The following is a list of notable events and releases that happened in Nordic music in 2019.
Events January 3 January – Swedish organist Hans Fagius is a recipient of the Royal College of Organists medal for "distinguished achievement in organ playing". 10 January – The 18th All Ears festival opens in Oslo, Norway, running until 12 January. 25 January – The 32nd Nordlysfestivalen opens in Tromsø, running until 3 February. Performers include Dmitry Shishkin and Wenche Myhre. 31 January The 8th Bodø Jazz Open Vinterjazz opens in Bodø, Norway, running until 2 February. The 21st Polarjazz Festival opens in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway, running until 3 February.
February 14 February – The annual Ice Music Festival opens in Finse, Norway, running until 16 February. Performers include Maria Skranes, Ivar Kolve and Snorre Bjerck. 23 February – At the 49th Dansk Melodi Grand Prix final, held at the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Leonora emerges as overall winner with the song "Love Is Forever"; she thus becomes Denmark's representative in this year's Eurovision Song Contest.
March 6 March – The 50th Turku Jazz Festival opens in Turku, Finland, running until 10 March. 9 March Melodifestivalen 2019 concludes at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, with John Lundvik emerging as overall winner with the song "Too Late for Love"; he thus becomes Sweden's representative in this year's Eurovision Song Contest. The 6th Faroese Music Awards ceremony takes place at the Nordic House (Norðurlandahúsið), Tórshavn. Teitur Lassen wins Best Artist and Best Song. 22 March – The Blue House Youth Jazz Festival opens in Stockholm, Sweden, running until 24 March. 28 March – Icelandic band Sigur Rós are charged with tax evasion, covering the period 2011-2014.
April 4 April – Wisting, Norway's most expensive TV series to date, is launched, with music by Jacob Groth, Ole Bo, and Sören Möller. 12 April – The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (FRSO) announces that Hannu Lintu's term as chief conductor will end with the 2020-2021 season. 30 April – The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra announces that Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä has signed a three-year contract to be its next musical director, beginning from January 2020.
May 2 May – The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra names Nicholas Collon as its next chief conductor, to replace Hannu Lintu; Collon will be the first non-Finnish conductor ever to be chief conductor of the FRSO. 9 May – Finnish National Opera and Ballet names Hannu Lintu as its next chief conductor; Lintu will hold the post from 1 January 2022 to 30 June 2026. 18 May – In the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, Sweden finish in 5th place, Norway in 6th place, Iceland in 10th place and Denmark in 12th place. Finland did not reach the final. The UK entry, written by Sweden's John Lundvik, finishes in last place. 22 May – The UK's Philharmonia Orchestra names Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali as its next principal conductor, as from the 2021-2022 season, with an initial contract of 5 years.
June 12 June The Iceland Symphony Orchestra announces that Eva Ollikainen will be its next chief conductor and artistic advisor, the first female conductor ever to take on the role; her contract will be from the 2020-2021 season until 2024. The Bergenfest music festival opens in Bergen, Norway, running until 15 June. The line-up includes Patti Smith and Robert Plant. 13 June – The Norwegian Wood music festival opens in Oslo, Norway, running until 15 June.
July 4 July The 20th Folk music festival of Siglufjordur opens in Siglufjordur, Iceland, running until 8 July. The 23rd Skånevik Bluesfestival opens in Skånevik, Norway, running until 6 July. 5 July The Baltic Jazz Festival opens in Dalsbruk, Finland, running until 7 July. The 41st Copenhagen Jazz Festival opens in Copenhagen, Denmark, running until 14 July. 6 July – The 20th Øyafestivalen opens in Oslo, Norway, running until 10 August. 8 July – The 33rd Sildajazz festival opens in Haugesund, Norway, running until 9 August. 11 July – The 34th Oslo Jazzfestival opens in Oslo, Norway, running until 17 August.
August 13 August – The Britten Synfonia premières a new version of the Enigma Variations in celebration of the 60th birthday of conductor Martyn Brabbins. Kalevi Aho is one of the contributing composers.
September 5 September – The 20th Sibelius Festival opens in Lahti, Finland, running until 8 September. Performers include Karita Mattila, Folke Gräsbeck, and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.
October 3 October – The Norrköping Symphony Orchestra names Karl-Heinz Steffens as its next principal conductor and artistic advisor, beginning from the 2020-2021 season. 4 October – The Copenhagen Opera Festival names Amy Lane as its new festival director; she will be the first woman and the first non-Dane to hold the post. 18 October – Hildur Guðnadóttir wins the Best Television Composer award at the World Soundtrack Awards for her score for the HBO/Sky series Chernobyl.
December 15 December – Finnish band Children of Bodom play their last show before disbanding, at the Black Box venue in Helsinki. 25 December – Swedish musical film, En del av mitt hjärta, is released.
Albums released January DayAlbumArtistLabelNotes Ref.4IihtallanFesterday First full-length album11VerklighetenSoilworkNuclear Blast18Last Call: Live in HelsinkiRemu & Hurriganes Covered in Blood Arch Enemy Compilation album25 Songs for the Dead Live King Diamond Live album & Blu-Ray DVD
February DayAlbumArtistLabelNotesRef.1 And Then Comes The Night Mats Eilertsen, Harmen Fraanje, Thomas Strønen ECM Lotus Soen 8 Dualistic Dualistic (Bernt Moen, Fredrik Sahlander, Tobias Solbakk) Losen Tana Sverre Gjørvad Losen Æ Anton Eger Edition Produced by Petter Eldh and Anton Eger, Executive producer Dave Stapleton22 Quilter Thomas T Dahl Losen Produced by Thomas T Dahl The Door to Doom Candlemass Featuring Tony Iommi Come Home Rigmor Gustafsson ACT Esoteric Oppression The Moth Gatherer Agonia Records
March DayAlbumArtistLabelNotesRef.1 Human Darkwater Léon Léon Léon Recordings Digital download only Sucker Punch Sigrid Island Records Produced by Martin Sjølie Westkust Westkust Run for Cover Records Vocalist Julia Bjernelind plays guitar alongside Brian Cukrowski, drummer Philip Söderlind and new bassist Pär Karlsson 8 Wings of Fire Brymir Beyond the Void Iron Fire Hexed Children of Bodom Danger Johnny Produced by Mikko Karmila Voyage Daniel Herskedal Edition Produced by Daniel Herskedal, Executive producer Dave Stapleton15 Teipillä tai rakkaudella Anna Abreu 22 Sounds Of 3 Edition 2 Per Mathisen feat. Ulf Wakenius and Gary Husband Losen
April Day Artist AlbumLabelNotes Ref. 12 Hamferð Ódn (EP) 19 Per Wiberg Head Without Eye Despotz Records First solo album 26 Arvingarna I do Columbia Records Helheim Rignir Dark Essence Records Månegarm Fornaldarsagorna Promoe The Art of Losing
May DayAlbumArtistLabelNotesRef.3 Ofidians Manifest Kampfar Indie Recordings 10 Glory Chord Bigbang Grand Sport Records Dark Morph Dark Morph Collaboration between Jónsi and Carl Michael von Hausswolff Departure Eyolf Dale Edition Records In collaboration with Andre Roligheten11 Drone Activity Ulver 17 The King Live in Paris Avatar Live album24 Northbound Eivind Austad Trio Losen
June DayAlbumArtistLabelNotesRef. 7 Första klass Einár Self-released Digital download; reached no 1 in Swedish charts One Fire Combichrist 12 & Co. Daði Freyr Samlist ehf 14 Return to Eden Timo Tolkki's Avalon Frontiers Music
July DayAlbumArtistLabelNotesRef. 5 Outstrider Abbath Season of Mist Named one of the 50 best metal albums of 2019 by Loudwire Live Bullet Live album 19 The Great War Sabaton Nuclear Blast Produced by Jonas Kjellgren 26 Recordead Live – Sextourcism in Z7 Lordi AFM Records First official Live DVD of the band
August DayAlbumArtistLabelNotesRef. 2 Rewind, Replay, Rebound Volbeat Vertigo, Republic, Universal First studio album with Kaspar Boye Larsen on bass 16 Dominion HammerFall 30 In the Raw Tarja Turunen earMUSIC featuring Björn "Speed" Strid, Tommy Karevik and Cristina Scabbia
September DayAlbumArtistLabelNotesRef. 5 Nummer 1 Einár Self-released Digital download; reached no 1 in Swedish charts 13 Rust Crashdïet Diet Records; Frontiers Music Srl First full-length album with Gabriel Keyes as vocalist
October DayAlbumArtistLabelNotesRef. 4 Heart Like a Grave Insomnium Century Media Records Mixed by Jens Bogren 18 Alpha and the Omega Konkhra Hammerheart Records 25 Transition Art Nation Gain Music Entertainment Third studio album Pitfalls Leprous InsideOutMusic Daemon Mayhem Century Media
November DayAlbumArtistLabelNotesRef. 8 Songs the Night Sings The Dark Element Featuring Anette Olzon and Jani Liimatainen The Enemy: Reality Wolfbrigade Southern Lord 15 Fairytale – Joulun taikaa Saara Aalto Warner Music Formats: Digital download, CD Non Debellicata Ragnarok
December DayAlbumArtistLabelNotesRef. 3 9 Elu Laura Põldvere Oh! Joy productions 6 Brave Tin World The Murder of My Sweet Frontiers Music Decades: Live in Buenos Aires Nightwish Nuclear Blast Live album issued as Blu-ray digibook, 2CD digipak, Blu-ray+2CD earbook and 3LP
Classical works Hans Abrahamsen – Horn Concerto Daniel Bjarnason – From Space I Saw Earth Sebastian Fagerlund – Nomade Anders Hillborg – Sound Atlas Aulis Sallinen – Concerto for Two Accordions, Strings and Percussion Anna S. Þorvaldsdóttir – Enigma (String Quartet No 1)
Film and television scores Ole Bo, Jacob Groth & Sören Möller – Wisting Mikkel Hess – Darkness: Those Who Kill Martin Horntveth – Twin
Musical films En del av mitt hjärta, with music by Tomas Ledin, Björn Ulvaeus and Andreas Carlsson
Eurovision Song Contest Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019
Deaths 12 February - Olli Lindholm, 54, Finnish singer and guitarist (heart attack)Yö-yhtyeen laulaja Olli Lindholm on kuollut 26 February - Magnus Lindberg, 66, Swedish musician, singer and composer (cancer)Magnus Lindberg frånd Grymlings död 20 March - Terje Nilsen, 67, Norwegian singer-songwriter. 26 March - Master Fatman, 53, Danish comedian, film director and singer 27 March - Audun Laading, 25, Norwegian musician, member of Her's (car crash) 5 May - Ib Glindemann, 84, Danish jazz composer and bandleaderDødsfald: Kapelmester, filmkomponist Ib Glindemann (84) 19 May - Alfred Janson, 82, Norwegian composer and pianistKomponist Alfred Janson er død 10 June Ib Nørholm, 88, Danish composer and organist Sven-David Sandström, 76, Swedish composer 5 July - Paolo Vinaccia, 65, Italian drummer long resident in Norway 6 July – Thommy Gustafsson, 71, keyboardist of Swedish band Sven-Ingvars 8 August - Erling Wicklund, 75, Norwegian jazz trombonist and journalist.Jazznestoren Erling Wicklund er død 18 September – Tony Mills, 57UK-born vocalist for Norwegian band TNT (cancer) 2 October - Morten Stützer, Danish guitarist and former bassist of Artillery, 57 4 November - Timi Hansen, 61, Danish bassist (cancer)Mercyful Fate Bassist Timi Hansen Dies After Battle With Cancer 5 November - Jan Erik Kongshaug, 75, Norwegian jazz musician and sound engineerLydmesteren Jan Erik Kongshaug er død 9 December - Marie Fredriksson, 61, Swedish singer-songwriter (Roxette)Marie Fredriksson är död – blev 61 år
References