“I’ve always felt like there is a symphony orchestra inside of me. It was the only way I could get out the feeling that I’m feeling, and who I am as a person.” Yona is nominated by Finland for the 2022 Nordic Council Music Prize for the album Uni johon herään [The Dream I Wake Up To] (2021). Meet this year’s nominees in conversation with podcast ho…

“We sing it like a group and then there comes a bit of a crazy thing in the middle of the song, where I also try to imitate the original recording from 1902.” Unn Paturson is nominated by The Faroe Islands for the 2022 Nordic Council Music Prize for the work 1902 (2021). Meet this year’s nominees in conversation with podcast host Andrew Mellor and …

“It was actually a really challenging process. It was difficult and I definitely have now promised myself I’m not going to do that again.” SØS Gunver Ryberg is nominated by Denmark for the 2022 Nordic Council Music Prize for the work Whyt 030 (2020). Meet this year’s nominees in conversation with podcast host Andrew Mellor and hear excerpts from th…

“Creating art out of something so horrible like the end of the world, I could make it sound like a high-pitched note or like [an explosion] or like a crazy drone, but I also like making it somehow beautiful.” Sóley Stefánsdóttir is nominated by Iceland for the 2022 Nordic Council Music Prize for the album Mother Melancholia (2021). Meet this year’s…

“I just love these combinations of tonal tunes, but then there is another band playing something else on top, and it’s that mixture that makes the whole thing.” Øyvind Torvund is nominated by Norway for the 2022 Nordic Council Music Prize for The Exotica Album (2017). Meet this year’s nominees in conversation with podcast host Andrew Mellor and hea…

“Art is not an escape from reality. It’s for understanding the world more profoundly. And for me, opera is one of the best artforms for it, whether as a listener or a composer.” Minna Leinonen is nominated by Finland for the 2022 Nordic Council Music Prize for the opera Alma! (2019-2020). Meet this year’s nominees in conversation with podcast host …

“There are times that are so hauntingly beautiful that you will sink into yourself and you don’t have to think about text. And there are other places in the piece where you are challenged intellectually.” Line Tjørnhøj is nominated by Denmark for the 2022 Nordic Council Music Prize for the work enTmenschT (2018). Meet this year’s nominees in conver…

“The artist has an obligation to include all means to show the temperature of how it is to live as a human today. We can not exclude the technology, because that’s too late. Much too late.” Knut Vaage is nominated by Norway for the 2022 Nordic Council Music Prize for the work Hybrid Spetakkel (2020). Meet this year’s nominees in conversation with p…

“How can I get the voices and instruments to sound so that you sometimes don’t know what is voice and what is instrument, for instance? I found that a very inspiring way of linking voices and instruments together.” Karin Rehnqvist is nominated by Sweden for the 2022 Nordic Council Music Prize for the work Silent Earth (2020). Meet this year’s nomin…

“If you don’t dare to experiment, then you never find out, and then you never give the opportunity for musician and music to unite.” Ebo Krdum is nominated by Sweden for the 2022 Nordic Council Music Prize for the album Diversity (2021). Meet this year’s nominees in conversation with podcast host Andrew Mellor and hear excerpts from the nominated w…

“I was in Reykjavík at the time and it was an unusually extreme winter. I don’t recall seeing the sun once while writing the piece.” Bára Gísladóttir is nominated by Iceland for the 2022 Nordic Council Music Prize for the work VÍDDIR (2019-2020). Meet this year’s nominees in conversation with podcast host Andrew Mellor and hear excerpts from the no…

“I just don’t really want to make Greenlandic music. I really want to go out in the world and show them. That’s what I can do. I’m Greenlandic and that’s what I can do.” Andachan is nominated by Greenland for the 2022 Nordic Council Music Prize for the album Visualize Happiness (2021). Meet this year’s nominees in conversation with podcast host And…