Talent 2008 is a collaboration between the Festival of Førde and Concerts Norway, with support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The project has been organized every year since 1995.
- It is a great pleasure for us that the Talent project from 2008 has been selected for such an honour. This is right at the core of our project! This is exactly what we want to achieve through Talent, to create meeting places for young musicians to get to know each other across different cultures. So says the project manager of Concerts Norway, Anne Moberg.
Innovative and outstanding project
In its explanation it is stated that Talent 2008 is an innovative project and an example of an outstanding work to enhance a common understanding and cultural exchange through music.
«This distinction honors your outstanding endeavors to further mutual understanding and cultural exchange through music, as demonstrated by your innovative project. »
In 2008 the participants came from Norway, Egypt and the Palestinian Territory, and they met both during the festival in Førde as well as in Egypt the year after.
One of the Norwegian musicians in 2008 was the traditional folk singer Ingebjørg Harman Bratland. She was very pleased when she heard about the award.
- This is a great honour! This is quite a award with which we can be proud of! We had a fantastic, successful cooperation with the youths from the Palestinian Territory and Egypt. I have a lot of good memories from this cooperation, says Bratland.
Musical and human development
Through the Talent project three musicians at the age of 18-25 from three countries, Norway being one of them, live together for a week during the festival of Førde under the guidance of artistic leaders.
By working across musical, linguistic and cultural divides, one of the goals is that the young musicians shall develop both as musicians and as human beings.
The Unesco award will be handed out at Unesco headquarters in Paris 13 April 2011.