The Winter Festival in Bergstaden – «the fifth season» – is a chamber music festival which takes place in the centre of Norway, in the middle of winter, in the heart of the world heritage site Røros. Here the best national and international artists appear before an enthusiastic audience over four days in March (week 11) every year.

The Winter Festival in Bergstaden (ViB), which was established in 1999, has grown steadily through the years. ViB is among the foremost chamber music festivals in Norway. It is our ambition that the festival will continue to grow in the following areas: organisation, implementation and the content of the concerts we present.

The Winter Festival in Bergstaden aims to make music of a high standard available to people in the Røros region. The region spans seven municipalities and two counties, and has hitherto been poorly served in terms of opportunities to hear classical music performed live.

In addition we have the pleasure of welcoming an ever-growing audience from across the entire country and from abroad to the world heritage site Røros.

Children and youths

In addition to organising 4 days of exceptional concert experiences as part of the Winter Festival, we would like to leave a lasting «footprint» in our own region; not because there is demand for this, but because we are in a position to do so. As the recipient of public and private funding we wish to display a social responsibility beyond simply presenting exceptional musical experiences to an audience with an interest in classical music.

Each year the Winter Festival presents children’s and school concerts for children from nursery to secondary school age.

We have consolidated our collaboration with the schools of creative arts in our region by participating in a project in collaboration with teachers from these schools. In practical terms this means that, together with the artists who will perform at the festival, we will endeavour to put together a festival programme of a high standard which challenges and invites the interest of younger school pupils. The artists presented at our festival work through the winter to focus their teaching on these projects, which in the majority of cases will culminate in a concert or another form of participation in the Winter Festival. This is a great source of inspiration for both pupils and teachers at the schools of creative arts.

On a national level, and at the «opposite end» of the schools of creative arts, we have in collaboration with the Kavli Trust set up an orchestra academy:

KonstKnekt

The Kavli Trust and the Winter Festival in Bergstaden’s Orchestra Academy in collaboration with Orchester-Akademie der Berliner Philarmoniker.

KonstKnekt aims to represent the pinnacle of orchestra education in Norway, to present Norwegian musicians with the best possible opportunities to give a good account of themselves both on a national and an international stage, and to educate the best musicians to the highest possible standard in preparation for the unique life that awaits them as orchestra musicians.