulteta)
Among being an independent composer, music producer, and performer, Kindem is the former chair of NOPA (Norwegian Society of composers and lyricists) and TONO (Norwegian Performing Rights Society). She works mainly with contemporary Nordic expressions inspired by Norwegian folk and classical music. Moreover, she builds her own musical electronic environments using electronics while using traditional folk instruments, natural sounds, and rhythms. Working with artists from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, she has sought a distinctive expression outside conventional musical boundaries.
Follow her here: https://www.facebook.com/ingrid.kindem
Bjørn-Petter Tøsse (10-12 July – Lom)
Bjørn-Petter Tøsse is an accordion player from Hustadvika in Norway, currently living in Holmestrand. He has a master’s degree in Bulgarian wedding music from the Thrace region, he has won the Norwegian championship for accordion three times, got the audience’s award in the Serbian championship for accordion, and regularly perform with different bands and musicians, such as Bubamara Airlines, Benny Lee, Petar Ralchev, Hagle, Balgyp, in addition to solo concerts and project ensembles.
Håvard Nordberg Funderud ( 25 – 27 July – Osikovica )
Einer Stray ( 25-27 July – Osikovica )
Einar Stray started recording songs in his bedroom in Sandvika, a little town located in the south west of Oslo in 2006 and uploaded them to Myspace. As an experimental singer/songwriter he brought musician friends with him on stage, and together they produced music both delicate and grandiose with strings, blows, percussion, choir parts, noisy guitars, and a classical inspired piano style – counting 11 band members at its most. After meeting the Norwegian artist Moddi in 2008, they quickly joined forces and released their debut EPs together, as a split-vinyl. “Favors And Fields/Rubato EP” resulted in their first tour through Norway, including big festivals like Slottsfjell, By:larm and Øya. Moddi and Einar has appeared in each other’s bands ever since.
Follow him here: https://www.einarstrayorchestra.com/
Karoline Hegrenes – Karolinski ( 6-8/9-11 September – Draginovo and Gradec )
Karoline Hegrenes, also known by her artist name Karolinski, is an electronic music producer/multi-instrumentalist hailing from the vibrant city of Bergen, Norway.
Her live performances are an immersive experience, featuring a fusion of live instrumentation and electronic elements, creating a unique and dynamic atmosphere.
Besides her well known live performances, she also runs a record label and has released several albums and singles, and her work has been well-received by both critics and audiences alike.
Having performed at several festivals and venues in Norway and Europe, she is known for her experimental approach to music production, often using unconventional sounds and techniques in her work.
Follow her here: https://ffdr.fanlink.to/KAROLINSKI
Jens Borge ( 6-8/9-11 September – Draginovo and Gradec )
Bass player, composer and producer from Stavanger. Paal Nilssen-Love and Jens Borge have brought together a total of 18 improvisational musicians from Western Norway for a two-day festival in mid-August. The festival begins in Bergen and ends in Stavanger. (2020)
Arne Hiorth ( 10-11 October – Sofia )
Arne Hiorth is a norwegian jazz trumpeter, composer, arranger and educator who loves to work with international projects.
He has recorded with top acts in Norway, like Mari Boine,Bjørn Eidsvåg, Anja Garbarek , Oslo Groove Company (Spellemann Award for Jazz- The Norwegian Grammy ), Norwegian Broadcast Radio Big Band.
Released his first solo album in 2004 , 7 Oliphaunt Images , including top musicians like Eivind Aarset, Kjetil Bjerkestrand,Hallgrim Bratberg.
Arne Hiorth has a long history with music projects in South Africa, oa the Song of Freedom musical about Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu,performed in Cape Town and Oslo in march 2006. From 2007-2011 he was the project leader and musical director of North Sea Big Band – an international big band with a mix of pro's and students, who performed 3 years in a row at Standard Bank Youth Jazz Festival in South Africa.
In the last years he has been working a lot with musicians in Reykjavik and Veneto, writing new music and performing at festivals. Feb 1st 2022 his latest album was released:!Xhole Kae -This Land, with Eivind Aarset,Kjetil Bjerkestrand plus traditional musicians from South Africa.
Follow him here:
https://www.arnehiorth.com/ ; https://www.n1m.com/norwegiansnowarnehiorth ; https://www.facebook.com/arne.hiorth
Bulgarian Artists
Rossen Zahariev (Roko)
Roko, a Sofia native, begins playing the piano when he is seven years old and the trumpet when he is ten. Following his graduation from the Sofia School of Music, he pursues further studies at the Bulgarian Music Academy, Rotterdam Conservatory, and Berklee College of Music. Notably, he has performed at Woodstok ’99’s “emerging artists stage”. Currently residing in Sofia, he is working as a freelance trumpeter, percussionist, improviser, composer, and songwriter in contemporary music, creating a scene for improvising techniques and performances with sound creators, and actors.
Follow him here: https://www.facebook.com/SoundMagics
Boyan Avramov
Boyan is an independent artist working in the field of performance music. His interest in music began in the mid-90s, influenced by the underground metal currents of that time. Over the years, he expanded his spectrum and experimented with electronic music, as well as starting his first collaborations with different types of musicians and DJs. In 2009, he created his project Teeth of Divine, with which he aims to unite the approach of experimental music with the ethnic sound. His main approach to work is improvisation through which he aims to explore spontaneity and the unconscious as a creative process. In parallel, over the years, his interest in performance and the inclusion of elements of it in his stage presence has increased. Initially, he made music for the performance group “Chess with the Pawn”, and in 2016 he created a new collective “D_code_X” with Mariyan Tsenov. In 2018, he became a part of the ceremonial choir for early music at Sofia University. His interest in acoustic sound leads him to experiment with objects/instruments and the body, without the mediation of sound amplification and manipulation technologies, leading to the creation of the acoustic performance “Body and Vibration” as part of his side project Changing perspectives.
In 2020, his idea for the music workshop “Music in us” was born, which is aimed at children without musical knowledge and skills. The initial attempts are acoustically oriented with an educational moment applied in refugee camps from the conflict in Syria.
Follow him here: https://www.instagram.com/avramov.b/
Ivo Ivanov
Ivo Ivanov is an artist and cultural manager, he completed his education in Germany. He worked as an editor at BNT and taught at Sofia University. Curator of exhibitions in the field of visual arts and new media. Visionary and organizer of some of the most avant-garde events in the country, among which is the Sofia Underground international festival. He has been playing music professionally since the end of the last century, and under the pseudonym Yves_O, he has been experimenting with visuals for the last fifteen years. Award winner and participant in festivals and exhibitions on several continents.
Follow him here: HERE
Mariana Tancheva
Mariana Tancheva is a visual artist who lives between Sofia and Amsterdam. She graduated from the Gerrit Rietveld Art Academy in Amsterdam. In his practice she uses oil pastels, mixed media, photography, installation and animation. She is interested in topics related to human behavior, global natural and anthropogenic challenges facing humanity.
Follow her here: https://www.instagram.com/mariana_tantcheva/
Elina Ivanova
Follow her here: https://www.instagram.com/kongoha.a/
Anna Bacheva
Anna Bacheva is a professional artist who works in various contexts and formats involving new media and hybridity. She creates audiovisual narratives, multi-sensory landscapes, and immersive experiences related to technology, design, and art. Born 1983 in Sofia. Lives and works in Paris, France.
Follow her here: https://www.annabacheva.com
Borislav Petrov
Borislav Petrov is a drummer, composer, teacher and researcher. He received his musical education in the Netherlands, graduating from the American jazz program “New York Comes to Groningen”. He is a student of the legendary jazz drummer Ralph Peterson. Works in the styles of jazz, ethno-jazz, big band, fusion, world music, electronica, rock, pop, etc. The main subject of his musical research is the uneven dimensions in Bulgarian folk music, the drumming styles of the Balkans and their integration into various musical genres. He works with many of the important instrumentalists of the Bulgarian music scene. He collaborates with a number of musicians from Europe and the world. His discography includes 30 albums. Along with his concert activity, Borislav Petrov is also involved in music education. He is a teacher of percussion instruments at the New Bulgarian University. Borislav Petrov gives lectures and leads international master classes, workshops and seminars on various topics. Currently a doctoral student in the Department of “Ethnomusicology and History of Music” at the National Academy of Music “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov”, Borislav Petrov deals with the study of drumming styles related to folk music from Bulgaria.
Follow him here: https://borislavpetrov.com
Angel Demirev
Anegel Demirev Dingilov, born in Stara Zagora in 1978, in a family of musicians. He started playing the guitar around the age of 6. He studied the tambourine, then entered the music school with Star Zagora, majoring in classical guitar. There he shaped his interests and his view of the guitar in different directions. He won two first prizes at a competition for young performers in Nessebar. in 2004 and 2008. He works on his own style with shades of fusion, rock, Bulgarian folk music, gypsy music, Azeri, Carnatic and other styles to acquire his own sound and playing style. After graduating from the music school, he continued his education at AMTII Plovdiv, when he also started playing with Theodosii Spasov Quintet.
Karandila Junior ( 9-11 September – Gradec )
Karoline Hegrenes, also known by her artist name Karolinski, is an electronic music producer/multi-instrumentalist hailing from the vibrant city of Bergen, Norway.
Her live performances are an immersive experience, featuring a fusion of live instrumentation and electronic elements, creating a unique and dynamic atmosphere.
Besides her well known live performances, she also runs a record label and has released several albums and singles, and her work has been well-received by both critics and audiences alike.
Having performed at several festivals and venues in Norway and Europe, she is known for her experimental approach to music production, often using unconventional sounds and techniques in her work.
Follow her here: https://ffdr.fanlink.to/KAROLINSKI