Sounds of the North

When the summer light falls through the glass facades of The Black Diamond on 4 June at 7.00 pm, the The Royal Life Guards Music Band invites audiences to a concert where Nordic music can unfold in all its splendour.

Under the direction of Giordano Bellincampi, the audience is led through a musical landscape shaped by some of the Nordic region’s greatest composers – from the light elegance of H.C. Lumbye to the romantic depth of N.W. Gade, on to the virtuosic brilliance of Johan Halvorsen and the sweeping Nordic romanticism of Johan Svendsen.

In the midst of this Nordic musical world, something quite special takes place when Christina Åstrand – concertmaster of the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra – steps forward as soloist. Here she gives the world premiere of the violin concerto Ikaros In Flight by Niels Marthinsen – a work about longing, dreams and the moment when one dares to take flight.

The violin soars like Icarus towards the light, carried by the warmth and resonance of the wind ensemble – in a rare and captivating encounter between soloist and orchestra.

A concert where Nordic tradition and contemporary creativity meet – and where the music itself takes flight.