About

Ketil Bjørnstad opens the ILIOS festival at the city's new piano.

Harstad has got a new grand piano in the newly refurbished Nordic Hall. Taking the opportunity to steal the concert premiere of the new Steinway wonder, ILIOS has invited the pianist, composer and author Ketil Bjørnstad to open ILIOS 2023 with an acoustic solo concert. The audience is seated at small tables around the grand piano, and is served both piano performances and newly written poems.

Ketil Bjørnstad turned 70 last year, and then embarked on a tour where he himself alone at a grand piano is the main ingredient. Bjørnstad himself says that this has always been the basis of his musical career, and that in a way it marks the beginning and the end. Alone with a grand piano, a distinctive and close contact with the audience occurs, which influences the musical paths along the way. The instrument and the acoustics in the room also help to define the content. Therefore, it is with great excitement and joy that ILIOS opens its issue no. 30 with the city's new wing being visited by Ketil Bjørnstad, an innovative artist by definition who works across both genres and formats. The musical content is a solo concert with repertoire from Bjørnstad's entire musical career, but also some new compositions and improvisations.

It is the Contrasto festival and Sverre Utvåg that must be credited for the re-establishment of Nordic Hall as a concert hall, including a new Steinway D grand piano. When Contrasto went out in the local newspaper some time ago with a wish that more people should use the new Steinway wonder, ILIOS saw its chance to steal the premiere for the new instrument. And at the same time mark that the ILIOS festival is back in week 5, where it should be. After 2 years of moving the pop festival due to the pandemic. And we strongly recommend that the grand piano is used by both Cotrasto and other high-quality providers.