In the season 2018/19 the project “Concerto Grosso – Viking Barokk” brought together more than 400 young musicians from all over the Nordic region for a huge “baroque thing” where everyone played together with the Nordic countries’ leading professional baroque performers of the NBS. The theme was the Viking voyages, and folk music from the various countries were performed, as well as well-known hits from European 16th and 18th century music: Norwegian “slå”, Norwegian quadrille, Swedish “brudmarsch” and Icelandic “Meyjarmissir” in the company of Telemann, Rameau, Roman, Lully, Vivaldi and Purcell, among others.
The project was initiated by FiBO Collegium, the educational department of the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, which was also responsible for the artistic supervision and management of the concert’s many joint numbers. A group from Helsinki travelled to Oslo, Stockholm and Reykjavik and rehearsed with the local music school students. Each host country provided a large tutti ensemble of local students in addition to a smaller group that went on tour with the professional musicians.