Tales from Norway transforms musical stories from Norwegian folk traditions into new compositions that defy genre-related labelling and envision a broader, bolder concept of "contemporary music".
The string quartet Stringar devotes each of its three movements to a specific strand of the Norwegian springar tunes, synthesised with elements coming from disparate albeit never gratuitous directions. Western art music, Indian rhythms, progressive metal and semi-improvisatory techniques engage in a dialogue with the unusual rhythms and melodic turns of the Western Norwegian udelt takt springars, the time-bending telespringars from Telemark and the hypnotic valdresspringars from the mountainous slopes of Valdres.
Ancient traditions from the secluded valley of Setesdal tell tales of forests, mountains and magical beings through melodies carved out of stone and wood, shaped by water and wind. In A Norwegian Suite the storytelling is entrusted to the vulnerable and otherworldly sound of the Hardanger fiddle, spinning the thread of folk inspirations into a variety of textures that ranges from the ecstatic to the frenzied. The two works originate from the common space that lies between several genres and enter a hybrid territory that gives rise to something different. The compositional process itself becomes an innermost companion that constantly negotiates its identity with the world around it.
Violinist, violist, composer, arranger, formerly also singer and beatboxer, Krishna Nagaraja has always approached music from many different directions. Over the years, his musical path led him to the baroque violin and viola, performing with renowned groups in his native Italy and abroad. His passion for traditional music also steered him towards Irish, Scottish, Breton and Nordic folk music. In 2012 he moved to Helsinki to attend a Master's Degree in Global Music (GLOMAS) at the Sibelius Academy. Within its framework he experimented with the interaction between musical genres and styles, mixing folk with baroque and contemporary music in original arrangements and compositions. This activity gave birth to projects like Biviola, a viola duo performing his arrangements of Nordic folk tunes, and his main brainchild Br, a kaleidoscopic international group whose leadership has brought his music to several European festivals (MA Early Music Bruges, Filharmonia Warszawa, MiTo Settembre Musica, East Cork Early Music Festival, Cafe Barock Finland).
