Anyone in Denmark from the age of three knows Denmark's greatest composer, Carl Nielsen's tunes. In their concerts, Bo Holten and Copenhagen based vocal ensemble Musica Ficta will present the Danish master in all his vocal capacities, from the simple to the utmost refined. His well-known songs are in the foreground, but one will also hear music by the early composers whose works he transcribed. The ensemble will perform in Poland on the occasion of Carl Nielsen's 150-birth anniversary.

www.carlnielsen.org

27.11 at 19.30 hrs in Szczecin, The Pomeranian Princes' Castle, ul. Korsarzy 34    (tickets: www.zamek.szczecin.pl)
28.11 at 19.00 hrs in Warsaw, The Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Pl. MaÅ‚achowskiego 1    (free entrance)
29.11 at 12.00 hrs in Katowice, NOSPR Concert Hall, Pl. Wojciecha Kilara 1    (tickets: www.nospr.org.pl)

The audience will get a free copy of CD with Carl Nielsen's songs produced by the Royal Danish Library.

Musica Ficta is a professional vocal ensemble based in Copenhagen, founded in 1996 by the composer and conductor Bo Holten. With this group he has realised his vision of a highly flexible ensemble, where the classical early music ideal is combined with the warmth of the Scandinavian choral sound. The group specialises in early vocal music, polyphony as well as madrigals and medieval music.

Bo Holten (b. 1948) is a renowned Danish composer and conductor, has been the principal conductor for the vocal ensembles Ars Nova (Copenhagen) and Musica Ficta (Denmark), as well as guest-conductor for the BBC Singers. As a composer he has written more than 100 works, including 6 operas, 2 musicals, 2 symphonies and 5 solo concertos. He has composed several film scores, amongst them the music for Lars Von Trier's The Element of Crime.

Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) Danmarks foremost post-Romantic composer who developed his own personal style of composition, in particular in a series of six symphonies. The best known of these symphonies are Symphony No. 2 (The Four Temperaments), Symphony No. 3 (Espansiva) and Symphony No. 4 (The Inextinguishable). He also wrote concertos for violin, flute and clarinet, operas Saul og David and Maskarade, chamber and choral works as well as over 200 songs, most of them composed to poems of Danish poets, among others H.C. Andersen.  Particularly highly regarded are his songs based on Danish folk traditions.

The concerts have been initiated by the Danish Cultural Institute in Poland and supported by Danish Arts Foundation, Carl Nielsen og Anne Marie Carl-Nielsens Legat, Danish Ministry of Culture, Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kulturstyrelsen.

www.dik.org.pl