A-Ha Invest in Norwegian Music with Talent Grants

Posted on Jul 7th 2010 11:30AM by Andrew Kerr
Comments

A-Ha have set up talent grants worth 1 million krone (£100,720/$156,000) each to support the best up-and-coming music acts in their native Norway.

A battle of the bands of sorts, the competition -- comparable to the UK's Mercury Music Prize -- has been geared to produce four regional winners, from the north, south, east and west of Norway, each of whom will receive the million krone prize and an opening slot on the electro-pop veterans' farewell tour.

For A-Ha the scheme is a way of helping in the development of their country's diverse music scene. Keyboardist Magne Furuholmen is reported in The Guardian as saying, "We have had a fantastic career with lots of people supporting us, and this is a way for us to give something back."

Fifty candidates were whittled down to eight finalists by the trio. The competition has actually already produced two winners with jazz-metal outfit Shining and singer-songwriter Susanne Sundfør both claiming victory last month.

Although A-ha picked the finalists the final decision lies with the public. Wednesday night, July 7, sees the third final take place in Trondheim with northern folk acts Moddi and Adjagas going head-to-head.

A-ha's initiative is believed to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, arts prizes in the world.