Somewhere for the weekend: Trondheim Chamber Music festival

Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim

Trondheim in Norway is notable for being the location of Nidaros Cathedral, the Northern-most Medieval cathedral in the world, built over the burial site of Saint Olav, the king of Norway in the 11th century. The city is also home to the Trondheim Chamber Music Festival, founded in 1993. The 2017 festival, which runs from 26 September to 1 October 2017, has Sally Beamish as festival composer.

The festival features varied events from a night-time concert in Nidaros Cathedral, to a Heidi's Beer Bar, both featuring the Nordic Brass Ensemble. Wolfgang Plagge has devised a new version of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, "Peter and the Wolf(gang)". Plagge offers an insight into Prokofiev’s implicit social criticism and draws links to contemporary social discourse.

The festival's intriguing At Home concerts, featuring concerts in private homes, mean people can apply to have a concert at home, with Marianne Thorsen (violin),Ruth Potter (harp), Sigmund Tvete Vik (violin), Ole Wuttudal (viola) and Marianne Baudouin Lie (cello) in pieces ranging from enchanting romantic works to a Scottish-inspired string quartet by festival composer Beamish.

Beamish's works in the festival include The Naming of Birds, Bringing the Day, The Seafarer Trio, Prelude and Canon, Pavan for two harps, Thorns for Cello and Harp, Awuya for Harp. Variations on a theme of Benjamin Britten.

Full details from the Trondheim Chamber Music Festival website.