Vox Pacis
The Voice of Peace

Welcome to
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, August 2008



Between August 19 - 23, Stockholm will host a magnificent musical adventure, Vox Pacis -The Voice of Peace. On five consecutive summer nights, a colourful performance for Peace will resound across the waters of Stockholm. The venue is an outdoor stage on the island of Skeppsholmen, on the docks in front of the Museum of Modern Art.
Vox Pacis is intended for the many tourists in summer-Stockholm, the inhabitants of the city themselves and all who work for peace around the world.
No fewer than 130 invited artists from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and North America will perform together with 250 singers,
musicians and dancers from Sweden – a unique collaboration between the great religions and cultures of the world. The crescendo of the performance is the inauguration of a newly written cantata “A Challenge to Humanity”,
unique in its way of mingling the different musical languages of the
world’s religions in the name ofpeace.
There exists a clear risk that climate change, the threat of nuclear
weapons and the oil crisis have the potential to trigger ever more serious
conflicts. The next fifty years may well be decisive for the future of mankind and the world. Vox Pacis is
to remind us of the common denominator between the civilizations. In today’s world, we cannot afford for religion and culture to set people against each other. The musical miracle created by the artists of Vox Pacis is proof
that you can work together across borders.
Is it possible for the most sacred within each culture and religion meet with the holiness of the other? Vox Pacis artists, dedicated to contribute to answering this question, are rooted in Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity. Other elements of the performance are Tibetan throat singing, Chinese choirs, Sami joik, Sufi desert song and sacred dance.
Vox Pacis is part of a global movement to enhance the cultural and religious dialogue. It comprises fifteen countries in Asia, Europe, The Middle East, North Africa and North America. Skeppsholmen - the island of peace

in the sign of peace. 130 visiting artists from Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa will stay onboard the full-rigged ship “af Chapman”, anchored at Skeppsholmen, and in annexes, all converted into a hotel. Beginning on August 6, our artist guests will be a part of the life of the island.
Rehearsals, concerts, lectures and workshops will take place from August 7 to 23.

WORLD PREMIERE
 22 AUGUST 20.30


Vox Pacis – The Voice of Peace.
A cantata for peace and reconciliation.

Place: The Blue Hall in Stockholm City Hall
EXTRA performances: 22, 23 August, place and hour as above
Entrance Fee: 350 SEK

Tickets can be obtained from the Ticnet call-centre +4677-170 70 70, www.ticnet.se or via shops with an ATG-sign. A limited number of tickets will
be available at the entrance on the nights of performance.
Free entrance to the Nobel Museum if a ticket to the Vox Pacis performance is presented.

Choirs, solo performers, dancers and mucians from some fifteen countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and North America have, during three weeks in August, rehearsed this unique musical performance with Gunilla Nordlund, artistic director, and Jonas Dominique, conductor.
The performance will last two full hours and is divided into two acts:
The first act begins with Tibetan mask dance and continues with traditional hymns performed by the various ensembles in rhythmical arrangements. Instrumental and soloist pieces follow, as well as the whirling dance of the dervishes and a solo performance by Virpi Pahkinen. Members of the Stockholm Diocese choirs and the Junior Academy contribute together with the Swedish Wind Ensemble, serving as Vox Pacis orchestra.
In the second act, some 300 artists join together in a newly written cantata “A Challenge to Humanity” in which different musical traditions are joined together for the first time. A new language in words and music is the amazing result.

The cantata “A Challenge to Humanity” was composed by
Ylva Q. Arkvik (music) and Sigrid Kahle (libretto).
Artistic Director and initiator of Vox Pacis: Gunilla Nordlund
Conductor: Jonas Dominique
Designer: Sten Jensen
Sound Director: Christer Norrby
Conductor, Youth Choir: Bo Wannefors
Composer, Youth Hymn: Ragnwei Axellie
Vox Pacis Orchestra - the Swedish Wind Ensemble




ARTISTS AND ENSEMBLES
TAKING PART IN VOX PACIS - THE VOICE OF PEACE .


CHOIRS AND ENSEMBLES
Anchiskathi Choir from Tblisi, Georgia (early Christian music)
Vox Silentii, a small women´s ensemble from Finland (Gregorian-Christian)
Ensemble Bhajan from Northern India (early Vedic religion and Hindi)
Ensemble David from Cairo, Egypt (Coptic)
Ensemble Gnawa from Morocco/Sweden (Muslim)
The Moran Singers Ensemble from Jerusalem, Israel (Jewish)
Nada The Orient Art Group from Gaza, Palestine (Muslim)
The Orthodox Byzantine Choir from Serres/Thessaloniki, Greece (Greek-Orthodox)
Orthodox Singers from Tallinn, Estonia (Russian-Orthodox)
Sami Jienat, ”jojk” from the Sami regions in Sweden, Norway and Finland
Scala Jacobi Ensemble from Stockholm, early medieval music (Christian)
Tibetan Monks from the Gyuto Monastery, Dharamsala, the Himalayas, Northern India. throat singing (Buddhist)
Swedish choir-singers from the Stockholm Diocese, the Peace Choir of Skeppsholmen,
Näktergalningarna, Kraftkällan, and even more choirs in the Stockholm area.
Children´s and youth´s choirs from the Junior Academy and the Stockholm Diocese will sing a hymn composed by Nathan Söderblom - with a new text by Ragnar Axellie and conducted by Bo Wannefors.

SOLOISTS
Chime Arkhang, Tibetan high tune singing, from Lhasa, living in Stockholm.
Suzanne Bruchfeld, songs in Jiddisch, from Stockholm.
Pasang Dolma, songs in Tibetan, Hindi and Nepali, from New Delhi/Dharamsala, living in New York.
Veikko Kiiver, Gregorian singer from Estonia, living in Stockholm.
Chokri Mensi, Muslim singer and muezzin (prayer singer) from Tunisia, living in Stockholm.
Shipra Nandy, songs in Hindu, from Calcutta, India, living in Stockholm.
Allan Scharf, songs in Hebrew, from Stockolm.
Anna Steinholtz, singing Swedish folk chorals, from Stockholm.
Debaishish Mukherjee, tabla player, from Calcutta, India.

DANCERS
Tibetan Mask Dancers from the exile opera the Tibetan Institute of Performing
Arts (TIPA) in Dharamsala, the Himalayas, Northern India.
Sufic Dervishes - the whirling dervishes follow old Sufic traditions within Islam, from Turkey.
Vrpi Pahkinen, Swedish-Finnish solo dancer, living in Stockholm.


VOX PACIS
MINOR CONCERTS AND LECTURES

During August there will be a series of Vox Pacis concerts and other events
arranged together with some of the many museums and churches in Stockholm
>

 

TUESDAY 7 AUGUST
20.00
Sofia church: A magic musical meeting between Tibet and Finland
Vox Silentii, a small ensemble of women from Finland singing Gregorian music, will meet with a group of Tibetan monks from the Gyuto Monastery in the Himalayas and the Tibetan solo singers Chime Arkhang, Lhasa/Stockholm, and Pasang Dolma, the Himalayas/New York.
Entrance: Free

SATURDAY 9 AUGUST
15.00
Ethnographic Museum: International Day of the World´s Indigenous People
The International Day of the World´s Indigenous People takes place every year on the 9th of August. This year the situation will be in in focus through the presence of the Tibetan and Sami artists who have been invited by Vox Pacis and the museum to present together a most stimulating program with a variety of music, songs, dances and recitals. Host: Gunilla Nordlund
Entrance: 150 SEK

15.00
Sofia church: “And the walls came tumbling down …”
We will enjoy the presence and impact of musical and human connections and cross-overs, when the Moran Singers Ensemble from Jerusalem sings together with Nada The Orient Art Group from Gaza.
Entrance: Free

TUESDAY 12 AUGUST
17.00
The Museum of Modern Art: “And the walls came tumbling down… “
Again the Moran Singers Ensemble from Jerusalem will perform together with Nada The Orient Art Group från Ghaza. And this time as well we will listen to new sounds and harmonies.
Entrance: 75 SEK

WEDNESDAY 13 AUGUST
18.00
The Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities: The Black
Blues of Morocco
The Gnawa Ensemble songs originates from the Sufic traditions in Morocco.
This music has its origins in West Africa via the people who, during centuries of slavery, migration and trade, crossed the desert of Sahara to reach the North African coast. The Gnawa people are considered as being the most colourful Muslim group, their music reminding sometimes of the Afro-American blues.
Entrance: 150 SEK

THURSDAY 14 AUGUST
19.00
Högalid Church: Coptic and Gregorian music blended with Tibetan high tune singing
World famous Coptic Ensemble David and its twelve artists will perform together with Scala Jacobi, a small Gregorian ensemble singing early medieval music, conducted by Veikko Kiiver. The Tibetan solo artists Chime Arkhang and
Pasang Dolma will marvel us with their high tune singing.
Entrance: 60 SEK

20.00
Sofia church: Early Russian-Orthodox and Greek-Orthdox music and singing
Ten artists in a choir from Tallinn singing in the Russian-Orthodox tradition will come together in a performance with the Orthodox Byzantine Choir, with fifteen priests from the Serres Monastery in Greece.
Entrance: Free

FRIDAY 15 AUGUST
17.00-ca23.00
Sofia church: All night long in the company of the Vox Pacis artists.
All the ensembles, soloists and dancers of Vox Pacis will perform music from their respective areas in a kaleidoscopic fesival from after-noon until the middle of the night!
Entrance: 100 SEK

SATURDAY 16 AUGUST
17.00-21-00
The Coptic Congregation in Midsommarkransen: An invitation.
Welcome to to share an exciting Coptic concert with Ensemble David, followed by a ”simple meal and mingle”.
Pizza Blue Resturang, Hallonbergens centrum.
Entrance: 150 SEK incl. meal. Call+46736461101 for tickets.

SUNDAY 17 AUGUST
18.00
Maria Magdalena church: A musical meeting-point between India and Georgia
The world famous tabla player Debaisish Mukherjee, Calcutta, India in a performance together with soloist singer Shipra Nandy, from Calcutta/ Stockholm and the excellemt ensemble Anchiskhathi from Tblisi in Georgia.
Entrance: Free

THURSDAY 21 AUGUST
17.00
The Nobel Museum: ”Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nathan Söderblom”
Rebecka Lettevall, researcher in History of Ideas and Science and Senior Curator at the Nobel Museum, will give a lecture on the ”1930 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate”.
The topic is also approached via a short documentary film.
Entrance: Free entrance to the Nobel Museum if a ticket to the Vox Pacis performance
is presented

FRIDAY 22 AUGUST
15.00
Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities: ”The Cultural Heritage of Dalai Lama”
Gunilla Nordlund, Artistic director of Vox Pacis, will lecture on Dalai Lama and the Tibetan opera, as seen historically and to-day. There will be live demonstrations of singing and dancing by artists from the Tibetan exile opera, TIPA.
Further, we will listen to throat singing by the monks of the Gyuto monastery in the Himalayas.
Entrance: ordinary museum fee

19, 20, 21 AUGUST
20:30
Sofia Church Open rehearsal
19/8 Vox Pacis, Open rehearsal Sofia Church 20.30-23.00
20/8 Vox Pacis, Open rehearsal Sofia Church 20.30-23.00
21/8 Vox Pacis, Open rehearsal Sofia Church 20.30-23.00
Tickets 100:- by Sofia Church.

EXHIBITION
4 – 31 AUGUST
Sofia Church: ”Vox Pacis – Love is the only possible way”
Oil paintings by Ragnwei Axellie
More information
Contact person: Gunilla Nordlund: +46 70-3487780, info@voxpacis.com

Do you want to promote peace on Earth through culture?
Welcome to join the Friends of Vox Pacis.
Fee: SEK 200 - or an optional conribution.
Giro service: Vox Pacis Vänner, account no 45 81 77-3

“A Challenge to Humanity”: a cantata comissioned by Concerts in Sweden and the Church of Sweden.
Vox Pacis is supported by: the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation, Alexandria, the Swedish Institute, the City of Stockholm/Culture, the Stockholm County Council/Culture, the Folke Bernadotte Academy, the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, the Swedish Wind Ensemble, Concerts in Sweden, the Church of Sweden.

Vox Pacis co-operates closely with the Sofia Parish, Stockholm, the Swedish Wind Ensemble, the Nobel Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Museums of World Cultures: the Ethnographic Museum, the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities, the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities and Sensus Adult Education.