Postcard from Svalbard: Arctic Chamber Music Festival

Discover more Featured Stories like this in The Strad Playing Hub.

Read more premium content for subscribers here

Svalbard is so far north, so deep within the Arctic Circle, that if you are seeking the best views of the Northern Lights you should – counter-intuitively – look south. This Norwegian archipelago might be a magnet for visiting cruise ships during the 24-hour daylight of summer, but it seems an unlikely venue for a chamber music festival during the dark days of polar winter.

Although the aurora was a no-show when I visited in February, it was indeed the music that I had come to experience: the 2025 edition of the Arctic Chamber Music Festival (ACMF, 19-23 February) in Svalbard’s main settlement, Longyearbyen.

There is, in fact, plenty going on in the town at any time of the year, even during the polar winter. In the days before my visit the town had just hosted a jazz festival and a Rubik’s speedcubing convention, among other events – so why not a classical music festival at 78 degrees latitude?

I arrived at Longyearbyen airport during the brief hours of daylight alongside the musicians of the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, who were kitted out in down jackets and snow boots. This orchestra has its bases in Tromsø and Bodø in northern Norway and has formed the backbone of the festival since its first edition in 2018.

The ACMF is also partnered with Voksenåsen, a joint Swedish–Norwegian organisation that runs a young artist programme and summer music academy, supporting talented musicians at critical early stages in their careers: from prospective and current college students to emerging artists breaking through to the next level. This year’s festival featured four Voksenåsen artists – three young string players and the Novo Quartet, the exceptional Copenhagen-based ensemble that won first prize at the 2023 Geneva International String Quartet Competition.

The New York-based composer Missy Mazzoli was also in residence this year. She first attended the ACMF in 2022 at the invitation of violinist Peter Herresthal, artistic director of Voksenåsen, and she fell in love with Svalbard, as she told me later.

Longyearbyen itself is a Norwegian settlement that was founded on the coal mining industry; these days it houses a shifting population of around 2,500 university students, scientists and seasonal workers. The town is composed of boxy, utilitarian buildings that flank a long central road. Despite its no-nonsense appearance it’s rich in both culture and creature comforts: there are museums and art galleries, shops and cosy eateries (including the Café Huskies where friendly retired sled dogs keep an eye on you while you eat your lunch). But venture outside the town and you’ll find a wild, otherworldly landscape of frozen plains, glaciers and mountains. There is also a small chance of encountering a hungry polar bear, which is why it’s forbidden to walk outside the confines of Longyearbyen without carrying a firearm.

It’s also a fairly risky place to bring a stringed instrument – not only is it very cold (though it was a relatively balmy -14C during my visit) but also extremely dry, and string players are instructed to bring a humidifier and, when not playing, to keep their instruments in their cases at all times.

Against this backdrop the musical experience was even more heightened. The opening concert took place at Huset, the old mining community centre on the edge of the town. This was a musical ‘tasting’ menu of concert to come where the Arctic Philharmonic, co-led by Dutch violinist Liza Ferschtman, played excerpts from Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and introduced the featured artists in solo spots, including Vivaldi’s ‘Winter’, played by two of the young Voksenåsen Strings Talent artists, Icelandic Helga Diljá Jörundsdóttir and Norwegian Alma Kraggerud (daughter of Henning) aged 19 and 18 respectively.

The overall theme for ACMF 2025 was Storytellers – an apt one, because just about everyone in this place had a tale to tell about how and why they got here. In the interval at the Huset concert I chatted to a Scottish woman who was celebrating her 40th wedding anniversary; she also happened to be a double bassist in an orchestra back in the UK and was admiring the Arctic Philharmonic bass section’s instruments.

The next day the theme continued with ‘Soup, Sounds and Stories’, a concert held in an art gallery and curated by Missy Mazzoli. The audience warmed up with soup and bread before settling in to hear the four Voksenåsen artists perform a selection of Mazzoli’s works, introduced by the composer herself. Norwegian Birgitta Elisa Oftestad, aged 22, stood out with a gripping performance of A Thousand Tongues for cello and electronics. Oftestad was playing a rich-toned (and extremely glossy) 1698 Rugeri, which she recently acquired on loan from the Anders Sveaas’ Charitable Foundation (ASAF).

Also outstanding was the Novo Quartet, which played Mazzoli’s Harp and Altar for string quartet and electronics. Although this work is inspired by a poem about the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, there is a liminal beauty to the sounds and textures of Mazzoli’s music that reflected the Arctic landscape outside.

A unique aspect of the festival was the variety of venues in which the music was presented. Kulturhuset, which houses a library, cinema and performance space, hosted a family performance by the Arctic Philharmonic of Peter and the Wolf (narrated in Norwegian) as well as a new work by Mazzoli, The Shield of the Heart Is the Heart. Then there were chamber concerts in the Svalbard Museum, and the town’s sole church.

But perhaps most spectacular of all was Mine 7 – the last working coal mine in the area, a 20-minute bus ride out of the town up into the hills. The capacity audience listened to the music in a cavernous industrial space where mining equipment was stacked against the walls. Alma Kraggerud, who played a Strad (the 1720 Karl Klingler, on loan from ASAF) gave an outstanding and spirited performance of Ole Bull’s Et Sæterbesøg (‘A Mountain Vision’). Equally impressive was her spoken introduction about the life of Bull, in place of Peter Herresthal who was unable to attend due to illness.

Mazzoli then introduced her own Death Valley Junction, inspired by the life of dancer Marta Becket who set up her own personal theatre in the California desert. The Novo Quartet brought tremendous atmosphere and the tightest ensemble to the one-movement work. Finally it was the turn of soprano Berit Norbakken and theorbo player Solmund Nystabakk, who performed songs by Barbara Strozzi.

During the interval I spoke to Mazzoli, who explained how she couldn’t wait to come back to Svalbard after her first visit, and that she hoped to return again in the near future. It’s a sentiment I can relate to. As she said, ‘This place gets into your soul.’

Playing

In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.

Teaching

The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.

Calendars

The Canada Council of the Arts’ Musical Instrument Bank is 40 years old in 2025. This year’s calendar celebrates some its treasures, including four instruments by Antonio Stradivari and priceless works by Montagnana, Gagliano, Pressenda and David Tecchler.