The Principal's Speech at the Official Opening of the Academic Year 2026

Dear everyone, welcome to the official opening of the 2026–2027 academic year – and many thanks to Hayden Powell and his band for getting us started!

As always, it is an honour to stand here as Principal of this institution, which we proudly describe as a flagship of higher music education in Norway. And one with quite a strong international standing, too.

So here I am, claiming – with suitable immodesty – that the Norwegian Academy of Music is a flagship. That does not, of course, mean that we are the best at everything. But we are the largest institution for higher music education in the country, and we hold an independent position. This gives us a strong voice externally, on behalf of more students and colleagues in the field than just our own. So when we fly the flag, it is not only to celebrate ourselves – as we are doing today – but also to highlight the important work being done by so many people to educate and prepare people for careers in and with music.

Society needs these professionals – society needs art and culture that move us, comfort us, entertain us, challenge us, and do all the other things music can do.

What we contribute is, in fact, an important part of our country's national preparedness. We are expected to maintain normal activities even if the country should find itself in a crisis, the government states in its white paper on emergency preparedness. Culture and the arts are important because they build identity and a sense of belonging, and give us strength – together.

This year has been designated the Year of Total Defence. But as we now sail into a new academic year – to stay with the maritime metaphor – we hope for relatively calm waters, and that none of the biggest waves from the world around us will come crashing over us.

We know that there can be plenty to navigate even in ordinary years and everyday life for students and staff at the Norwegian Academy of Music, not least for those who are new here. That is why we all need to play our part in making this a safe and positive experience, and in coming together around worthwhile goals.

I honestly don't know much about steering a ship. But I think that for the flagship NMH, at least part of the task is about finding the right balance.

Progress, balance and stability

As an institution, we need to balance progress and stability.

We also need to balance promoting and researching the ways in which music can help address the challenges facing society as a whole – in health, democracy and freedom of expression, national preparedness and the economy (tourism) – with insisting that music as a sounding art is important in its own right.

"We highlight the role and power of music in society," as our strategy puts it.

We need to balance engaging with what is new in our time – whether in art, education or new technologies (including artificial intelligence) – with openness, curiosity and a willingness to embrace new possibilities, while also setting boundaries and remaining vigilant so that the foundations of live music are not harmed. And we need to preserve what is old and what we want to keep alive in our field.

As our strategy says: "Innovation and the stewardship of living traditions shape our work."

I recently heard that the coastal town of Arendal nearly went under because the shipowners there refused to accept that steam engines and steamships were the future.

We can't afford to be that reactionary. But we can be among those who point out how much remains the same, even as waves of artificial intelligence wash over us. The physical, gravity – the keel in the water, the bow or guitar pick against a string, the warmth between people singing together, the magic when music makes us feel as though gravity has been suspended for a little while – all of that is still there.

And if continuing to perform symphonies from earlier times with a hundred living, breathing people on stage is a bit like insisting on sailing rather than using an engine, then I'll happily come along for the voyage – put it that way.

Another point I picked up in academic company this summer was someone claiming that the Vikings hardly rowed at all. When they were travelling long distances, they sailed!

Grateful for the team

Personally, I think the power of the rhythm and the power of "The Viking Row" during the football World Cup can withstand being based on a somewhat flexible approach to historical facts. It was fun, at any rate!

The rowing also demonstrated the powerful sense of community that comes from singing, from rhythm and from rowing – something that some wise colleagues in music research have also written about.

For me, it was also inspiring to see a national team where everyone seemed to be allowed to excel at what they were most talented at, and where that benefited the whole team.

Because not everyone needs to be the tallest and fastest or score the most goals. Not everyone needs to be the cleverest player in midfield. Only one person can be the steadiest pair of hands in goal. But everyone can cheer and roar, show off their skills, hit the mark and miss, comfort others and be comforted. And everyone is in motion, more or less all the time, together – towards a common goal.

When a newspaper I saw summed up Norway's World Cup with the words "Takk for laget", I thought it hit the mark. Because it was the team that reached the quarter-finals and went out of the competition, together. None of the players would have become as good as they were without the team – and those who scored pointed to the team.

I won't push the football analogy too far. But it has made me think about how important it is for all of us to be part of a team and to find our place within one. For us at NMH, too, it is important every now and then to work on this and remind ourselves of it: that we have a team to play on, and that we are grateful for it.

Perhaps we could also get even better at making use of our teams? Your band, your ensemble, or simply a colleague or fellow student on the fifth floor, outside or inside a practice room or office. Could it become even easier to say: I'm struggling with something right now. Or, for that matter: I'm really proud of something! Would you take a look at it with me? Do you have any advice or thoughts? Or would you like to celebrate something I've achieved over a cup of coffee?

Or simply take a breather with someone, whatever the reason – with each other, rather than with our phones. That matters too, whatever you may think of "hydration breaks" – or VAR checks, for that matter.

Thankfully, the mechanisms of competition and precise measurements are not the same in sport and music. They exist in both, but in art, what matters is something other than what can be measured in numbers.

Moving Music

"Moving Music" is the headline of our strategy. This encompasses both its power to move an entire society and its power to touch us – to leave us "moved". For me, that is also the motivation I keep coming back to, that feeling: the music moved me. Or seeing it do something to others, in interaction – as listeners, as participants, through music.

So, to sum up: Being a flagship fits well with the headline of our strategy: NMH – Moving Music. To fulfil its mission, the ship needs to move forward, while at the same time maintaining stability in a somewhat unstable world and keeping its balance

• between exploring new technologies (including AI) and radical artistic ideas, and approaching them critically
• between emphasising music's broader value and its "purer" artistic qualities
• between individual expertise and the value of building teams that are constantly in motion

… and much more.

We should strive to remain in balance and in motion together, as one vibrant community.

With that, I will give the floor to what continues to move us: music – and to two of our brand-new colleagues, Ida Klokk-Bryhn (viola) and Yoonjee Kim (piano). They will perform Spiritual Melody by Antonín Dvořák, known from his New World Symphony.