Eleven outstanding musicians from all over Europe invite you to experience astonishing facets of European folk music in an extraordinary concert. After all, in 2018 Europe is celebrating its diverse cultural traditions – and the motto chosen by the EU is ‘Sharing Heritage’. Singer Helene Blum and violinist Harald Haugaard, two of the world’s most popular Danish musicians, have launched the SHARING HERITAGE Love Tree Ensemble in their roles as ambassadors of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018. The artists involved embody very different musical traditions from Finnish Karelia, Northern Ireland and the High Tatras to the Alps, Sicily and Portugal.

The ensemble has gathered age-old songs and melodies from all directions, revealed their common origins, and breathed new life into them. With their similarities being unmistakable, regional heritage and a profoundly European vision can be heard to flow together. The same song known to Scots as a jig (actually derived from the French ‘gigue’) is also a nursery rhyme in Denmark and a tarantella in Italy.

Even ‘The Love Tree’, the tune after which the band was named, has made its way around Europe for centuries in various guises. Known as ‘Folia’ in Portugal and Spain, in Danish it’s called ‘Kærlighedstræet’. In this simple love song in three-four time, the various versions of the lyrics usually deal with transience and pride.

The SHARING HERITAGE Love Tree Ensemble has rediscovered these and other gems, and arranged and interpreted them in a contemporary style. The result is a concert programme rich in atmospheres and soundscapes which is touching and soulful, and combines exuberance with elegance. All the artists are in a musical class of their own and among the best in their field, both in their own countries and frequently beyond. Never afraid to experiment in unfamiliar genres, they relish transcending musical and national boundaries – and do so with virtuoso ease.

www.lovetree.dk