Ultima Podcast

Sep 11 2024 22 ep. 22 mins
Ultima Podcast artwork

Going deeper into the music with the Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. The team behind one of the biggest contemporary music festivals in Northern Europe open up the diverse and fascinating world of modern music and experimental sound with innovative sonic portraits with composers and performers. Ultima Festival happens every year in September: see ultima.no for details.

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BONUS: Fathoming the Arctic seas with Chris Watson & Jana Winderen

Sep 11 2024 17 mins  
A special micropod audioguide to the opening concert of Ultima 2024. Sound artists Chris Watson and Jana Winderen tell Rob Young about their commissioned piece fathom, a symphony of field recordings captured above and below the Norwegian Sea between Oslo and the mysterious Jan Mayen Island. Writer, interviewer, presenter: Rob Young Editor: Solveig Sørbø

On the ocean with Pytheas Travels

Sep 10 2023 22 mins  
Rob Young travels with Maja S.K. Ratkje and Paola Palavidi as they prepare to launch Pytheas Travels, a musical/visual cocktail of surreal maritime experiences connecting ancient exploration with modern tourism. For more info, see https://www.ultima.no/en/pytheas-travels Ultima Festival 14–23 September 2023: ultima.no Recorded and presented by: Rob Young Sound editing: Silje Vem

Inside Einstürzende Neubauten with Chris Bohn

Oct 10 2022 33 mins  
Rob Young discusses the music and legacy of German band Einstürzende Neubauten with Chris Bohn – Editor in Chief of The Wire magazine. As a music journalist with the New Musical Express in the early 1980s, Chris was the first British writer to interview and champion the group, whose name means 'collapsing new buildings'. In this conversation recorded live at Kulturhuset, Oslo, d

A hypnotic hum: Missy Mazzoli on 'The Listeners'

Sep 19 2022 16 mins  
In a live conversation recorded during this year's Ultima Festival, Rob Young meets New York based composer Missy Mazzoli – 'Brooklyn's post-millennial Mozart' – Time Out NY) to hear about the ideas that inspired her new opera The Listeners. We also hear about her previous work with her band Victoire and her earlier acclaimed operas, with librettist Royce Vavrek and director Li

Freedom is Around the Corner

Sep 12 2022 15 mins  
Ultima 2022 opens on 15 September. The theme of this year’s festival – Freedom is Around the Corner – comes from an artwork by the late Danish artist/agitator Henning Christiansen. Rob Young explores this idea and its relevance to contemporary music and modern day utopian and dystopian thinking. Episode features interviews with Lena Lindgren (author of Ekko) and Thorbjørn T�

Xenakis's Cassandra complex: Ultima's opening concert

Sep 09 2022 15 mins  
Ultima 2022 opens on 15 September with a performance of Oresteia by Iannis Xenakis. Rob Young meets bass baritone Seth Carico and percussionists Håkon Stene and Thomas Nilsson during a rehearsal for the 'Kassandra' section of this monumental vocal work. For more info on the free concert at Oslo City Hall (Rådhus) on 15.9.22, go to: https://www.ultima.no/en/opening-concert Ultima

Aspects of Øyunn: A new role for Siv Øyunn Kjenstad

Aug 30 2022 12 mins  
Rob Young meets Siv Øyunn Kjenstad to hear about preparations for her new Ultima Festival commission, 'Aspects'. Drummer, vocalist, composer, producer, actor – Siv Øyunn is a true omni-musician. For more info on her concert at MUNCH on 21.9.22, go to: https://www.ultima.no/en/oyunn-aspects This episode features extracts from the unreleased tracks 'I Know You Can Do It' and

Flock tactics: Prizewinning composer Jan Martin Smørdal

Jun 23 2022 15 mins  
Rob Young meets Jan Martin Smørdal, winner of the Arne Nordheim Composer Prize 2022. Jan Martin's music is partly inspired by natural flocking movements and musical memories. He talks about his reaction to the award and gives us a peek into his creative process. Additional input by Ultima Director Thorbjørn Tønder Hansen and composer Kristine Tjøgersen.  The portrait conce

Organotopia – Organ-ised chaos with Nils Henrik Asheim

May 13 2022 12 mins  
Rob Young meets composer, improvisor and organist Nils Henrik Asheim. Nils Henrik talks through his forthcoming Organotopia project, to be performed at Ultima Festival, Oslo, on 17 September 2022. Reinventing the organ at an audio-visual public art project taking over a church and park in central Oslo.  Organotopia: organotopia.no Ultima Festival 15–24 September 2022: ultima

Beyond time and place with Javid Afsari Rad

Sep 24 2021 16 mins  
Ultima Context – the podcast that takes you deeper into the world of contemporary and experimental music. Composer and santur player Javid Afsari Rad talks about 'Bigah', his work for the NOWOR orchestra, an Oslo based collaboration between musicians from many different backgrounds and music traditions.. For more info: https://ultima.no/en/events/721cd2a5-6d40-4faf-b06d-7d3361003