The second Nordic competition for young early music ensembles is open for applications until 27 February!

The first edition of EAR-ly was held as a national competition in Sweden in 2008, arranged by Stockholm Early Music Festival. Since 2010, the event is a biennial Nordic competition managed by the Nordic Early Music Federation (NORDEM) and hosted by the different member festivals. At the first Nordic competition in 2010, held in Stockholm, Norwegian Cornetts and Sackbuts were appointed the winning ensemble by an international jury headed by Ton Koopman.

The 2012 final round will take place in late June during the Vestfold International Festival.

Through EAR-ly, NORDEM seeks to encourage the forming of new early music ensembles and to stimulate interest in the music among Nordic students of music. The winning ensemble is awarded a 50,000 SEK scholarship.

More information about the rules and the application process may be found on the NORDEM website, www.nordem.org.
You can also follow the event on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/events/130923883692190/.

A wonderful, eventful anniversary year has ended and SEMF would like to warmly thank all listeners, volunteers, participants, sponsors and friends who have followed and supported the festival's activities.

The 2011 festival was an adventure spanning from Icelandic sagas to Bach evergreens – in between there was time for renaissance polyphony, French troubadour songs, wilful viol harmonies, a mad maestro di capella, vocal and instrumental jokes, Spanish baroque dances, thousand-year-old Persian music, and a singing wishing-well. The Early Music LIVE concerts presented bird-watching adventures as well as legendary castrato repertoire. The first concert of the series’ fourth season was also part of the opening festival of the new concert hall Musikaliska at Nybrokajen 11 in Stockholm.

Another adventure was the very first SEMF Christmas Edition, which was held on 3 December at Musikaliska. This was also the premiere of SEMF’s Early Late Night Concert – late evening concerts where the audience can lean comfortably back in armchairs or on mattresses and enjoy early music by candlelight. A much-appreciated concept that will appear in the programme again!

During the autumn, the festival has taken yet another step into the international early music world, as artistic director Peter Pontvik took over the presidency of REMA (Réseau Européen de Musique Ancienne/European Early Music Network).

Preparations for the spring season and for this year’s festival, which will take place 6-10 June, are in full swing. Keep an eye out for news here on www.semf.se! You can also follow the festival’s work on Facebook and Twitter, or by visiting our new blog: http://stockholmearlymusic.blogspot.com/.

Welcome to a new concert year!

On Saturday 3 December, the first SEMF Christmas Editionwas held at Musikaliska in Stockholm! Christmas songs from the Iberian peninsula with the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir and guests, a Christmas tour through medieval Europe with The Early Folk Band, and soft baroque melodies with Per Gross, Anders Ericson and Nora Roll filled the concert hall from afternoon to midnight.

Candlelight, the scent of mulled wine, and music for the festive season performed with energy and humour, joy and thoughtfulness, created a wonderful atmosphere. When the audience had made themselves comfortable on mattresses and in sofas for the night’s cosy baroque concert, a soothing calm settled, and the day was brought to a warm, slightly magical close. Thank you to all participants!

Soon you’ll be able to see pictures from the day at Musikaliska when you visit the festival’s Facebook page or blog.

See the feature about the late night concert on Swedish Television’s culture news http://svtplay.se/t/102863/kulturnyheterna, or read the review in Svenska Dagbladet http://www.svd.se/kultur/vinterfestival-los-upp_6684208.svd.

The SEMF concert season continues in the new year! Keep your eyes open for more information about the series Early Music LIVE! here at semf.se. And make a note of the next Stockholm Early Music Festival in your calendar – 6-10 June 2012!

2011-11-07
Last weekend, in Porto, Portugal, SEMF´s Artistic Director Peter Pontvik was elected new President of REMA – the European Early Music Network. REMA is an international association comprising more than 60 festivals in 20 European countries, all of them specialised in historical music.

"It’s a very good thing for the Swedish cultural sector to have a stronger position in Europe and to be able to influence the development“ says Pontvik, who will remain on the post until April 2013.