Ung Nordisk Musik 2022

We warmly welcome you to Ung Nordisk Musik 2022 Reykjavik: co·structing - the 76th edition of the UNM festival and the 10th hosted by UNM Iceland. During the week, you will experience works by 39 young composers from the Nordic and Baltic regions. The festival comprises 24 concerts, exhibitions, panel talks, presentations, microworkshops, and field trips.

It is a festival organised by young artists for their peers to co·create, co·experience and co·exist.

This year’s festival theme is co·structing - a self-coined term that describes artistic work evolving around cross-disciplinary collaborations and inclusive practices. The beauty of new words is that they carry a flexibility of interpretation and an ongoing contribution to meaning. This way, the transforming definition of the theme is also symbolic of the collaborative nature of this festival.

UNM’s history goes back a long way. In 1946, a group of students from the Nordic music academies started a concert series that aimed to end the cultural isolation that had arisen during WW2. UNM became a unique platform where young Nordic composers could meet and inspire each other. Since then, UNM has been held annually in turn by the Nordic countries, with Iceland joining in 1974 and hosting its first festival in 1977. This year is the first time the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) were included in the open call and marks the beginning of a new chapter for UNM.

Since the festival was founded, the Nordic music and art scene has changed significantly. The past decades have seen an increase in cross-disciplinary artworks, the concept of music continues to blur, and artistic fields merge. As a festival that wishes to present a variety of music-making practices, we acknowledge our position in relation to institutions and academia. Instead of maintaining traditions and institutional methods, UNM hopes to be a cultural brewery for young people’s new practices and artistic creations.

When organising the 2022 festival, the board of UNM Iceland decided to re-evaluate our accessibility as a platform for music- makers that are non-academic or work in collaborations. In response, we organised the first UNM artist residency, which took place in Reykjavik in March 2022. The residency involved 19 Nordic and Baltic participants, most taking part in UNM for the first time, and aimed to expand UNM to a platform for creation and collaboration. The results are 18 new works created in new collaborations, written for young local musicians or made site-specific to nature reserves surrounding Reykjavik. These works will premiere at the UNM 2022 festival, in addition to 19 other works selected through the annual open call.

In this festival booklet, you will find information about the festival programme as well as materials from participating composers, performers and mentors that show insight into their creative processes and collaborations.

We hope you enjoy the festival!
On behalf of UNM Iceland,

Hildur Elísa Jónsdóttir & Sóley Sigurjónsdóttir

The UNM Reykjavík 2022 festival's theme is co·structing. The focus of the festival is to think about and act on the many ways that collaborations unfold within the young new music community, ranging from creative endeavours to organisational ones and beyond. A part of this focus is an all-new residency programme happening on March 5 - 13. At this residency, new works were created for premiere at the Ung Nordisk Music Reykjavík 2022 festival on August 15-21.

When organising the 2022 festival, the board of UNM Iceland decided to re-evaluate our accessibility as a platform for music-makers that are non-academic or work in collaborations. In response, we organised the first UNM artist residency, which took place in Reykjavik in March 2022. The residency involved 19 Nordic and Baltic participants, most taking part in UNM for the first time, and aimed to expand UNM to a platform for creation and collaboration. The results are 18 new works created in new collaborations, written for young local musicians or made site-specific to nature reserves surrounding Reykjavik, with the guidance of our residency mentors: Anne La Berge, Gunnhildur Hauksdóttir, Jessie Marino and Tine Surel Lange - who will also take an active part in this years' festival.

Resident artists were:
Agita Reke
Anders Hannevold
Eetu Palomäki
Frederik Heidemann
Hermod Ringset Bentsen
Katarzyna Maria Wieczorek
Keya Hedlin
Khetsin Chuchan
Kristján Steinn Kristjánsson
Marija Rasa Kudabaitė
Nanna Lysgaard Søøgaard
Neli Pantsulaia
Olli Ketonen
Ondi Madete
Rosanna Gunnarson
Sille Kima
SLEDGE DUO
Yelena Arakelow