Dear audience!
Everyone who comes to Kilden something with them.
Behind every single person who is part of the crowd at Kilden a life story. It is almost certainly woven from experiences and lessons learned, thoughts and hopes, but also disappointments and pain. If that story were visible, we would likely see it crisscrossing the lived lives of others. Perhaps it would also have a few twists and turns that, in the light of day, cannot and should not be explained. But we cannot possibly free ourselves from these lines, and whether we are in the audience, standing on a stage, or working behind the scenes, they are part of creating the contexts in which we experience the performing arts.
The defining feature of the performing arts is that they are created in the moment
The time spent together at Kilden a shared meeting place, before everything disperses into new individual paths that go their separate ways.
The distinctive feature and strength of the performing arts is that they are created in the moment, and that we, as we experience them together and simultaneously, also influence what is being created. Afterward, we don’t simply return to square one; we’ve gained something that stays with us. This applies not only to the audience and the artists, but also to Kilden an arts center.
Every creative moment adds to Kilden’s artistic power and reputation.
With that in mind, we are thrilled and proud that the renowned French conductor and singer Nathalie Stutzmann has agreed to take over the baton from Giordano Bellincampi and become the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra’s new chief conductor starting with the 2018–19 season. We also extend a warm welcome to Geir Rebbestad, who will take over from Stefan Sköld as orchestra director this December. We are confident that these two new artistic leaders, with their diverse backgrounds, have much to contribute to the orchestra and Kilden a whole, building upon the already high standards achieved under Bellincampi and Sköld.
In this issue of the magazine, Nathalie Stutzmann herself traces the long arc of her career—from when she began singing and conducting for her puppets in Paris in the 1970s to the moment she, as an acclaimed artist, accepted without hesitation the position of chief conductor at Kilden. For her, passionate energy is the reason behind the choice she has made.
When Kilden stages *Hedda Gabler* in February, however, you will encounter a person who has chosen to abandon passion and retreat into a refined void. The consequences of the choices we make—or of failing to be honest with ourselves—are existential themes that make Henrik Ibsen’s play just as relevant and thought-provoking today.
The theater will also push the boundaries with its focus on new plays. This fall, “I Will Wash the World Clean” has moved and stirred many, and 8,000 schoolchildren have had a powerful encounter with the refugee crisis through a new production of “Anne Frank’s Siblings.” The season also includes two new plays created at Kilden, namely “Sult1” and “Sidespringerne.” The establishment of a permanent acting ensemble is a key reason why Kilden can now more easily stage new plays and why plays you missed the first time around can often be staged again.
This is also a first for us—a major co-production with Det Norske Teatret. *The Book of Mormon* has been a phenomenal success in Oslo, and we’re looking forward to Kilden in April.
This same approach was also key to Kilden finally realizing its long-held dream of staging the masterpiece *Tosca* this fall. A co-production between the Northern Norwegian Opera and Symphony Orchestra, Opera Rogaland, and Kilden this possible. Such co-productions between regional and national arts institutions are an obvious and effective use of the substantial public funding we receive. It offers audiences an experience they haven’t had before. The success of several sold-out performances of the concert version of “La Traviata” shows that there is great interest in opera. We will do our best to meet that demand.
219 people work at Kilden performing arts centre, most of them behind the scenes. You’ll meet five of them in this magazine. They are fine representatives of what we now also have an employee survey to document: Even though there is a lot of pressure and hard work in an arts center that hosts a thousand events a year, a proud enthusiasm characterizes this community. We get our biggest boost from the many comments we receive from the audience. We take that with us into our next production, because there is something to learn from both criticism and praise.
Welcome to Kilden!
Hans T. Antonsen
Director