Norwegian euphonium star Tormod Flaten is getting set to perform at the Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival with the Norwegian Army Band, Bergen this Friday.

Low and High

Tormod commissioned and premiered Ørjan Matre’s extremely challenging piece 'Hunting Low and High' at the BrassWind Festival in 2006 — a work which is somewhat of a parody on the traditional air varie and is described to be one of the most extreme pieces in the euphonium literature.

Klang man

Ørjan Matre is the man behind the test piece from Norway´s 2006 Brass Band Championships, Klang(!) and the piece is full of colourful sounds, skillful orchestration and rather crazy ideas where the soloist is taken from minimalistic through rather ballistic cadenzas.

The Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival is an annual international festival of high artistic standing whose aim is to present modern music and related art forms in Oslo.

It it is a masterly written piece which indeed represents something new in the euphonium repertoireTormod Flaten

Delight at invitation

Tormod commented to 4BR: "I am delighted to get the invitation to perform Matre´s highly enjoyable work for a second time. There are certainly a lot of contemporary pieces of music out there which doesn´t get a second chance to be performed, but this work really deserves to be heard several times."

Masterly work

He added: "It it is a masterly written piece which indeed represents something new in the euphonium repertoire. I am happy to visit the prestigious Ultima Festival for the first time and it is a great privilege to work with Korsgård and the great Norwegian Army Band, Bergen again."