Pianist Magazine is among the largest and most recognized magazines in classical music with readers worldwide. Every year, the magazine makes a list of the TOP 10 music festivals in Europe. At the top of the list this year is the famous Trasimeno Music Festival followed by the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Masterclasses. Further down the list are several festivals with both a long running time and a high reputation.
– This is incredibly big, so big that I haven’t quite managed to take it in. After all, I have visited the piano festival in La Roque – the world’s largest – many times. That we are ranked ahead of them is simply unbelievable, says general manager Knut Kirkesæther.
The list is mainly based on the artists and the program announced for the various festivals. But considering the number of festivals that take place, it is also an indicator to make yourself noticed enough to end up on the table of Pianist Magazine.
– We know that the list of artists that this year’s artistic director Bertrand Chamayou has put together is quite exceptional, and it’s good that others think the same. This year’s concerts could have been played on any stage anywhere in the world, and it’s clearly not just boasting from an over-enthusiastic general manager, says Kirkesæther.
The Lofoten Piano Festival is a result of the Lofoten International Chamber Music Festival, which was first held in 2004. The chamber version created a lot of local enthusiasm and several concert grand pianos were bought. The result is, as of today, a total of 10 concert grand pianos from the brand Steinway. After a bit of joking and fun at first, it eventually became serious about establishing a separate piano festival in Lofoten. At the same time, it is not enough to have good instruments and nice surroundings to create what fills festivals today.
– For all these years, we have believed that the only thing we can succeed at is maintaining a very high quality at our concerts, and the concept of the piano festival shows that our distinctive form is appreciated by even blasé greats who swim on assignments in the world’s metropolises. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved, concludes Kirkesæther.
Lofoten Piano Festival 2018 starts on Monday 9 July with an opening concert in Lofoten Kulturhus. Minister of Culture Trine Skei Grande will preside over the official opening before artistic director Bertrand Chamayou opens the concert with well-known tunes by Grieg. A total of 14 concerts will be held during the festival, including the final concert in Buksnes Church on 15 July.
Photo: Lofoten Pianofestival
