Some evenings, it simply feels good to sit down, look up at the stage and know that you are in the right place. This year, Storsalen at Harstad Kulturhus offers three very different experiences – but they all have one thing in common: they are grand, powerful and well worth catching. Here you can experience film history with a live orchestra, an international star pianist performing with the Norwegian Army Band, and a wildly inventive performance where folk music, acrobatics and stage art merge.
Whether you want to be moved, impressed, or simply experience something that lifts an ordinary evening into something special, you will find it here. These are performances suited both to seasoned culture-goers and to anyone who simply wants a truly good night out.
Monday 22 June at 18:00
Laila (NO)
This is the evening for anyone who wants to experience something greater than an ordinary film screening.
Laila is one of the great classics of Norwegian silent film history. The film premiered in 1929, was widely released, and is still regarded as one of the most successful Norwegian silent films. It is based on Jens Andreas Friis’ story Fra Finmarken, and is also considered the first Norwegian film in which Sámi life and culture play a central role.
What makes this evening truly special, however, is that the film is brought to new life with live music in the hall. At the True Northern Arts Festival, Laila will be shown on the big screen while the Arctic Philharmonic performs live on stage. Gunnar Schnéevoigt’s silent film is brought together with music from Ole Olsen’s 1893 opera Lajla, in a production that gives the story power, intensity and a magnificent soundscape.
And the story? It has everything that makes you lean forward in your seat: wolves on the mountain plateau, a missing child, hidden origins, powerful emotions and sweeping landscapes. This is not only an encounter with film history – it is an evening where old art feels new, close and surprisingly alive.
Why you should go: If you like grand stories, live orchestral music and cultural experiences you can really feel in your body, this is an evening worth securing a ticket for.
Thursday 25 June at 19:00
Alexey Botvinov med Hærens Musikkorps (UA/NO)
This is the concert for anyone who knows how magical it can be when a first-class pianist meets an orchestra in full flight.
Alexey Botvinov is one of Ukraine’s leading pianists and an artist with a distinctive presence on stage. He is particularly known as a powerful interpreter of Rachmaninov, has performed in more than 40 countries, and has played Bach’s Goldberg Variations more than 300 times. He is also the founder of the international festival Odessa Classics, and has for many years been an important ambassador for Ukrainian cultural life in Europe.
On stage, he is joined by the Norwegian Army Band – one of Northern Norway’s major cultural institutions. The band was founded in Harstad in 1911, today consists of 27 full-time musicians, and is known for its precision, power and wide-ranging repertoire.
When Botvinov’s intense and poetic piano playing meets the rich sound of the Norwegian Army Band, everything is in place for a concert experience with both fire and gravitas. This is the evening for anyone who wants to hear an international top soloist perform with one of the region’s strongest musical pillars.
Why you should go: If you enjoy classical music with both power and emotion, and want to experience an evening that feels grand from the very first note, this is the concert to choose.
Saturday 27 June at 19:00
Cirqus Hialøs (NO)
This is the performance for anyone who likes music not only to be heard, but also seen and felt.
Cirqus Hialøs is not an ordinary concert. Nor is it an ordinary circus. It is a concert circus where live folk music meets acrobatics, trapeze, rope, hair suspension, dance and visual theatre all in one. The music is performed by the award-winning Scanian folk band Hialøsa, while four circus artists create a physical, airborne and surprising universe around them.
What makes it so special is the interplay. The music drives the bodies forward, and the movements give the music new life. Eight artists appear on stage, and the expression ranges from raw folk tunes and foot-stomping rhythms to aerial acrobatics and powerful, almost ritualistic images.
This is a performance especially suited to anyone who likes circus, physical theatre, folk music or stage art where a lot is happening. But it is also perfect for anyone who simply wants to experience something new – and something truly unlike anything else.
Why you should go: This is the performance you definitely have not seen before, but which you will remember, and talk about, long afterwards.
Saturday 20 June at 21:00
Katarina Barruk (SÁ)
This is the concert for anyone who wants to experience one of Sápmi’s most distinctive voices in a powerful live format.
Katarina Barruk is one of the leading artists working in Ume Sámi today, and her music moves between joik, pop and art music. With a voice that is both intimate and forceful, she creates music that feels deeply rooted and strikingly contemporary at the same time.
In Nordic Hall, audiences can expect a concert where language, rhythm and presence carry equal weight. Barruk’s music is atmospheric and direct, with lyrics in Ume Sámi and a sound that opens up wide landscapes — musical, emotional and cultural.
Why you should go: If you want a concert experience that combines a rare language, a strong artistic voice and contemporary Sámi music with real stage presence, Katarina Barruk belongs on your festival list.
