Students from DKDM on stage when Gilgamesh is performed at Rued Langgaard Festival

Demands for discipline and commitment

Gilgamesh Opera is based on the 4000-year-old Gilgamesh epic, one of the world's first creation stories, about the restless and brutal hero, Gilgamesh, who was king of the city of Uruk in ancient Mesopotamia. He finds love in the form of Enkido and loses it again in his eternal quest for power and eternal life. 

Per Nørgård's Gilgamesh dates from 1972 and is considered a major work in recent Danish music history. It is a cosmic opera about the creation of the world, in which singers and musicians are equally involved in a mythological universe around which the sun god Shamash - the conductor - revolves, and in which the audience is invited very close to the events. It's a demanding work and the students have been hard at work getting ready for tonight's premiere:

"It's very difficult music that demands a lot from the singers involved. In return, the students get so much back for their hard work. Performing in Gilgamesh will definitely be an experience they will never forget, and the music will always stay with them" says Professor Helene Gjerris, who is also involved as vocal instructor. And although it's hard work, there's a lot of learning to be had by participating in a big, professional production:

"When you're part of such a big production, you really get to put the tools and methodologies you learn in your training to use. It's challenging to memorize such a complicated piece and it demands a lot of your discipline and commitment. On the other hand, you also learn a lot about what it takes to be an independent musician," says Helene Gjerris and continues: "When you can do this, you can do anything. It gives you an incredible amount of self-confidence, pride and self-esteem to be involved in putting on such a large and spectacular work. I'm really looking forward to hearing and seeing the result."

The production of Gilgamesh is a collaborative project with musicians from Esbjerg Ensemble, Ensemble MidtVest, and students from the Royal Danish Academy of Music, the Academy of Music in Southern Denmark and the Academy of Music in Jutland.