The 2005 Nobel Festival in Stockholm

December 1, 2005 

Soon it will again be time for the Nobel Festival to light up the winter darkness. In keeping with tradition, this year’s Nobel Prize Award Ceremony and Nobel Banquet in Stockholm will take place on December 10, as they have done with a few exceptions since 1901. The Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded the same day in Oslo.

The Nobel Day will begin with the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall. The music in the program will be performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Danish-Italian conductor Giordano Bellincampi. In addition, acclaimed Swedish-American soprano soloist Erika Sunnergårdh will perform works by Puccini and Verdi. This year Ms. Sunnergårdh has appeared at venues in Sweden, Spain and elsewhere. During the spring of 2006 she will make her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York as Leonore in Fidelio. The floral decorations at the Prize Award Ceremony will be arranged by florist Helén Magnusson of Hässelby Blommor, who will adorn the Concert Hall stage in winter décor.

After the ceremony comes the evening’s Nobel Banquet at the Stockholm City Hall. This year’s chefs are freelancer Markus Aujalay, Torsten Kjörling of Hotel Tylösand and Håkan Thörnström of the Gothenburg restaurant Thörnströms Kök. In charge of dessert, in co-operation with Dessertakademien, are Magnus Johansson of KonditorSpecialisten and Ted Johansson of Lux Dessertchoklad. In the process of composing the menu, the chefs have worked together with a reference group consisting of chefs Gert Klötzke, Björn Halling and Fredrik Eriksson, who reveal that this year’s concept is characterized by Nordic winds. According to Fredrik Eriksson, the aim is for Banquet guests to experience the best that Swedish and Nordic cuisine has to offer. In keeping with tradition, the menu will be secret until the Banquet has begun at 7:00 p.m. In charge of ensuring that all parts of the meal are coordinated are Ulf Östenius, General Manager of the City Hall’s Stadshuskällaren restaurant and Gunnar Eriksson, the restaurant’s Chef de Cuisine.

Without revealing the contents, it can be mentioned that the title of this year’s “Divertissement” at the Banquet is Floral Transformations. The divertissement was created by the duo of Carina Reich and Bogdan Szyber, who have worked together in the dramatic arts for 25 years and have created such works as Dying for Love at Stockholm’s House of Dance and Visions of Earthly Paradise at St. Peter’s Church in London. In charge of the musical element will be Allmänna Sången, Scandinavia’s oldest student choir, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year, led by conductor Cecilia Rydinger Alin. Among numerous prizes and honors received by the choir is first prize at the European Grand Prix choral contest earlier this year. Cecilia Rydinger Alin has also been awarded the Johannes Norrby Medal for her contributions to Swedish choral activities and the royal Litteris et Artibus Medal for her work in Swedish musical life, which she received from the hand of H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf earlier this year.

The flower arrangements at the Banquet will be dominated by lilies, roses, calla lilies and carnations in yellow, white and red, according to Gunnar Kaj, who is in charge of the floral decorations at the City Hall for the sixth consecutive year. Other assignments handled by Gunnar Kaj have been The Garden Festival at Sofiero Castle and Garden in Helsingborg last summer and the AutumnWinterRest stand at the 2003 Formex Fair in Stockholm.

One event that has been re-introduced during the Nobel Week is the Nobel Prize Concert, arranged by Nobel Media AB. The concert, which will take place this year at the Stockholm Concert Hall on December 8, combines classical music and new music with inspiration from the Silk Road. World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma will perform with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo as well as The Silk Road Ensemble. This event is open to the general public, and tickets are on sale at the Concert Hall.

The Nobel Week program will also include the Laureates’ Nobel Lectures and their press conferences and will conclude with individual visits by the Laureates at the Nobel Foundation on December 12.