Spotlight Norway at Celtic Connections 2010

Spotlight Norway 2010

Celtic Connections is the biggest folk music festival in the UK housing just about 120 000 festival devotees, 14 venues and more than 300 concerts, workshops, album launches, seminars, late night sessions and free events. The festival has established a high-status standing in the world of folk music, and obtains great evaluations each year. Its spirit is formed within the Celtic traditions and by homegrown Scottish talent, but the festival is also beyond doubt an international event, bringing artists and audience from every corner of the world to Glasgow in late January.

The international networking hub, Showcase Scotland; a large get-together of the international music community and an annual window onto traditional Scottish music, is hosted by Celtic Connections. Over the course of four days, promoters, record labels, agents and festival organizers are given the chance to meet both the Scottish industry and each other, and serve as an opening to observe firsthand a vast array of performances from the cream of Scottish talent.

In additions to showcasing Scottish artists, Showcase Scotland also presents an opportunity every year for an international partner to benefit from the happening, allowing the partner region or country to showcase its talents. This has given the Norwegian Traditional Music Agency in collaboration with Music Export Norway and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in London, the chance to sign a partnership agreement with Showcase Scotland 2010. The “Spotlight on Norway” event will present five Norwegian artists chosen by the Norwegian Traditional Music Agency and Celtic Connections.

Previous international partnerships have been with Denmark in 2005 followed by the Highlands and Islands of Scotland in 2006, Wales in 2007, the western part of Sweden in 2008 and this year the region of Quebec successfully had six artists showcased.

The Norwegian-Scottish partnership puts forward a significant opportunity for Norwegian artists to perform at one of the most important showcase stages in Europe, and to present their music to passionate and enthusiastic spectators, eager to discover new music. Also, the presence of as many as 180 international delegates gives the Showcase stages a global position, offering a springboard for many musicians into a more international market place.

Celtic Connections is well known for its collaborative character and its constant search for new partnerships, especially seeking to promote international encounters. Norway’s partnership with Showcase Scotland is an example of this spirit and is an important step towards an even closer relationship between Norway and Scotland, and a way to connect Norwegian and Scottish folk music tradition traditions even tighter. We have a lot in common and a lot to learn from each other’s musical legacy.

Spotlight Norway 2010 is supported by: