New funding create new opportunities for national development
It was recently announced that Tom Wilhelmsen's Foundation is entering Aulaseriene with three million kroner in total development grants from 2025 to 2028. This makes the foundation the largest contributor to the initiative's work to create a national boost in the dissemination of chamber music.
Photo: Ingvild Festervoll Melien
— This means a lot. We have long been looking for a main supporter who can make it possible for us to realize our long-term ambitions for both our new series in Bergen and for the well-established initiative in Eastern Norway. It is with great pride that we now welcome Tom Wilhelmsen's Foundation as our new Ambassador for the years 2025—28, says artistic director Thormod Rønning Kvam.
An important part of Norway's musical heritage. Last year, the Westfal-Larsens Almennyttige Fond and the Hilmar Reksten Almennyttige Fond awarded important start-up grants for the development of the new Bergen initiative. Regarding the new, generous donation, the chairman of the board of Tom Wilhelmsens Stiftelse, Thomas Wilhelmsen, says:
— Chamber music is an important part of Norway's musical heritage. We hope and believe that through the donation to Aulaseriene The foundation will be able to contribute to preserving and further developing a rich cultural tradition.
This new addition coincides with several signs of an upswing for classical music in general, and chamber music in particular, according to Kvam:
— We are now bringing large, new and fresh funds into Bergen, which we are very happy to be able to do. Together with great, joint support from a number of important partners and supporters, we are also seeing an influx of an increasingly broader and larger audience. Ticket revenues for Aulaseriene alone covered a full 49 percent of our financing in 2023, which is quite unique in the classical environment, says Kvam.
Solid long-term partners. Both the Oslo Philharmonic , the Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra and several of the country's chamber music festivals have been involved in the initiative in recent years. Not least, the entire ambitious initiative over the past five years has been made possible thanks to long-term and predictable grants from the three main supporters in Eastern Norway: Sparebankstiftelsen DNB , the Rammestiftelsen for Kunst, Kultur og Natur and Anders Sveaas' Almennyttige Fond .
— In order to maintain development and achieve our goals of becoming a sustainable concert venture at a high international level, renewed trust from all our supporters is essential for the coming years. Plans will soon be ready for a number of new, exciting projects that will help us achieve these goals, and which we look forward to telling more about, concludes Kvam.
Read more about the opening program for the new venture in University Aula in Bergen in this news article .
