“Every year, we experience first-hand that culture is not just a decorative accessory: music, academia, literature and art create lasting connections,” says Festival Director Prof. Dr. Clemens Räthel, emphasising the international significance of the Nordischer Klang Festival. “[...] only if we know about and are familiar with each other will we succeed in shaping the Baltic Sea region as an open, pleasant, diverse and peaceful place to live, work and visit. The Nordischer Klang is greatly committed to achieving this goal.”
The festival will be opened by the popular Danish jazz singer Sinne Eeg on 2 May 2025, who will celebrate the art of big band jazz together with the Swedish Monday Night Big Band. However, the festival will already get off to a grand start on the Sunday before, when the light of dawn falls through Ólafur Elíasson's famous stained-glass windows into Greifswald’s Cathedral. This spectacle will be accompanied by Elia Lombardini. The Finnish-Italian composer, producer and violinist will create a unique musical experience with his violin and loop station.
Pop and Jazz Night
At Pop Night, music in all its myriad forms will be performed: synthwave, underground garage and dance music combine to create the soulful and dynamic dream pop of the young Icelandic duo Kusk & Óviti. The four-piece band 9 grader nord inspires with a modern mix of Tamil folk, baile and Norwegian pop. The sounds at the Music Afternoon will get you dancing: Mats Edén & Guro Kvifte Nesheim from Lund and Marit & Thomas Westling from Hamar bring swing, harmonious sounds and colourful intonation to traditional and modern Hardanger fiddle playing. The Greifswald-based association Boddenfolk will teach and demonstrate dances to this music. On Folk Night, Northflip will be providing a fresh new sound with accordion and guitele, while the quartet Floating Sofa invites you to dance to its instrumental sounds, energy and fun performance.
During Jazz Night, the Danish-Swedish jazz artist Anna Pauline will use her melodious voice and passion to sing Georg Riedel's famous Astrid Lindgren songs. Swedish up-and-coming talent Irma Neumüller will perform her own songs in Swedish and English. The concert evening entitled Global Beats will feature Norwegian musicians Kari Heimen and Jessica Kiil. While the former will perform not only traditional yoiks as well as her own modern creations, the latter will bring a wide range of African pop music styles to Greifswald, as well as American soul, Caribbean zouk and reggae.
Formal evening with the Icelandic Minister of Culture
The Icelandic Minister of Culture and patron of Nordischer Klang 2025, Logi Einarsson, is expected to attend the gala evening on 9 May. Other prominent guests from Northern European countries, from the town and region, as well as the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern have also confirmed their attendance. The evening's musical entertainment will be provided by one of Iceland's most accomplished jazz artists: Stína Ágústsdóttir. Her self-confident and experimental music can then be enjoyed at a full-length concert.
The young Estonian singer and guitarist Haldi Välimäe deeply moved the audience with ballads and bossa at her first international concert at Nordischer Klang 2024. In 2025, she returns with her ten-piece band Flamingo, serving up a powerful mix of soul, disco, jazz and funk. Together with Swedish indie pop artist Johan Norborg and his live band Storkyrkoänglarna, they will bring the festival to an enchanting close on 10 May.
More than Nordic music: Readings, exhibitions, panel discussions and cinema events
In addition to concerts, the festival will also feature readings, exhibitions, panel discussions and cinema events. At the Literary Studies Symposium, researchers will come together to discuss resilience in Tove Jansson's Moomin stories. A panel discussion will address the issue of environmental and climate protection in Northern Europe. Another panel discussion will take place as part of the exhibition Lebenswerte Stadt [Urban Space Worth Living In] – 28 Examples of Urban Development in Denmark, during which experts from Denmark and Greifswald will discuss questions of how shared spaces can be created sustainably. There is also the opportunity to accompany Greifswald's Moor Manager on a walk through the peatlands around the town and to listen to Hartmut Mittelstädt give a lecture on the Online Icelandic Dictionary LEXIA. Visitors can marvel at breathtaking pictures of Iceland by Gunther Gehler and photos from Fridtjof Nansen's Arctic expedition. Guests will also be enchanted by the exhibition around the Hund mit dem Haarknoten [Dog with a Top Knot], which will showcase illustrations of Greenlandic fairy tales by Martin Velíšek. In the Art Break, the Pomeranian State Museum will offer a special themed tour through Greifswald's history.
You can take a trip to Iceland in 2089 with Pedro Gunnlaugur Garcias in Our Shining Life (Lungu). These stories weave together shattered dreams, magic and forbidden love to reveal a secret that has been kept hidden for a lifetime. The German translation of award-winning Finnish author Pajtim Statovci’s book will be presented at the Koeppenhaus: Bolla tells the story of what it means when current events intrude on one's private life, when an already forbidden relationship becomes fraught with even greater dangers and its ultimate severance by war and migration. Jessica Schiefauer will read from her coming-of-age novel Pojkarna (The Boys), a story about growing up, love and sisterhood. CineStar will be showing Touch, a modern Icelandic fairy tale with a happy ending. The Casablanca Film Club is showing the documentary Ein Tag ohne Frauen [A Day Without Women], which was released in 2025 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Icelandic Women’s Strike. The award-winning animated film Flow and the Estonian silent film Kurs auf die Ehe [Heading for Marriage] will be shown in the Straze.
Events for younger guests are provided as part of the KinderKlang programme. Scandinavian stories will be read, the film ‘Wer bist du, Mama Muh?’ [Who Are You, Mama Muh?] will be shown, and interactive events for school classes will be held with Jessica Kiil and Kari Heimen.
Further information about the festival can be found in the programme, which will be available from mid-April at tourist information centres, cultural centres, music schools and libraries in the region, online at www.nordischerklang. de and on the social media channels Facebook and Instagram. NDR will once again be providing media coverage and support for this year’s festival.
Contact:
Nordischer Klang e.V.
M.-L. Westfeld | Press & PR
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