THE INTERMEDIARY AWARD // GEIR JOHNSON

The jury's reasoning:

This year, the jury has gathered around a person who has been a tireless stimulus for Norwegian composers and musicians since the 1980s. Geir Johnson is a cultural entrepreneur who has been involved on many fronts. Not least, he has seen the need for new music to have someone clear a place for it in the established cultural life. His activity can be traced back to the student community in Bergen. In this city, he started the Music Factory festival in the early 80s, and later participated in the establishment of the BIT20 Ensemble and Opera Vest. He has also been music coordinator at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, president of the National Association of New Music, initiator behind the ensemble Cikada and the establishment of new contemporary music festivals in Trondheim, Harstad and Stavanger. Not least, he was one of the founders of the Ultima festival, as well as its director for ten years.

Johnson's dissemination of Norwegian music has also manifested itself through articles and lectures nationally and internationally. He has been editor of the magazine Ballade and a regular writer and columnist in Bergens Tidende, NRK P2, Klassekampen, Dagens Næringsliv and Aftenposten. He has published books, and in addition he has his own business as a composer. Johnson has also helped establish Parkteatret Scene in Oslo, an important arena for the creative music community in the city. In recent years he has been involved as the initiator and artistic director of Transposition, a Norwegian-Vietnamese music collaboration. Trying to list all the board positions he has held in cultural institutions, as well as all the times he has been used as an advisor where institutions were to be built up, would be going too far.

The jury believes that Geir Johnson's work has led to a large amount of Norwegian music being given the conditions to grow, has been realized and has reached a large audience. He is a natural recipient of TONO's Mediator Award.