2019 in Nordic music
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The following is a list of notable events and releases that happened in Nordic music in 2019.
Events
January
- 3 January – Swedish organist Hans Fagius is a recipient of the Royal College of Organists medal for "distinguished achievement in organ playing".[1]
- 10 January – The 18th All Ears festival opens in Oslo, Norway, running until 12 January.[2]
- 25 January – The 32nd Nordlysfestivalen opens in Tromsø, running until 3 February. Performers include Dmitry Shishkin and Wenche Myhre.[3]
- 31 January
- The 8th Bodø Jazz Open Vinterjazz opens in Bodø, Norway, running until 2 February.[4]
- The 21st Polarjazz Festival opens in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway, running until 3 February.[5]
February
- 14 February – The annual Ice Music Festival opens in Finse, Norway, running until 16 February. Performers include Maria Skranes, Ivar Kolve and Snorre Bjerck.[6]
- 23 February – At the 49th Dansk Melodi Grand Prix final, held at the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Leonora emerges as overall winner with the song "Love Is Forever"; she thus becomes Denmark's representative in this year's Eurovision Song Contest.[7]
March
- 6 March – The 50th Turku Jazz Festival opens in Turku, Finland, running until 10 March.[8]
- 9 March
- Melodifestivalen 2019 concludes at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, with John Lundvik emerging as overall winner with the song "Too Late for Love"; he thus becomes Sweden's representative in this year's Eurovision Song Contest.[9]
- The 6th Faroese Music Awards ceremony takes place at the Nordic House (Norðurlandahúsið), Tórshavn. Teitur Lassen wins Best Artist and Best Song.[10]
- 22 March – The Blue House Youth Jazz Festival opens in Stockholm, Sweden, running until 24 March.[11]
- 28 March – Icelandic band Sigur Rós are charged with tax evasion, covering the period 2011-2014.[12]
April
- 4 April – Wisting, Norway's most expensive TV series to date, is launched, with music by Jacob Groth, Ole Bo, and Sören Möller.[13]
- 12 April – The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) announces that Hannu Lintu's term as chief conductor will end with the 2020-2021 season.[14]
- 30 April – The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra announces that Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä has signed a three-year contract to be its next musical director, beginning from January 2020.[15]
May
- 2 May – The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra names Nicholas Collon as its next chief conductor, to replace Hannu Lintu; Collon will be the first non-Finnish conductor ever to be chief conductor of the FRSO.[16]
- 9 May – Finnish National Opera and Ballet names Hannu Lintu as its next chief conductor; Lintu will hold the post from 1 January 2022 to 30 June 2026.[17]
- 18 May – In the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, Sweden finish in 5th place, Norway in 6th place, Iceland in 10th place and Denmark in 12th place. Finland did not reach the final.[18] The UK entry, written by Sweden's John Lundvik, finishes in last place.
- 22 May – The UK's Philharmonia Orchestra names Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali as its next principal conductor, as from the 2021-2022 season, with an initial contract of 5 years.[19]
June
- 12 June
- The Iceland Symphony Orchestra announces that Eva Ollikainen will be its next chief conductor and artistic advisor, the first female conductor ever to take on the role; her contract will be from the 2020-2021 season until 2024.[20]
- The Bergenfest music festival opens in Bergen, Norway, running until 15 June.[21] The line-up includes Patti Smith and Robert Plant.[22]
- 13 June – The Norwegian Wood music festival opens in Oslo, Norway, running until 15 June.[23]
July
- 4 July
- The 20th Folk music festival of Siglufjordur opens in Siglufjordur, Iceland, running until 8 July.[24]
- The 23rd Skånevik Bluesfestival opens in Skånevik, Norway, running until 6 July.[25]
- 5 July
- The Baltic Jazz Festival opens in Dalsbruk, Finland, running until 7 July.[26]
- The 41st Copenhagen Jazz Festival opens in Copenhagen, Denmark, running until 14 July.[27]
- 6 July – The 20th Øyafestivalen opens in Oslo, Norway, running until 10 August.[28]
- 8 July – The 33rd Sildajazz festival opens in Haugesund, Norway, running until 9 August.[29]
- 11 July – The 34th Oslo Jazzfestival opens in Oslo, Norway, running until 17 August.[30]
August
- 13 August – The Britten Synfonia premières a new version of the Enigma Variations in celebration of the 60th birthday of conductor Martyn Brabbins. Kalevi Aho is one of the contributing composers.[31]
September
- 5 September – The 20th Sibelius Festival opens in Lahti, Finland, running until 8 September. Performers include Karita Mattila, Folke Gräsbeck, and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.[32]
October
- 3 October – The Norrköping Symphony Orchestra names Karl-Heinz Steffens as its next principal conductor and artistic advisor, beginning from the 2020-2021 season.[33]
- 4 October – The Copenhagen Opera Festival names Amy Lane as its new festival director; she will be the first woman and the first non-Dane to hold the post.[34]
- 18 October – Hildur Guðnadóttir wins the Best Television Composer award at the World Soundtrack Awards for her score for the HBO/Sky series Chernobyl.[35]
December
- 15 December – Finnish band Children of Bodom play their last show before disbanding, at the Black Box venue in Helsinki.[36]
- 25 December – Swedish musical film, En del av mitt hjärta, is released.[37]
Albums released
January
| Day | Album | Artist | Label | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Iihtallan | Festerday | First full-length album | [38] | |
| 11 | Verkligheten | Soilwork | Nuclear Blast | [39] | |
| 18 | Last Call: Live in Helsinki | Remu & Hurriganes | [40] | ||
| Covered in Blood | Arch Enemy | Compilation album | [41] | ||
| 25 | Songs for the Dead Live | King Diamond | Live album & Blu-Ray DVD | [42] |
February
| Day | Album | Artist | Label | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | And Then Comes The Night | Mats Eilertsen, Harmen Fraanje, Thomas Strønen | ECM | [43] | |
| Lotus | Soen | [44] | |||
| 8 | Dualistic | Dualistic (Bernt Moen, Fredrik Sahlander, Tobias Solbakk) | Losen | [45] | |
| Tana | Sverre Gjørvad | Losen | [46] | ||
| Æ | Anton Eger | Edition | Produced by Petter Eldh and Anton Eger, Executive producer Dave Stapleton | [47] | |
| 22 | Quilter | Thomas T Dahl | Losen | Produced by Thomas T Dahl | [48] |
| The Door to Doom | Candlemass | Featuring Tony Iommi | [49] | ||
| Come Home | Rigmor Gustafsson | ACT | [50] | ||
| Esoteric Oppression | The Moth Gatherer | Agonia Records | [51] |
March
| Day | Album | Artist | Label | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Human | Darkwater | [52] | ||
| Léon | Léon | Léon Recordings | Digital download only | [53] | |
| Sucker Punch | Sigrid | Island Records | Produced by Martin Sjølie | [54] | |
| Westkust | Westkust | Run for Cover Records | Vocalist Julia Bjernelind plays guitar alongside Brian Cukrowski, drummer Philip Söderlind and new bassist Pär Karlsson | [55] | |
| 8 | Wings of Fire | Brymir | [56] | ||
| Beyond the Void | Iron Fire | [57] | |||
| Hexed | Children of Bodom | Danger Johnny | Produced by Mikko Karmila | [58] | |
| Voyage | Daniel Herskedal | Edition | Produced by Daniel Herskedal, Executive producer Dave Stapleton | [59] | |
| 15 | Teipillä tai rakkaudella | Anna Abreu | [60] | ||
| 22 | Sounds Of 3 Edition 2 | Per Mathisen feat. Ulf Wakenius and Gary Husband | Losen | [61] |
April
May
| Day | Album | Artist | Label | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Ofidians Manifest | Kampfar | Indie Recordings | [68] | |
| 10 | Glory Chord | Bigbang | Grand Sport Records | [69] | |
| Dark Morph | Dark Morph | Collaboration between Jónsi and Carl Michael von Hausswolff | [70] | ||
| Departure | Eyolf Dale | Edition Records | In collaboration with Andre Roligheten | [71] | |
| 11 | Drone Activity | Ulver | [72] | ||
| 17 | The King Live in Paris | Avatar | Live album | [73] | |
| 24 | Northbound | Eivind Austad Trio | Losen | [74] |
June
| Day | Album | Artist | Label | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Första klass | Einár | Self-released | Digital download; reached no 1 in Swedish charts | |
| One Fire | Combichrist | [75] | |||
| 12 | & Co. | Daði Freyr | Samlist ehf | [76] | |
| 14 | Return to Eden | Timo Tolkki's Avalon | Frontiers Music | [77] |
July
| Day | Album | Artist | Label | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Outstrider | Abbath | Season of Mist | Named one of the 50 best metal albums of 2019 by Loudwire[78] | [79] |
| Live | Bullet | Live album | [80] | ||
| 19 | The Great War | Sabaton | Nuclear Blast | Produced by Jonas Kjellgren | [81] |
| 26 | Recordead Live – Sextourcism in Z7 | Lordi | AFM Records | First official Live DVD of the band | [82] |
August
| Day | Album | Artist | Label | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Rewind, Replay, Rebound | Volbeat | Vertigo, Republic, Universal | First studio album with Kaspar Boye Larsen on bass | [83] |
| 16 | Dominion | HammerFall | [84] | ||
| 30 | In the Raw | Tarja Turunen | earMUSIC | featuring Björn "Speed" Strid, Tommy Karevik and Cristina Scabbia | [85] |
September
October
| Day | Album | Artist | Label | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Heart Like a Grave | Insomnium | Century Media Records | Mixed by Jens Bogren | [88] |
| 18 | Alpha and the Omega | Konkhra | Hammerheart Records | [89] | |
| 25 | Transition | Art Nation | Gain Music Entertainment | Third studio album | [90] |
| Pitfalls | Leprous | InsideOutMusic | [91] | ||
| Daemon | Mayhem | Century Media | [92] | ||
November
| Day | Album | Artist | Label | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Songs the Night Sings | The Dark Element | Featuring Anette Olzon and Jani Liimatainen | [93] | |
| The Enemy: Reality | Wolfbrigade | Southern Lord | [94] | ||
| 15 | Fairytale – Joulun taikaa | Saara Aalto | Warner Music | Formats: Digital download, CD | |
| Non Debellicata | Ragnarok | [95] | |||
December
| Day | Album | Artist | Label | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 9 Elu | Laura Põldvere | Oh! Joy productions | [96] | |
| 6 | Brave Tin World | The Murder of My Sweet | Frontiers Music | [97] | |
| Decades: Live in Buenos Aires | Nightwish | Nuclear Blast | Live album issued as Blu-ray digibook, 2CD digipak, Blu-ray+2CD earbook and 3LP | [98] | |
Classical works
- Hans Abrahamsen – Horn Concerto[99]
- Daniel Bjarnason – From Space I Saw Earth[100]
- Sebastian Fagerlund – Nomade[101]
- Anders Hillborg – Sound Atlas[102]
- Aulis Sallinen – Concerto for Two Accordions, Strings and Percussion[103]
- Anna S. Þorvaldsdóttir – Enigma (String Quartet No 1)[104]
Film and television scores
- Ole Bo, Jacob Groth & Sören Möller – Wisting[13]
- Mikkel Hess – Darkness: Those Who Kill[105]
- Martin Horntveth – Twin[106]
Musical films
- En del av mitt hjärta, with music by Tomas Ledin, Björn Ulvaeus and Andreas Carlsson[107]
Eurovision Song Contest
Deaths
- 12 February - Olli Lindholm, 54, Finnish singer and guitarist (heart attack)[108]
- 26 February - Magnus Lindberg, 66, Swedish musician, singer and composer (cancer)[109]
- 20 March - Terje Nilsen, 67, Norwegian singer-songwriter.[110]
- 26 March - Master Fatman, 53, Danish comedian, film director and singer[111]
- 27 March - Audun Laading, 25, Norwegian musician, member of Her's (car crash)[112]
- 5 May - Ib Glindemann, 84, Danish jazz composer and bandleader[113]
- 19 May - Alfred Janson, 82, Norwegian composer and pianist[114]
- 10 June
- Ib Nørholm, 88, Danish composer and organist[115]
- Sven-David Sandström, 76, Swedish composer[116]
- 5 July - Paolo Vinaccia, 65, Italian drummer long resident in Norway[117]
- 6 July – Thommy Gustafsson, 71, keyboardist of Swedish band Sven-Ingvars[118]
- 8 August - Erling Wicklund, 75, Norwegian jazz trombonist and journalist.[119]
- 18 September – Tony Mills, 57UK-born vocalist for Norwegian band TNT (cancer)[120]
- 2 October - Morten Stützer, Danish guitarist and former bassist of Artillery, 57[121]
- 4 November - Timi Hansen, 61, Danish bassist (cancer)[122]
- 5 November - Jan Erik Kongshaug, 75, Norwegian jazz musician and sound engineer[123]
- 9 December - Marie Fredriksson, 61, Swedish singer-songwriter (Roxette)[124]