Financially Supported by HCA2005

The Opening Show - Once Upon A Time
On 2 April 2005, a grand international opening show, entitled "Once upon a time", will mark the beginning of the Hans Christian Andersen bicentenary. The event will take place at the national soccer stadium in Copenhagen, attended by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, members of the Danish royal family and the Hans Christian Andersen Ambassadors. The stadium will be transformed into an enchanted fairytale land. The 90-minute show will feature international celebrity entertainment featuring more than 300 performers, including entertainers from the world of pop and classical music as well as dancers and acrobats. Original music, new choreography, new animation and new dramatised film adaptations of Andersen's life as well as spectacular renditions of his fairytales amidst an amazing fireworks display awaits an audience of more than 40,000 at the stadium. The show will be televised to the whole world.

RESONANCE.DK / Andersen/Bengtsson/Sydow
The record company Resonance.dk has released a CD entitled "Rime-djävelen" (The Rhyme Devil) featuring modern and highly contemporary renditions of Andersen's poems and life. The compositions are inspired by the musical background of the contributing musicians, i.e. rock, folksong, jazz, electronic music and classical music. "Rime-djävelen" features Ulle Bjørn Bengtsson (vocal and declamation) and Hans Sydow (sampler, synthesizer and laptop). Since the release of the CD in April 2004, the band has toured Danish upper-secondary schools along with Danish Andersen scholar Jens Andersen, author of the critically acclaimed Andersen biography published in 2003. The band brings Hans Christian Andersen to life as the individualist he was full of passion, wit, and savvy humour. It's wild - from exhilaration to nerve-wracking anxiety - and not for children!

Contact:
Andersen-Bengtsson-Sydow
Expressvionium
Struenseegade 49, 3.
DK-2200 København N
Tel. +45 26 75 84 44
Mail

www.resonance.dk / www.rime-djaevelen.dk 

The Danish Radio Sinfonietta
The Danish Radio Sinfonietta has performed open-air Castle Concerts since 1994 for an audience of more than 400,000. In 2005, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation DR will feature Castle Concerts for the whole family inspired by Hans Christian Andersen. Performances: Ledreborg 13 - 14 August, Marselisborg 20 August. The premiere concert will be on Funen.
www.ruo.dk

Groupe F (France)
Groupe F features some of the world's leading pyrotechnics. Their portfolio includes the opening of the Athens Olympics in 2004, the Millennium Bridge in London (2000), the Deutsche Statsoper in Berlin (2002), the inauguration of the Singapore Culture Centre (2002), the Millennium celebration in Paris (New Year 1999-2000), the closing festivities of Expo98, and the opening of the Gaudi Year in Barcelona (2002).  On Friday 1 April 2005, Groupe F will give the Hans Christian Andersen bicentenary a flying start with a firework display across the Odense Harbour. The show will draw on Andersen's many fairytales, illuminating the evening sky with his familiar characters.
www.groupef.com

The Shenyang Acrobatic Troupe (Kina)
Contact: Eric Messerschmidt.
"The Beautiful Legend". Artistic Director Mr. An Ning has created an acrobatic show inspired by famous as well as less familiar fairytales by Hans Christian Andersen. Over the span of more than 90 minutes, the world-famous Shenyang Acrobatic Troupe will perform novel renditions of eleven of Andersen's fairytales, including "Little Claus and Big Claus", "The Little Mermaid" and "The Emperor's New Clothes", employing classic acrobatics in innovative ways. The performance will premiere in China and will later tour Europe.
The show is the opening act at Aarhus Festuge 26
August in Musikhuset in Aarhus. There are two shows 27 August.
Ringsted Kongrescenter 29 August. MusikTeatret Albertslund - 31 August and 1-3 September 2005.

The Theatre Museum at the Court Theatre
Project Management: Ulla Strømberg.
Andersen readings. Celebrated Danish actors, including Susse Wold, Søren Spanning, Karen Lise Mynster and Henning Moritzen, will host Andersen readings with musical intermezzo. The individual readings will only feature a couple of times. Andersen readings will additionally be offered for school classes and in English for tourists.

Programme

Sunday 20 March: Henning Moritzen reads "Aunty" and the pianist Julian Thurber plays music from the 19th century.

Sunday 24 April: Søren Spanning reads Andersen's travelling stories, accompanied by Michaela Fukacova on cello.

Sunday 1 May: Karen-Lise Mynster reads "The Wild Swans", music arranged by Nicolai Engström.

Sunday 8 May: Susse Wold reads "The Snow Queen"

Sunday 2 June: Ghita Nørby and the Svenn Skipper Trio. Music and fairytales.
 
www.teatermuseet.dk

Logo Cooperations

Permild & Rosengreen Aps
Project Manager: Otto Clemmensen.
The Danish listening book publisher Permild & Rosengreen Aps will release a CD collection entitled "Eventyrlyd" (The Sound of Fairytales) featuring all of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytales read by actor Jens Okking. The first CD box of six was released in March 2004. The entire CD collection features more than seven hours of reading.
www.permild-rosengreen.dk

Kronetaarn Ensemble (Germany)
Project Manager: Jakob Draminsky Højmark.
The Kronetaarn Ensemble is based in Stuttgart. Performers Erica Callesen, Gerald Friese and Alke Katharine Szonn and musicians Angelika Schäfer and Susanne Thiel offer an extensive programme of Andersen readings with appeal to both adults and children. Their performances, which focus on lesser-known aspects of Andersen, are staged at German theatres and bookstores as well as cultural and social institutions.
www.kronetaarn.de.vu

The Sand Art Festival, Falster
Sandskulptur-Falster (The Sand Art Festival Falster) will host a sand art festival on the island of Falster in 2005 featuring Andersen's fairytales. Fifteen sand art artists will work on their sculptures between 13 and 25 June prior to the opening of the festival that will also feature speeches, music and Andersen readings.
www.sandskulptur-falster.dk