Dreamers' Circus is a

Nordic Nordic most commonly refers to: * Nordic countries, the northern European countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and their North Atlantic territories * Scandinavia, a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern ...

band consisting of Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen (Denmark/

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

), Ale Carr (

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

) and Nikolaj Busk (

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

History

Dreamers’ Circus formed in 2009 as a result of a jam session at a folk festival in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. Their first performance was at a concert with the Copenhagen Philharmonic, where the trio performed a folk music version of the cadenza in Mozart's 5th violin concerto. In 2010 Dreamers’ Circus released an EP with five tracks on the Danish label GO’ Folk. The EP was produced by Swedish guitarist Roger Tallroth, of the folk band

Väsen Väsen is a Swedish folk music band from Uppsala, founded in 1989, consisting of Olov Johansson (nyckelharpa) and Mikael Marin (viola). Previous members include André Ferrari (percussion) and founding member Roger Tallroth (guitar), the latte ...

. Also featured on the EP is Swedish folk singer Sofia Karlsson. In 2013 Dreamers’ Circus released their first full album, ''A Little Symphony'' on GO’ Folk. The album was produced by August Wanngren and featured both classical string quartet and brass ensemble. ''A Little Symphony'' was awarded Album of the Year at the

Danish Music Awards The Danish Music Awards (DMA) is a Danish award show. The show has been arranged by IFPI since 1989, and was originally called ''IFPI-prisen'' ("IFPI Award") until 1991, when it changed its name to ''Dansk Grammy'' ("Danish Grammy"). It was c ...

Folk 2013, and Dreamers’ Circus was named Talent of the Year at the same event. Ale Carr was also awarded Artist of the Year for his work in Dreamers’ Circus and another Danish band, Basco. Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen was honoured at the Danish

Crown Prince Couple's Awards The Crown Prince Couple's Awards () are a set of culture and social prizes awarded annually by Frederik X, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark. The awards were established in 2004 as a gift from the Bikuben Foundation on the occ ...

with the Rising Star Award in 2013. On that occasion, Dreamers’ Circu
performed
in

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

. In 2015 the band released another album, ''Second Movement''. The album was awarded Album of the Year at the Danish Music Awards Folk 2015, and Ale Carr was also awarded Composer of the Year for his compositions on this recording. It was also in 2015 that Dreamers’ Circus was invited to perform the music for CARL, a two-hour theatre concert about the life of Danish composer

Carl Nielsen Carl August Nielsen (; 9 June 1865 – 3 October 1931) was a Danish composer, conductor, and violinist, widely recognized as his country's most prominent composer. Brought up by poor yet musically talented parents on the island of Funen, he d ...

. All musical material was arranged for Dreamers’ Circus and string quartet by Nikolaj Busk. CARL was awarded ''Den Fynske Kulturpris'' 2016. In October 2017 Dreamers’ Circus released their third studio album ''Rooftop Sessions'' in Denmark on the label GO' Danish Folk. It was licensed to the rest of the world through

Vertical Records Vertical Records is an independent record label founded by Capercaillie member Donald Shaw in 2000, based in Glasgow, Scotland. Releases The label has predominantly focused on Celtic and roots music, with releases from Michael McGoldrick (''F ...

in June 2018. Following the critically acclaimed theatre concert CARL, Dreamers’ Circus was invited to compose, arrange and rework the music for Pelle Erobreren (

Pelle the Conqueror ''Pelle the Conqueror'' (, ) is a 1987 epic film co-written and directed by Bille August, based upon the 1910 novel of the same name by Danish writer Martin Andersen Nexø. The film tells the story of two Swedish immigrants to Denmark, a father ...

) on

Østre Gasværk Teater Østre Gasværk Teater is a theatre in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark, located in an abandoned gasholder house of the former Østre Gasværk (‘Eastern Gasworks’). The theatre is constructed within the masonry shell that used t ...

in Copenhagen. The show premiered in the fall of 2018.

Collaborations

Orchestras

The first collaboration with Copenhagen Phil in 2009 led to a full concert with the orchestra in 2011 titled "60 minutes of Dreams". For this concert Dreamers’ Circus’ music was arranged and orchestrated by Swedish conductor and arranger ''Hans Ek''. In 2017 the group was invited back to do another concert with the orchestra. The program featured a new three movement piece titled ''A Sense of Place'' composed and orchestrated by Dreamers’ Circus and Swedish pianist and fiddle player ''Karl-Johan Ankarblom''. Each movement of the piece depicted the local cultures and traditions of Denmark, Faroe Islands and Sweden. The concert was conducted by English conductor ''Duncan Ward''. Dreamers’ Circus has also collaborated with the Polish orchestra '' Sinfonia Juventus,'' Danish '' Lyngby-Taarbæk Symfoniorkester'', '' Esbjerg Ensemble'', '' Danish Chamber Players'', '' Aalborg Symfoniorkester'' and ''

Aarhus Symfoniorkester The Aarhus Symfoniorkester (Aarhus Symphony Orchestra) is the principal orchestra for the Danish city of Aarhus. Description Established in 1935 as ''Aarhus By-Orkester'' (Aarhus City Orchestra), since 1982 it has performed most of its concerts in ...

''.

Danish String Quartet

Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen is a member of both the Danish String Quartet (

Danish Quartet The Danish Quartet is a name which has been carried by four Danish quartets: Den Danske Kvartet 1935 the Danish Quartet (Danish: Den Danske Kvartet) was a quartet for flute, violin, cello and piano which was active 1935-1957. Members included: * H ...

) and Dreamers’ Circus and the six musicians has been touring together for several festivals in Denmark, Germany and Austria. Danish String Quartet is also featured on both ''A Little Symphony'' and ''Second Movement.''

Other collaborations

Dreamers’ Circus has performed with many other artists of different genres including Oh Land (DK),

The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...

(IR),

Sharon Shannon Sharon Shannon (born 8 June 1968) is an Irish musician, best known for her work with the button accordion and for her fiddle technique. She also plays the tin whistle and Diatonic button accordion, melodeon. Her 1991 debut album, ''Sharon Shann ...

(IR),

Sara Watkins Sara Ullrika Watkins (born June 8, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and fiddler. Watkins debuted in 1989 as the fiddler of Nickel Creek, the progressive bluegrass group she formed with her brother Sean and mandolinist Chris Thile. In addi ...

Aoife O'Donovan Aoife Maria O'Donovan ( , ; born November 18, 1982) is an American singer and Grammy Award-winning songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer for the string band Crooked Still, as well as one-third of the supergroup folk trio I'm with Her ...

and

Sarah Jarosz Sarah Ellen Jarosz ( ; born May 23, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter from Wimberley, Texas. Her debut studio album, '' Song Up in Her Head'', was released in 2009 on Sugar Hill Records

(US),

(SE), Teitur (FO),

Shaka Loveless Shaka Loveless Grøn (born 5 March 1984) is a Danish rapper and singer with reggae roots. He is also a lead vocalist for the Danish hip-hop / R&B band The Gypsies (earlier known as The Electric Gypsies with a more rock-oriented sound). Shaka ...

(DK), Kristian Leth (DK), DR Girls Choir (DK) among others.

Discography

*''Dreamers' Circus (EP)'', GO' Folk (19 October 2010) *''A Little Symphony'', GO' Folk (3 June 2013) *''Second Movement'', GO' Folk (2 April 2015) *''Rooftop Sessions'', GO' Folk (23 October 2017) /

(1 June 2018) *''Blue White Gold'', GO' Folk /

(29 May 2020) *''The Lost Swans (EP)'', GO' Folk /

(8 April 2022) *''Langt ud' i Skoven'', DR Korskolen /

Dacapo Records Dacapo Records is a Danish classical music and new music record label. It was founded in 1989 to promote the classical and new music of Denmark and represents itself as "the Danish National label" ("Danmarks nationale pladeselskab"). The board inc ...

(27 May 2022) *''Blue White Gold & The Lost Swans (double vinyl)'', GO' Folk (11 November 2022) *''Yule'', Teitur / Arlo & Betty Recordings (6 December 2024) *''Handed On'', GO' Folk /

(14 February 2025)

Awards

* Danish Music Awards Folk 2013 - Album of the Year for ''A Little Symphony'' * Danish Music Awards Folk 2013 - Talent of the Year * Danish Music Awards Folk 2015 - Album of the Year for ''Second Movement'' * Danish Music Awards Folk 2015 - Ale Carr, Composer of the Year for ''Second Movement'' * Danish Music Awards Roots 2020 - Ale Carr, Composer of the Year for ''Blue White Gold'' * Danish Music Awards Roots 2020 - Track of the Year for ''Blue White Gold'' * Danish Music Awards Roots 2020 - Album of the Year for ''Blue White Gold'' * Carl Prisen 2021 - Composer of the Year Roots for ''Blue White Gold'' * Årets P2 Kunstner 2023 * Danish Music Awards Roots 2023 - Honorary Award

References

External links

Official website

Dreamers' Circus YouTube channel

Dreamers' Circus
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Dreamers' Circus
at

MusicBrainz MusicBrainz is a MetaBrainz project that aims to create a collaborative music database that is similar to the freedb project. MusicBrainz was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB, Compact Disc Database (CDDB), a database for ...

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 2009 Nordic folk musical groups Vertical Records artists