Meet Young Voices' mentors

Young Voices was established in 2012 with the desire to give young people a public platform where they could express themselves about the performing arts that are created for them. In addition to editorial teams at the Showbox festival, the project has collaborated with festivals and schools in several places in the country. The desire to expand the project and give young people the opportunity to work with criticism throughout the year has long been present. With support from Sparebankstiftelsen DNB, we are now expanding to year-round editorial teams from Greater Oslo, Drammen and Østfold, which are followed up by two criticism mentors. 

Increasingly important with a critical public

We are very pleased to have brought on board the experienced performing arts critics Per Christian Selmer-Anderssen and Anette Therese Pettersen as mentors for Young Voices. 

Per Christian, who writes for Aftenposten and has a background as a journalist, is looking forward to meeting young people who are interested in performing arts and want to learn more about criticism. “As I see it, a healthy and critical public is increasingly important, and it cannot only be on the terms of 40-year-olds and media houses. That is why I am very excited about what the young voices bring to the table ,” he says enthusiastically.

Anette has just submitted her doctoral thesis on young people's experience of performing arts, where she has investigated how traces from a performance experience can be expressed through critique workshops. She is also looking forward to getting to know the young people, finding out what kind of performing arts they are interested in, and what kind of critique they can write and do. – This project is a kind of gathering-based critique academy, where I hope that we can contribute with methods and discussions that allow those who participate to develop their voices.

Criticism, impartiality and performing arts

The first meeting between the mentors and the young people will take place in Drammen at the beginning of April, where they will discuss what criticism is, talk about impartiality and independence, and watch the performance Hansel and Gretel at the Brageteatret.

Diverse perspectives strengthen the project 

The young voices are aged 15 to 19, come from Oslo, Lillestrøm, Drammen, Fredrikstad, Sarpsborg and Ås, and have different backgrounds and experience with performing arts. This variety is precisely what Anette believes is a strength. – based on the little I know about those who will participate, I believe that this can be a really mixed choir of young, distinct voices , she says.

Per Christian believes he will learn at least as much from the young people as they will from their mentors. Both in terms of what they look for in a performance, how they express themselves and what ideas they have about where to conduct criticism. He looks forward to the discussions that will arise: It is vital for both criticism and the performing arts that we get new voices in – with different perspectives and experiences. These will of course differ from person to person, and I am therefore happy that Scenekunstbruket has put together a varied group of people! I am looking forward to meeting everyone; and hope to be irritated, provoked and/or challenged at least three times during the year.