UrbandCamp travels south

Arkhangelsk welcomed Russian-Norwegian UrBand Camp festival for the second time on September 19-22 this year. It is unique for close cooperation and joint work between professional musicians and beginners, who have both workshops for instruments, vocal and dance and collective performance on big stage. This year participants had incredible possibility to learn from those of the best world musicians from Norway, France and Russia, i.e. bass guitarist Dominique Di Piazza, guitarist Hallgeir Pedersen, drummer Hermund Nygård, dancer Kristin Holand, musician Igor Gorkovoy. Also this year alongside with local guys more participants came from other cities – Vologda, Yaroslavl, Moscow and St.Petersburg.

Concert in Kotlas, September 25 / Концерт в Котласе 25 сентября (Photo by Øyvind Alstad)

Such an unusual format has already resulted in new Russian-Norwegian Tribute Band which was formed at UrBand Camp 2012. This September they performed in Kargopol and Kotlas (Arkhangelsk region) together with fabulous Dominique Di Piazza.

Dominique Di Piazza giving interview to a local TV company in Kotlas / Доминико Ди Пиацца дает интервью местной ТВ компании в Котласе (Photo by Øyvind Alstad)

People from the southern cities of the region are thankful to the musicians for the opportunity to listen to high quality music, masterfully performed. They were happy to be the first places who project leader and musical producer Rune Paulsen is planning to include in the project network which is expected to cover Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Naryan-Mar, Kargopol, Nyandoma, Kotlas, Vologda and Yaroslavl. In their turn, the musicians could learn about the concert venues in the depth of the country and evaluated the available musical equipment. It is very important and necessary in order to plan concerts and even tours in the future. Local authorities, musicians and workers of culture are willing and ready to cooperate with Paulsen for implementation of his big and ambitious project.

UrBand Camp project which represents workshops and, of course, concerts embodies one more sub-project VAE (Voluntary Arrangement Exchange project) on volunteer network and exchange for music and cultural events in Barents region. Organizers are looking forward to combine top musicians concerts and high quality sound and organization of their performances. That’s why it was essential to create VAE and Arkhangelsk Regional Volunteer Organization (ARVO) which is based on existing models of Norway and Russia.

For more information see www.urbandcamp.com

Text by Anna Petrova and Anastasia Sazenova