2018 in Scandinavian music

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The following is a list of notable events and releases that happened in Scandinavian music in 2018.

Events

January

• 12
  • Norwegian singer Sigrid is named winner of the BBC's "Sound of 2018" award. ^[1]
  • The 22nd Folklandia Cruise starts in Helsinki, Finland, running until 13 January. ^[2]
• 13 – Composer Paavo Heininen, considered by many to be Finland's most influential musician, celebrates his 80th birthday with a concert at the Järvenpää Hall, Helsinki. ^[3]
• 19 – The 37th annual Djangofestival starts in Oslo, Norway, to run until 20 January. ^[4]
• 28 – Jazz guitarist Gustav Lundgren and his trio perform a tribute to Django Reinhardt at Stockholm Concert Hall, featuring Aurélien Trigo and Antoine Boyer. ^[5]
• 30 – Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen is awarded the Léonie Sonning Music Prize 2019. ^[6]

February

• 10 – The 38th Dansk Melodi Grand Prix is won by "Higher Ground", performed by Rasmussen. ^[7]
• 14 – Norwegian singer Sigrid wins Best New Artist at the NME Awards ceremony. ^[8]
• 22 – It is announced that Agnes Obel has signed to Deutsche Grammophon, who will have a joint arrangement with Blue Note for North American releases. ^[9]

March

• 3 – At Söngvakeppnin 2018, Ari Ólafsson is selected to represent Iceland in the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song "Heim". ^[10] After winning the context, Ólafsson is criticised on social media for crying on hearing the result. ^[11]
• 7 – Fifteen-year-old cellist Birgitta Elisa Oftestad wins the Virtuos 2018 competition and is named Norway's representative at the Eurovision Young Musicians 2018 contest. ^[12]
• 9 – Finnish band Nightwish begins a nine-month world tour titled Decades: World Tour , accompanying a new 2CD compilation called Decades. ^[13]
• 10 – The final of Melodifestivalen 2018 takes place in Friends Arena, Stockholm, Sweden. ^[14]
• 12 – The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, under Hannu Lintu, begins a week-long series of concerts in Germany. ^[15]
• 25
  • Swedish House Mafia unexpectedly reunite for a performance at the 20th Anniversary of Ultra Music Festival in Miami, United States. ^[16]
  • Greenlandic singer Nive Nielsen stars as "Lady Silence" in a new US horror series, The Terror , her first international TV role. ^[17]

April

• 27 – ABBA announce that they have recorded some new songs, the first since 1983. ^[18]

May

• 8 – In semi-final 1 of the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, Iceland's entry is eliminated, but Finland's Saara Aalto finishes 10th and makes it to the final.
• 10 – In semi-final 2 of the Eurovision Song Contest, Norway's entry finishes in first place, Sweden 2nd and Denmark 5th; all three countries make it to the final.
• 12 – In the Eurovision final, held in Lisbon, Sweden does best of the Scandinavian countries, finishing in 7th place.
• 23 - The Bergen International Festival opens in Bergen, Norway, running until 6 June. Guest performers include Meow Meow, Selene Muñoz and Helsinki Songs. ^[19]

June

• 6 – The 26th Sweden Rock Festival opens in Norje, running until 9 June. ^[20] The Quill are forced to withdraw the day before the festival begins, because lead singer Magnus Ekwall is recovering from emergency surgery. ^[21]

July

• 3 – The organizers confirm that the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, normally held after the awards ceremony in Oslo, will not take place in 2018. ^[22]
• 4 – The 19th Folk music festival of Siglufjordur opens in Siglufjordur, Iceland, running until 8 July. ^[23]
• 5 – Gregory Porter guest stars at the 2018 Kongsberg Jazzfestival in Norway. ^[24]
• 27 – The Uppsala Reggae Festival opens in Sweden, running until 28 July, headlined by Jimmy Cliff. ^[25]

September

• 5 – The Copenhagen World Music Festival opens, running until 9 September. ^[26]
• 6 – The Lahti Sibelius Festival opens, running until 9 September. ^[27]

November

• 7 – The Iceland Airwaves music festival opens, running until 10 November. Guests include Blood_Orange, Cashmere Cat and Stella Donnelly. ^[28]

December

• 6 – Icelandic Music Day is celebrated. ^[29]

Albums released

January

Day	Album	Artist	Label	Notes	Ref.
5	Trident Wolf Eclipse	Watain	Century Media		[30]
19	Contra La Indecisión	Bobo Stenson Trio (Anders Jormin, Jon Fält)	ECM	Produced by Manfred Eicher	[31]
	Elvesang	Sigurd Hole	Elvesang		[32]
	Lucus	Thomas Strønen & Time Is A Blind Guide	ECM		[33]

February

Day	Album	Artist	Label	Notes	Ref.
2	Delights Of Decay	Batagraf	Jazzland	Produced by Jon Balke, Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim	[34]
	Live at Victoria	Solveig Slettahjell	Jazzland	Produced by Solveig Slettahjell	[35]
9	History	Emmelie de Forest	Cosmos	First album after two-year break from recording	[36]
13	Heat	Knut Reiersrud Band	Jazzland		[37]
23	Reformation Part 1	Super8 & Tab	Armada Music		[38]
	Pilgrim	Janne Mark with Arve Henriksen	ACT	Produced by Esben Eyermann and Janne Mark	[39]

March

Day	Album	Artist	Label	Notes	Ref.
1	Takker	Thomas Helmig	Genlyd Grammofon		[40]
2	Ravensburg	Mathias Eick	ECM	Produced by Manfred Eicher	[41]
9	Decades	Nightwish	Nuclear Blast		[42]
23	Returnings	Jakob Bro with Palle Mikkelborg, Thomas Morgan, and Jon Christensen	ECM	Produced by Manfred Eicher	[43]
30	Geimvísindi	Hildur Vala Einarsdóttir		The singer's first album to contain original material	[44]

April

Day	Album	Artist	Label	Notes	Ref.
6	Polarity	Hoff Ensemble - Jan Gunnar Hoff, Anders Jormin, Audun Kleive	2L	Produced by Morten Lindberg	[45]
20	Barxeta II	Per Mathisen & Jan Gunnar Hoff feat. Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez	Losen	Produced by Jan Gunnar Hoff and Per Mathisen	[46]
	Freedoms Trio II	Steinar Aadnekvam	Losen	Produced by Steinar Aadnekvam	[47]
	Ultra	Sivas	Disco:Wax	#1 in Danish album chart	[48]
27	Större	Molly Sandén	unknown		[49]
	Ootsä nähny Nikkee	Nikke Ankara	unknown		[50]
	Wild Wild Wonderland	Saara Aalto	Warner	Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [51]	2

May

Day	Album	Artist	Label	Notes	Ref.
4	Sway	Tove Styrke	RCA Records		[52]
18	A Suite of Poems	Ketil Bjørnstad, Anneli Drecker, poems by Lars Saabye Christensen	ECM		[53]
25	Late Night Tales: Agnes Obel	Agnes Obel	Night Time Stories Ltd		[54]

June

Day	Album	Artist	Label	Notes	Ref.
1	Ääripäät	Mikael Gabriel	Universal Music Group		[55]
	Bertolt Brechts Svendborgdigte	Søren Huss	BaggårdTeatret		[56]
8	So Sad So Sexy	Lykke Li	RCA	Executive producer Malay	[57]
29	Sometimes the World Ain't Enough	The Night Flight Orchestra	Nuclear Blast		[58]

July

Day	Album	Artist	Label	Notes	Ref.
27	Act II	Tarja Turunen	earMUSIC	Live album	[59]

August

Day	Album	Artist	Label	Notes	Ref.
24	‘re:member	Ólafur Arnalds	Mercury KX		[60]
31	Helsinki Songs	Trygve Seim	ECM		[61]
	The Other Side	Tord Gustavsen Trio	ECM		[62]

September

Day	Album	Artist	Label	Notes	Ref.
21	Immortelle	Say Lou Lou	à Deux	Produced by Trent Mazur and Dash Le Francis	[ citation needed ]

October

Day	Album	Artist	Label	Notes	Ref.
5	Bay Of Rainbows	Jakob Bro, Thomas Morgan, and Joey Baron	ECM Records		[63]
12	Sorgir	Skálmöld	Napalm Records		[64]
19	Forever Neverland	MØ	Columbia Records		[65]
26	Christmas With My Friends VI	Nils Landgren	ACT	Produced by Nils Landgren with Johan Norberg	[66]
	My Soul Kitchen	Ida Sand	ACT	Produced by Nils Landgren and Siggi Loch	[67]
	Honey	Robyn	Konichiwa Records		[68]

November

Day	Album	Artist	Label	Notes	Ref.
13	Deep Snow	Simon Lynge	Atlantic Music		[69]
16	The Pursuit of Vikings: 25 Years in the Eye of the Storm	Amon Amarth		Live album	[70]
23	The Ghost Ward Diaries	Electric Boys	Mighty Music	Produced by David Castillo	[71]

December

Day	Album	Artist	Label	Notes	Ref.
13	Plays Metallica by Four Cellos – A Live Performance	Apocalyptica		Live album - 2CD+1DVD digipak	[72]
14	Let's Boogie! Live from Telia Parken	Volbeat	Republic Records	Live album	[73]

Film and television scores

Films

• On Her Shoulders (United States), music by Patrick Jonsson ^[74]
• Ravens (Sweden), music by Peter von Poehl ^[75]

Television

• Trapped (Iceland), music by Jóhann Jóhannsson with Hildur Gudnadóttir and Rutger Hoedemaekers ^[76]

Eurovision Song Contest

• Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
• Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
• Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
• Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
• Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018

Deaths

• 1 January - Teddy Edelmann, Danish singer, 76 ^[77]
• 18 January – Javiera Muñoz, Swedish singer, 40 ^[78]
• 29 January – Asmund Bjørken, Norwegian jazz musician, 84 ^[79]
• 4 February – Leif Rygg, Norwegian folk musician, 77 ^[80]
• 5 February – Ove Stokstad, Norwegian artist and jazz musician, 78 ^[81]
• 9 February – Jóhann Jóhannsson, Icelandic film composer, 48 ^[82]
• 3 March – Kenneth Gärdestad, pop songwriter, 69
• 5 March – Kjerstin Dellert, Swedish opera singer, 92
• 9 March – Ole H. Bremnes, Norwegian folk singer and poet, 87 ^[83]
• 25 March – Jerry Williams, Swedish singer, 75 ^[84]
• 31 March – Frode Viken, guitarist and songwriter, D.D.E., 63
• 3 April – Lill-Babs, Swedish singer ("En tuff brud i lyxförpackning"), 80 ^[85]
• 20 April – Avicii (Tim Bergling), Swedish musician, DJ and record producer, 28 ^[86]
• 11 May –Mikhail Alperin, Ukrainian-born jazz pianist, member of the Moscow Art Trio, professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music, 61
• 26 June – Bo Nilsson, Swedish composer, 81 ^[87]
• 5 July – Bjørn Lie-Hansen, opera singer, 81 ^[88]
• 9 July – Stefan Demert, Swedish musician, 78 ^[89]
• 16 August – Benny Andersen, Danish writer and pianist, 88 ^[90]
• 21 August – Stefán Karl Stefánsson, Icelandic actor and singer (b. 1975). ^[91]
• 9 September – Frank Andersson, Swedish entertainer and wrestler, 62 (complications during heart surgery) ^[92]
• 23 September – Berth Idoff, Swedish musician (Berth Idoffs), 77 ^[93]
• 30 September – Kim Larsen, Danish rock musician (Gasolin'), 72 (prostate cancer) ^[94]
• 29 November – Erik Lindmark, vocalist and guitarist of Deeds of Flesh , 46 (sclerosis) ^[95]

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