The Nordic Council announces the candidates for the 2022 edition of its Music Prize.

The Nordic Council – the inter-parliamentary cooperation organisation formed by the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) and the autonomous regions of Åland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland – has announced the twelve nominees for the 2022 edition of the Nordic Council Music Prize. This prize was first awarded in 1965 and recognises musical creation and performance of the highest artistic level. The prize, worth DKK 300,000 (about EUR 40,325), is awarded in alternate years to a work by a living composer one year and to an individual performer or ensemble the next. This year the music prize will be awarded to the work of a composer. The winner will be announced on 1 November in Helsinki.

This year’s nominees are Denmark’s Line Tjørnhøj (for ENTMENSCHT) and SØS Gunver Ryberg (for Whyt 030); Finland’s Minna Leinonen (for Alma!) and Yona (for Uni johon herään); Faroese Unn Paturson (for 1902); Greenland’s Andachan (for Visualize Happiness); Iceland’s Bára Gísladóttir (for VÍDDIR) and Sóley Stefánsdóttir (for Mother Melancholia); Norway’s Øyvind Torvund (for The Exotica Album) and Knut Vaage (for Hybrid Spetakkel), and Sweden’s Ebo Krdum (for Diversity) and Karin Rehnqvist (for Silent Earth).

This year’s candidates represent a wide range of genres, from world music to opera to electronic music. There is a strong emphasis on the voice, with works composed for choir, vocal ensembles, soloists and opera, addressing themes such as diversity, the future of humanity, happiness and melancholy.

© Photo downloaded from the Nordic Council website, norden.org. From top to bottom, left to right: Line Tjørnhøj, SØS Gunver Ryberg, Minna Leinone, Yona, Unn Paturson, Andachan, Sóley Stefánsdóttir, Knut Vaage, Bára Gísladóttir, Ebo Krdum, Øyvind Torvund and Karin Rehnqvist.