Tormod Kayser

Q: What are the most fulfilling and most challenging aspects of your job?

My work consists for the most part of managing the facilities at Ytrebygda Cultural Center in the district of Ytrebygda, making sure the concert hall is secure and in good shape, pianos are in tune, all music equipment and instruments are in good shape and generally facilitating the playing and creation of music and other arts, mainly for young people. I do not teach or get directly involved with the young people's creation of music, except when arranging or working at concerts.

The most fulfilling aspect of my job is to see young people grow and develop as people and musicians and generally do well and master their lives. That will include young people from different parts of society and several nationalities, including refugees.

Sometimes I see grown-ups quitting drugs and significantly improving their lives, partly because of music and help from music therapists. It is always great to see people being able to improve on their lives.

There are many challenges when managing a culture centre, such as security issues, budgets, and changes in politics and leadership.

Q: Please describe some examples (things you have personally witnessed) that show how music can contribute to civic engagement among young people. For instance, how through music do young people become more involved in improving their community, or more socially engaged and politically active, or concerned about global challenges?

I do not see a trend that young musicians are specifically more engaged in community and politics than other young people are. What music activities do in most cases and music genres, is to serve as social arenas and to keep young people out of trouble and away from drugs.

However, in the genre of rap/hip-hop there has been, in my opinion, some signs of social and political awareness due to the importance of lyrics in that genre.

Q: Based on your experience, have discussions of music and society among young people generally changed across years due to different historical conditions? If so, how and why?

Based on my observations when I have been instructing young people on how to use recording studio hardware and software at Fana and Ytrebygda cultural centers, the developments in computer technology and music software have had a significant impact on the creation of music for young people who write their own music. For some, the computer and software combination has become their musical instrument. The computer and music software has also opened possibilities for people to create and record music at home, without the need for any traditional music instruments or record studios. In most cases, several young people work together on writing and producing the songs. In addition, the Internet has opened possibilities for young songwriters to reach a vast audience without being signed to a record company.

Q: Do you sense that a shared knowledge of traditional (folk) songs and dances is changing among young people, and if so, how and why?

Pertaining to Norwegian folk music, I have not witnessed any changes. Traditional Norwegian folk music has not been a priority among young people. However, people from other countries seem to care more for their traditional music and dance. At Fana and Ytrebygda culture centers, we work with Latvian, Serbian, Indian, Tamil, and many other nationalities' cultural schools and festivals.

Q: What is the most interesting story you can share about how music impacts young people?

Sometimes I have observed that that young skilled female singer/songwriters who have had their training at Fana Cultural Center have been signed to management, and subsequently found an audience as a talented star – without a history of many years of training and practice. I have also observed that management largely takes control of the young singer-songwriters’ careers.

Q: In what ways do you see social media impacting how young people use and communicate about music?

The big change that I see is that young people, because of internet platforms such as YouTube and Spotify, can publish their own music globally without being signed to a publisher or record company. Sometimes that can lead to a successful career, such as what happened to the artists Kygo and Alan Walker from the Fana district.

Q: What kind of new methods in work with young people would be helpful in your work? What should be the purpose of these methods?

A few years ago, the Municipality of Bergen offered scholarships to young people from the age of thirteen to twenty five. Young people could apply for up to 50% of the cost of a musical instrument, studio equipment, camera, music lessons, and the like. In my experience, the scholarships stimulated young people to be creative and develop within their art form.

July 2021