On May 3 and 4, the SPOT Festival is in Aarhus. This year, SPOT, along with Art Music Denmark and the Danish Composers’ Society, has renewed its focus on art music, including through the program SPOT FLUX, which features a series of concerts, networking meetings and debates centered on art music. In addition to SPOT FLUX, Art Music Denmark will participate in several different panel debates. If you need inspiration for your SPOT experiences, here are some recommendations from Art Music Denmark’s director, Regin Petersen:

Friday, May 3 starts for me with a concert at 3:00 PM when Athelas presents a program featuring music by Li-Ying Wu, Matias Vestergård Hansen, Bára Gísladóttir and Mette Nielsen, which is part of SPOT FLUX. At the same time, we are presenting a panel debate in collaboration with PROMUS at 3:30 PM. The debate, which addresses the highly relevant question “Is music criticism dead?”, is also highly recommended!

At 4:15 PM, I’m looking forward to hearing the Aarhus Chamber Orchestra perform music by Stine Benjaminsen, Louise Alenius and Magnus Plejdrup. Then at 6:30 PM, I’m excited to meet a large part of the Danish and international art music scene at the SPOT FLUX networking reception.

Saturday starts for me at 10:00 AM with the panel debate: “A look into the buzzing scene of contemporary composed music”. Some of my colleagues from Art Music Denmark and other genre organizations will simultaneously present the genre organizations’ new report “Danish Music Life in Numbers”, also at 10:00 AM, providing various insights into international music exports among other things.

From 11:15 AM to 12:00 PM, you can meet some of Denmark’s most interesting contemporary composers through presentations of selected works and projects.

At 2:00 PM, there is a concert by Damkapellet, performing works by Randi Pontoppidan, Pauline Hogstrand, Kirstine Lindemann, and Greta Eacott. At 3:30 PM, Aarhus Sinfonietta performs works by Lil Lacy and Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen. For the rest of Saturday, I look forward to enjoying the lively atmosphere in Aarhus during SPOT and hopefully having many good conversations with colleagues and artists from near and far.

I hope to see you at SPOT!

Art Music Denmark’s recommendations for SPOT 2024

Friday, May 3:

3:00 PM – 3:45 PM: CONCERT: Athelas Sinfonietta (Lille Sal, Musikhuset)
3:30 PM: PANEL DEBATE: “Is Music Criticism Dead?” (SPOT+, Radisson)
4:15 PM – 5:00 PM: CONCERT: Aarhus Chamber Orchestra (Lille Sal, Musikhuset)
6:30 PM: NETWORK: SPOT FLUX, informal networking event (Location to be announced)

Saturday, May 4:

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM: PANEL DEBATE: “A look into the buzzing scene of contemporary composed music”. (SPOT+, Radisson)
10:00 AM: PANEL DEBATE: “Danish Music Life in Numbers” (SPOT+, Radisson)
11:15 AM – 12:00 PM: Presentation: “Meet the composers”. (SPOT+, Radisson)
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM: CONCERT: Damkapellet (Lille Sal, Musikhuset)
3:30 PM: CONCERT: Aarhus Sinfonietta (Rytmisk Sal, Musikhuset)

Remember that a separate ticket must be purchased for SPOT+ to participate in the events. Read more at spotfestival.dk.