A spectacular performance is planned for the 25th of September in the Cultural Performance Centre at Expo 2010 Shanghai, including such acts as Secret Garden. The event, organized by Norwegian coating company Jotun, will also feature several other key Chinese and Norwegian performers.
Over 12.000 people will be able to enjoy the performance. In addition, Jotun will use the opportunity to host a cultural and economic seminar.
Bjørn Naglestad, General Manager of Jotun Coatings China explains how the event came about. ‘A city is a place where different cultures meet. The variety and the interactions of the various cultures contribute to a better city, better life. With the EXPO slogan “Better City, Better Life”, we saw an opportunity to contribute with something unique which was related to our company and our target‘, says Naglestad.
Jotun is the leading coating manufacturer of protective, marine and powder coatings and decorative paints with a turnover in China of over 2 billion RMB. China is becoming Jotun’s most important country, with an R&D centre already firmly established.
Secret Garden features the Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry and the Norwegian composer/pianist Rolf Løvland. They have sold over 3 million albums and won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1995 with the composition “Nocturne”. It was the first and only time to date that a predominantly instrumental piece has won the Eurovision Song Contest, although a few Norwegian lyrics were included to ensure that the entry adhered to the contest’s rules.
Their first album Songs from a Secret Garden sold a million copies around the world going platinum in Norway and Korea, gold in Ireland, Hong Kong and New Zealand and spending two years in the Billboard New Age charts in 1996 and 1997.
Secret Garden front figure and composer, Rolf Løvland, has also written an orchestral suite especially for Norway’s pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai. The suite can be experienced every evening as a multimedia performance in the Norwegian Pavilion.
Time to be announced
