The divine concert experience

Get ready for a sensory musical encounter, when BIT20 enters the stage in Nykirken together with The Serbian Kovilj Monastery Choir. The event takes place as part of Bergen’s festival for church music and is the premiere of Swedish composer Djuro Zivkovic's work Bogoluchie.

The composition is inspired by 58 hymns written by the Byzantine monk St. Symeon, who lived in the 11th Century. The musicians and monks will be scattered around the church room, allowing the music to embrace the audience from all angles. Exploration of the common features between a concert and the religious practice is central to the piece. Can going to a concert be a kind of religion?

The monks of the monastery Kovilj are amongst the very few keeping the Serbian Orthodox song tradition alive. In this piece their singing will be transformed into contemporary music in a ritual meeting between old and new, and between the audience and the music. An utterly original music experience, unlike anything you’ve heard in a church before.

In collaboration with Christian Karlsen/Föreningen Kammarmusik NU, Bergen kirkeautunnale & NJORD Biennale. Supported by Statens musikverk, Nordisk Kulturfond, & Statens Kulturråd.