This recording is a by-product of Mazurka – Remaking Chopin, my collaborative project with Gjertrud’s Gypsy Orchestra, which was released as a CD in 2010. On it we explored Frédéric Chopin’s Mazurkas and created new versions with traditional dance music from Central Europe as our most important point of reference.

I'm back from long and sunny summer's stay in the Valdres valley, where I combined mountain walks with working sessions. The project on my desk is "Stormen" - the Tempest - a children's opera commissioned by the Norwegian Opera and Ballet, due to be performed in June 2014. Rune Belsvik wrote the libretto, inspired by Shakespeare's drama.

One of my best memories from 2012 is the trip to Arkhangelsk and Naryan Mar, Russia, to perform "Travelling Songs". And this takes me right to the saddest memory - the loss of my close collaborator through almost 20 years, singer Anne-Lise Berntsen. She was the mastermind of this project, so typical for her, that created a meeting between singers and musicians from two countries. Anne-Lise passed away on November 3rd.

September 14, Kitchen Orchestra teamed up with video wizard Andreas Paleologos, under the artistic direction of Nils Henrik Asheim, to inaugurate Stavanger Concert Hall 1 day before the official gala - opening the spaces for the public with gags, sounds, performances, 31 musicians continuously swapping roles and instruments,  all in a 40 minutes guided walk. LYDSAFARI.

I have the enormous honour to be appointed as the organist of Stavanger Concert Hall. The new Stavanger Konserthus will open mid-September, after which the organ needs to go through a period of intonation, tuning and adjustments before its inauguration - probably early 2013. My job starts September 1st and includes taking care of the instrument, playing it, and curating the programme.

Tou Camp 2012 was the second issue of a festival spanning a whole month, at Tou Scene, Stavanger. Nils Henrik Asheim who initiated the festival was once again the artistic director. The programme, that boasted a 100 events and gathered 7.500 people, included dance, theatre, visual arts, interactive installations, workshops, kids' programme, seminars and of course a great number of excellent concerts by local, national and international artists. 

During May 15-19, members of the Kitchen Orchestra performed 5 nights at Superdeluxe - as a sequel to our long-time collaboration with this Tokyo venue and its director Mike Kubeck. Twice, artists from Tokyo have visited Stavanger / Tou Scene and performed with Kitchen musicians (2008 and 2011). In 2011 the composition Pulse by Dag Egil Njaa and John Lilja featured Hiraku Suzuki and Tetsuya Nagato on live visuals.

Nils Henrik Asheim's new work "Travelling songs" was premiered in Kirkenes on February 15th, and subsequently in Arkhangelsk on Febr.24 and in Naryan Mar on Febr. 26.