ANIARA: fragments of time and space
Performance: September 1, at 20.00
Stage: Temppeliaukio Church
Language: English, with some Swedish
Length: ca 90 min
Surtitles (synopsis): in booklets, Swedish, Finnish, English
Tickets: Fienta
Performance: August 30, at 20.00
Stage: Baltic Sea Festival, Berwald hall
Language: English, with some Swedish
Length: ca 95 min
Tickets: Baltic Sea Festival
Our press photos are on Flickr:
ANIARA: fragments of time and space
A musical work based on Harry Martinson's classic space epic about humanity at a crossroads
In collaboration with The Crossing, one of America's foremost chamber choirs and a three-time Grammy winner, Klockriketeatern returns with the musical performance – once in Stockholm and once in Helsinki.
Aniara is based on Nobel Prize winner Harry Martinson's cosmic story. Aniara takes us on a space adventure, examining humanity at a crossroads, fleeing from a planet we ourselves have destroyed. Despite its dystopian tones, Aniara is a stunningly beautiful, exceptionally high quality musical performance.
The libretto is written by the director of Klockriketeatern, Dan Henriksson, and the American composer Robert Maggio has composed the work.
Aniara: fragments of time and space is Klockriketeatern's largest production of all time. The musical performance had its world premiere in Philadelphia in June 2019 and was then acclaimed by critics and the audience. In July 2019, Aniara was performed at the international choir festival Koorbiennale in the Netherlands, and in September of the same year it was performed 6 times to sold-out audiences at the Finnish National Opera.
"America’s Most Astonishing Choir."
– The New York Times
Music: Robert Maggio (USA)
Conductor: Donald Nally (USA)
Assistant conductor: Kevin Vondrak (USA)
Libretto & director: Dan Henriksson (FIN)
Choreography: Antti Silvennoinen (FIN)
Set, light- & videodesign: Joonas Tikkanen (FIN)
Light & video operator: Otso Vartiainen (FIN)
Sound design: Paul Vazquez (USA)
Sound technician: Anders Pohjola (FIN)
Costumes: Erika Turunen (FIN)
Production design: Elizabeth Haidle (USA)
Graphic design: Nils Krogell (FIN)
On stage
Singers – The Crossing:
Karen Blanchard, Rebecca Myers, Rebecca Siler, Katy Avery (S)
Joanna Gates, Lauren Kelly, Maren Montalbano, Elisa Sutherland (A)
Steven Bradshaw, Micah Dingler, Michael Jones, James Reese (T)
Thann Scoggin, Steven Hyder, Daniel Schwartz, Jackson Williams (B)
Actors – Klockriketeatern:
Matti Raita and Carl Alm, with Antti Silvennoinen (pekingopera)
Instrumentalists – Aniara Band:
Markku Luuppala (cl), Iida Sinivalo (vc), Jarmo Julkunen (gtr), Magdalena Meitzner (perc), Pekka Saarikorpi (perc)
Production 2023: Klockriketeatern
Producer: Irina Duskova
Communication: Kristina Grönqvist von Bonsdorff, Ella Slunga, Sebastian Hornborg
Digital content: Darina Rodionova
Technical coordinator: Niko Mattila
Executive director, The Crossing: Jonathan Bradley
Creative director, The Crossing: Donald Nally
Theatre director, Klockriketeatern: Dan Henriksson
Berwaldhallen & Baltic Sea Festival
Project manager: Emma Nyberg
The Crossing
The Crossing, conducted by Donald Nally, is a professional chamber choir dedicated to contemporary music. The choir collaborates with creative artists to create and record significant new works for choir that explore and expand how to write choir music, how to sing choir music, and how to listen to choir music. Many of the nearly 160 commissioned works the choir has premiered address social, environmental and political issues. The choir is committed to recording its commissions, which has resulted in The Crossing releasing 29 recordings. The choir has received three Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance (2018, 2019, 2023) and eight Grammy nominations.
REVIEWS
Musical space-time continuum – Aniara with The Crossing and Klokriketeatern at Temppeliaukio Church
Jari Kallio, 2.9.2023
Rörigt och sövande rymdepos på Berwaldhallen
Johanna Paulsson, Dagens Nyheter, 31.8.2023
PRESS
Aniara - profetisk framtidsvision eller dryg moralkaka?
Lasse Garoff, Marit Lindqvist and Silja Sahlgren-Fodstad
Kulturpodden, Svenska Yle, 26.8.2023
Om klassiker, kärnvapen och kärlek
Dan Henriksson, Hufvudstadsbladet, 20.8.2023
Musiikkiteos Aniara Temppeliaukion kirkossa
Minna Karila, Töölöläinen, 13.8.2023
Original support for Aniara was provided to The Crossing by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, Philadelphia.
The show was originally produced by Klockriketeatern & The Crossing in 2019.
RIGHTS
Harry Martinson's Aniara is represented by ALIS (Administration of Literary Rights in Sweden).
The rights to the score and libretto are managed by the composer and librettist.
All rights of the production are owned by The Crossing and Klockriketeatern.
Earlier performances
World premiere in Philadelphia in the US, June 20th, 2019
European premiere in Haarlem, the Netherlands, July 5th, 2019
Premiere in Helsinki, September 17th, 2019
Other performances
2022
Videopremiere, Aniara – revisited
2020
20.9 Songs from Aniara, at G18 in Helsinki
Songs from Aniara, a concert version of the work, was performed in 2020 in collaboration with the Finnish chamber choir Key Ensemble.
2019
17.9 | 18.9 | 19.9 | 20.9 | 21.9 at the Finnish National Opera