INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF NORWAY Oslo Chamber of Commerce WEEKEND SUGGESTIONS Week 48 HI EVERYBODY! Don’t miss the official opening of the Christmas shopping streets in Oslo with lighting of the Christmas lights, a parade, Santa, entertainment, opening of the Christmas market, ice skating show and much more! Put on your Santa hat and join the fun on Saturday, November 28. 16.00: Official opening at Oslo City. Opera with soprano Benedicte Årving and barytone Kim W. Johansen. 16.15: Santa and the elves from Putti Plutti Pott will hand out lights and candy bags at Jernbanetorget. Everyone is then invited to join in a light procession up Karl Johans gate with surprises and entertainment along the way. 17.00: Entertainment in Spikersuppa. Mayor Marianne Borgen will open the Christmas market and the ice skating rink for the season. Ice skating show with children from Oslo Ice Skating Club and the Canadian ice dancing group Le Patin Libre. Enjoy free “nail soup” (spikersupppe) courtesy of Grand Hotel and Hotel Continental - and try the new Ferris wheel! 18.00: Lighting of the Christmas lights at Aker Brygge The Christmas season is here! Photo: visitoslo.com INN MEMBER EVENTS An Old-Fashioned Christmas Day at Bærums Verk, December 5 at 10.30 INN invites you to our traditional Christmas event at Bærums Verk (this is for Individual members only). In the charming “Bærum Ironworks” from 1610 you will today find about 50 shops, restaurants, handicraft, art galleries and workshops. There is also an idyllic park with changing sculpture exhibitions, old workers’ houses and a museum. Enjoy a nostalgic market at Stortorget, Verksgata, with lots of food, arts & crafts, entertainment and Christmas activities. This will truly get you into the Christmas spirit! A local guide will take us through the area and tell us all about Bærums Verk’s history. After the guided tour we hope you would like to join us for a true lunch experience at the unique Værtshuset Bærums Verk, the oldest restaurant in Norway. Photo: akershus.com Click here for more information and registration. Pre-Christmas Get-Together, December 10 at 17.30 We would like to repeat our successful Pre-Christmas get-together and invite all INN members to join us on 10th December. As the festive season approaches, we would like to share some Norwegian Christmas traditions. A special time of year filled with events and activities focused on the celebration of Christmas on 24th December. Come and hear about Christmas in Norway: the traditions and songs, the food and drink. Try your hand at decorating “pepperkaker ” (Gingerbread biscuits) and sample a delicious Christmas drink, “gløgg”. Click here for more information and registration. INN WELCOME TO NORWAY SEMINAR New in Norway and curious about the country and its people? Sign up here for our popular «Welcome to Norway» Seminar, a one-day practical introduction to living and working in Norway and Oslo. The next seminar will take place on December 9. Free of charge for all INN Individual Members. For INN Corporate Members/ OCC Members the price per person is NOK 4000 and non-members NOK 5000, including a welcome package and lunch. OSLO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE EVENTS Both Oslo Chamber of Commerce and INN members are welcome to this event: Global Economic Outlook, Danske Bank, December 8, from 08:30 - 10:00 Want an insightful update of the Norwegian and international economy? Enjoy a free breakfast presentation in Danske Bank’s offices, Aker Brygge. Chief Economist at Danske Bank, Frank Jullum, presents the latest news and trends in the Norwegian and international economy. This event is free of charge. Welcome! UPCOMING EVENTS Kygo to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert Norway’s biggest EDM star will perform at the concert in Telenor Arena on December 11. Other performers include a-ha and Aurora, and Jay Leno will be hosting the show. The Nobel Peace Prize Concert takes place on the day after the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, and will honour this years’ laureate, the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet. This is first time the concert is being held in Telenor Arena. Relatively unknown just a year ago, Kygo is now one of the world’s biggest EDM stars, with hits including “Firestone”, “Stole the Show” and a remix of a-ha’s “Take on Me”. In addition to his performance in Telenor Arena, Kygo will play an acoustic version of “Firestone” outside the Grand Hotel at the end of the torch parade on 10 December. The entire 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Concert will be streamed live on YouTube and shown live on the Norwegian TV station NRK1. In addition to Kygo, a-ha and Aurora, more artists will be announced in the coming weeks. Click here for more information and here for tickets. Mumford & Sons to Oslo in May The London quartet will perform in Oslo Spektrum May 10. Mumford & Sons debuted with Sigh No More in 2009 and took the world by storm with their energetic mix of folk, country and bluegrass. The follow- up, Babel, topped the charts worldwide, and was rewarded with the coveted Grammy award for the year’s best album in 2013. When the band was booked to perform at Sentrum Scene on the Babel tour, the tickets sold out in two minutes. The concert was therefore moved to the much bigger Oslo Spektrum, which also sold out in no time. Now Mumford & Sons are back with their third album, Wilder Mind. This time electric guitar and keyboards have replaced the banjo, and the band’s sound is slightly darker than before, without having lost the comfy, energetic feel that has made their music so popular. Photo: billettservice.com Tickets on sale here. MAJOR EVENTS/FESTIVALS Lighting of the Christmas Tree, Universitetsplassen, November 29 at 17.00 Lighting of the Christmas tree in the square in front of the old University building (Karl Johans gate). This event always takes place on the first Sunday of Advent, and is organised by the Salvation Army. There will be live music, walking around the Christmas tree, speeches and reading of Christmas stories. Send an email to [email protected] or call 22 99 85 00 for more information. Address: Universitetsplassen How to get there: All public transportation to National Theatre Photo: visitoslo.com CONCERTS Nystedt, Grieg og Brahms, Oslo Konserthus, November 26 at 19.00 Norwegian composer Knut Nystedt would have turned 100 years in September 2015. He is known world-wide for his choir music, and was a central driving force behind the development of Norway’s strong choir movement. This concert starts out with one of his orchestra works, Sinfonia del mare. The programme continues with another great Norwegian composer, Edvard Grieg, and his immensely popular piano concerto. After the intermission, the audience gets to hear Vasily Petrenko’s interpretation of Brahms’ first symphony. Click here for more information (in Norwegian) and here for tickets, send an email to [email protected] or call 23 11 31 00. Address: Munkedamsveien 14 How to get there: All public transportation to National Theatre Photo: oslokonserthus.no Antonio Sanchez & Migration, Nasjonal Jazzscene, November 26 at 20.00 Concert with Antonio Sanchez, considered by many critics and musicians alike as one of the most prominent drummers, bandleaders and composers of his generation. Click here for more information and here for tickets, send an email to post@ nasjonaljazzscene.no or call 22 00 56 60. Address: Karl Johans gate 35 How to get there: All public transportation to Stortinget/National Theatre Photo: nasjonaljazzscene.no Shining, Parkteatret Scene, November 28 at 20.00 Fronted by multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter Jørgen Munkeby, the band Shining has challenged musical borders and received numerous awards. By combining progressive, technical metal with jazz and avant-garde, and adding innovative visual elements, the band has created its very own genre - blackjazz. The concert at Parkteatret marks the end of Shining’s extensive fall tour of Europe and the release of their latest album International Blackjazz Society. Click here for more information (in Norwegian) and here for tickets, send an email to [email protected] or call 22 35 63 00. Address: Olaf Ryes plass 11 Photo: parkteatret.no How to get there: Trams 11/12/13 to Schous plass Simon Lynge, Buckleys, November 28 at 22.00 Lynge’s 2010 debut album,The Future, was described by Rolling Stone magazine as “one of the most memorable and melodic debut albums of recent years”. Lynge’s music has variously been compared by writers to that of Paul Simon, James Taylor, The Beach Boys and The Beatles. Click here for more information (in Norwegian) and here for tickets. Address: Lille Grensen 7 How to get there: All metro lines to Stortinget Photo: buckleys.no CHRISTMAS CONCERTS Et Barn er Født, Oslo Domkirke, November 26 at 19.00 Kirkens Nødhjelp and Oslo Domkirke host a Christmas concert with several notable Norwegian artists: Gabrielle Leithaug, Sigvart Dagsland, Ingrid Olava, Tord Gustavsen and Oslo Chamber Choir. The artist will perform well-known Christmas songs, along with some highlight s from their own repertoires. Click here for more information (in Norwegian), send an email to post.domkirken@oslo. kirken.no or call 23 62 90 10. Tickets at the door. Address: Karl Johans gate 11 How to get there: All public transportation to Oslo S/Jernbanetorget; trams 11/12/13/17/18/19 to Stortorvet Photo: oslokammerkor.net Snø, Kulturkirken Jakob, November 28 at 20.00 Pitsj consists of five strong female voices who create vocal music at the intersection of jazz, pop and folk. The concert is based around their album from last year, Snø, where they perform original compositions, along with Christmas classics in new and interesting arrangements.