When Pekka Kuusisto leads the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra into the Royal Albert Hall for this summer’s BBC Proms, it is with a programme that confronts injustice and celebrates resilience—across history and in our own time.
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In the summer of 1960, Dmitri Shostakovich visited the ruins of Dresden—a city rebuilt, yet bearing deep scars from the Allied bombing of February 1945. Moved by the devastation, he composed one of his most personal and haunting works: the String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, later arranged as a Chamber Symphony for string orchestra.
Woven with the composer’s musical signature—the DSCH motif—the piece evokes both the horrors of war and the suffocating pressures of life under Stalin’s regime. Under Kuusisto’s direction, the chamber version resonates with fresh intensity: a collective lament, but also a quiet testament to human endurance and the power of artistic truth.
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From another world entirely comes Katarina Barruk—singer, composer, and one of the last remaining native speakers of Ume Sámi. Her music, fusing traditional yoik with pop, electronica, and improvisation, is a vibrant declaration of cultural survival. Through her songs, she gives voice to a nearly lost language and identity, bringing its stories and spirit to international ears. This concert features a selection of her most moving works—where lyrical warmth meets raw sonic energy.
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More information:
Sunday 31 August 7:30 pm
Royal Albert Hall
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Program
Michael Tippett A Lament from Divertimento on 'Sellinger's Round'
Caroline Shaw The Beech Tree from 'Plan and Elevation'
Sanger av Katarina Barruk
Philip Glass Blood Oath from String Quartet No. 3
Hannah Kendall Weroon Weroon for solo cuffed violin
Arvo Pärt Fratres
Bach / Max Reger O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß
Dmitri Sjostakovitsj Chamber Symphony
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Performers
Pekka Kuusisto artistic director
Katarina Barruk vocal
Arnljot Nordvik guitar
Christer Jørgensen drums
