Festival guide: The Legends
Oslo World is a festival where you can hear the very latest, while also experiencing the currents of history and craftsmanship refined over many decades. The great Lebanese oud player and singer Marcel Khalife will open our festival, while the Italian Renaissance man and free spirit Jovanotti will play the closing concert. At Cosmopolite, you can experience an intimate encounter with the much-loved cult artist Beverly Glenn-Copeland.
Jovanotti
Sentrum Scene
1 November
This year, Oslo World welcomes one of the biggest names in Italian music. Lorenzo Cherubini, known around the world as Jovanotti, is a songwriter, artist and iconic figure. Over the course of several decades, his sound has evolved through funk, rap, an eclectic mix of pop styles and songwriting, as he has forged a musical identity that is unmistakably Italian while remaining relatable to a global audience.
Beyond music, Jovanotti is also a traveller, writer and humanist, whose bicycle journeys across continents – from the Andes to the deserts of Africa – have become vivid metaphors for discovery and connection. With 16 studio albums, 3 compilations, 4 live albums and an impressive list of accolades – 16 gold, 67 platinum and 1 diamond record – Jovanotti remains one of the most beloved and influential artists in the Italian-speaking world.
His ambition and vision for the interplay between music, people and the world are immense – and perhaps unusual. But they may also be exactly what is needed right now. At the heart of it all is still his music – welcoming, joyful and bittersweet – with the power to reach even the most cynical of sceptics. Jova is a true star – and the ideal antidote to Oslo’s cold and dark autumn.
Read more and buy tickets HERE!
Marcel Khalife
Chateau Neuf
27 October
Lebanese oud player, singer and composer Marcel Khalife is a folk hero across the Arab world. With a career spanning six decades, he has combined a virtuoso command of his instrument with outspoken political messages and poetry. When he first set the words of the great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish to music, he could hardly have imagined that it would mark the beginning of a meeting that would, a few years later, grow into a deep and lasting friendship between the two men – even as the songs themselves resonated around the world.
The classic Promises of the Storm was shaped both by Arab-Andalusian traditions and by the realities of the modern Middle East. Here, Khalife sang texts by Darwish and his fellow Palestinian poet Izzidine Al Munassrah in everyday Arabic. It was his way of honouring ordinary people. The album achieved iconic status throughout the Arab world and beyond, and to mark the 50th anniversary of this milestone, Marcel Khalife has re-recorded it as a solo project.
This is what we will experience live at Chateau Neuf on 27 October.
Read more and buy tickets HERE!
Beverly Glenn-Copeland
Cosmopolite Scene
31 October
There is little in music that compares to the career of legendary Canadian singer, composer and trans activist Beverly Glenn-Copeland. His voice moves listeners deeply. They take his songs to heart and let them become the soundtrack to both hardship and moments of joy. His concerts, which have increased dramatically in number in recent years, are a rare thing indeed.
Yet for most of his five-decade recording career, which has defied categorisation and genre, his music remained a well-kept secret. And then something happened. Keyboard Fantasies and the extraordinary folk-jazz explorations of his self-titled 1970 debut album were reissued, and listeners around the world found themselves wondering where this music had been all their lives.
His appearance on several remarkable tracks on the groundbreaking trans rights compilation Transa (2024) introduced his work to even more listeners. We are proud to present Beverly Glenn-Copeland at this year’s festival, in collaboration with Oslo Pride.
Read more and buy tickets HERE!
