January •
5 -
Royal Danish Opera announces that its artistic director, Sven Müller, will leave his position in 2017, three years ahead of schedule. Müller is believed to have resigned because of financial cuts. •
18 – It is announced that Finland's
Esa-Pekka Salonen has withdrawn as music director of the
Ojai Music Festival for 2018 because of his composition schedule, and will be replaced by
Patricia Kopatchinskaja, ahead of her originally scheduled season in 2020. •
21 –
Hot Club de Norvège headline at the annual Djangofestival at Cosmopolite in
Oslo, Norway. •
28 • At the annual Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu,
Norma John is selected to represent Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest. • At Norway's
Spellemannprisen,
Karpe Diem win the Best Album and Urban Music awards.
February •
4 – The
Melodifestivalen 2017 kicks off with Semi-final 1 taking place in
Gothenburg. •
25 - At the 47th edition of the
Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, "
Where I Am", performed by
Anja Nissen, is selected as Denmark's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. •
28 - At Sweden's
Grammis Awards ceremony,
Zara Larsson receives the Artist of the Year award and
Kent win both the Album of the Year and Rock Album of the Year.
March •
2 - At the 2017
Icelandic Music Awards, Júníus Meyvant wins Best Pop Album of the Year for
Floating Harmonies.
Emmsjé Gauti is named Pop/Rock Performer of the Year, and wins in five categories overall. •
9 -
Esa-Pekka Salonen's
Cello Concerto is premièred by
Yo-Yo Ma and the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra. •
11 • The final of the 2017
Söngvakeppnin competition takes place in Iceland.
Svala Björgvinsdóttir is selected as Iceland's representative in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2017. • The final of
Melodifestivalen 2017 takes place at the
Friends Arena in
Stockholm.
Robin Bengtsson is selected as Sweden's representative in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2017. •
28 – Under its new conductor
Fabio Luisi, the
Danish National Symphony Orchestra begins a tour of the United States. •
29 – The
2017 World Figure Skating Championships open in Finland, using the theme tune "Light Up the Ice", sung by
Diandra. •
31 – The live final of
X Factor (Denmark) is won by
Morten Nørgaard.
April •
7 – The 44th
Vossajazz starts in
Vossavangen,
Norway, continuing until 9 April. •
12 –
Inferno Metal Festival 2017 starts in
Oslo, Norway, continuing until 15 April.
May •
8 – It is reported that Norwegian Eurovision jury member
Per Sundnes has been replaced by Erland Bakke, after the Irish delegation complained about public comments that suggested he was prejudiced against their entry. •
9 • Sweden's
Sofi Jeannin is appointed chief conductor of the
BBC Singers, the first woman to hold the post, effective in July 2018. • Finnish soprano
Karita Mattila wins the Singer's award at the
Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Music Awards 2017. •
13 – In the final of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2017, Sweden finish in 5th place, Norway 10th and Denmark 20th, whilst Finland and Iceland fail to qualify for the final. •
15 - The
Swedish Chamber Orchestra appoints
Martin Fröst its principal conductor effective from 2019, with an initial contract of 3 seasons. •
18 - Gita Kadambi is appointed general director of the
Finnish National Opera and Ballet announces the appointment of as its next general director, effective January 2018. Kadambi will stand down from her post as general manager of the
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.
June •
14 -
Finnish band HIM open their
Farewell Tour in Barcelona. •
24 - The
Roskilde Festival opens in Roskilde, Denmark, running until 1 July.
July •
1 – FKP Scorpio announced the cancellation of the
Bråvalla Festival, Sweden's biggest music festival, for 2018, because of the number of sex crimes reported at the festival. •
5 – The 18th
Folk music festival of Siglufjordur opens in
Siglufjordur, Iceland, running until 9 July. •
7 • The
Baltic Jazz festival opens in Dalsbruk, Finland, running until 9 July. • The 38th
Copenhagen Jazz Festival opens in
Copenhagen, Denmark, running until 16 July. •
8 – The 52nd
Pori Jazz Festival opens in
Pori, Finland, running until 16 July. •
25 –
Susanne Sundfør stars in a
Prom concert at London's
Royal Albert Hall, performing songs by
Scott Walker.
August •
1 •
In Search of Stardust: Amazing Micro-Meteorites and Their Terrestrial Imposters, a book about cosmic dust in urban environments by Norwegian musician and polymath
Jon Larsen, is published. • Finnish-born
Tuomas Hiltunen takes over as general director of
Fort Worth Opera. •
2 –
Björk announces her still-unnamed new album on social media. In an interview with
Dazed and Confused magazine, she states that “It’s about that search (for utopia) – and about being in love. Spending time with a person you enjoy is when the dream becomes real.” •
3 – The
Notodden Blues Festival opens in
Notodden,
Norway, running until 6 August. •
8 – The 19th
Øyafestivalen opens in
Oslo, running until 13 August. •
20 –
Sofi Jeannin makes her Proms debut, conducting the BBC Singers and
City of London Sinfonia in a Reformation Day concert. •
31 – The 12th
Punktfestivalen starts in
Kristiansand, Norway, running until 2 September.
September •
6 – The Copenhagen World Music Festival opens, running until 10 September. •
8 –
Sebastian Fagerlund’s new opera,
Höstsonaten (
Autumn Sonata) is premièred by
Finnish National Opera. •
11 – Our Festival (Meidän Festivaali in Finnish) starts by
Lake Tuusula, Finland, running until September 17.
October •
5 – Icelandic band
Of Monsters and Men announce that they have become the first Icelandic band to achieve 1 billion Spotify Plays. •
6 – The 34th
Stockholm Jazz Festival opens in
Stockholm, running until 15 October. •
15 –
Svitlana Azarova's opera
Momo and the Time Thieves, commissioned by the
Royal Danish Opera, Copenhagen, receives its world première. It is based on the children's book
Momo by
Michael Ende. •
19 – The 34th
DølaJazz festival opens in
Lillehammer,
Norway, running until 22 October. •
22 – Finnish band
Brother Firetribe scheduled to appear at the Rockingham Festival in the UK. •
25 – The 49th
Umeå Jazz Festival opens in
Umeå, Sweden, running until 29 October.
November •
1 – The
Iceland Airwaves festival opens in
Reykjavík, running until 5 November. •
24 – Björk releases her ninth album
Utopia. ==Albums released==