Nobel Peace Prize Concert

Artists from all over the world came to Oslo Spektrum to send a message of peace and to honour the 2007 Peace Prize Laureates. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess were received by the chair of the Nobel Committee, Mr Ole Mjøs, and proceeded into the concert hall together with the Peace Prize Laureates, former Vice President Al Gore and chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Mr Rajendra Pachauri, as well as members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

The concert was broadcast live on national television, and was hosted by actors Uma Thurman and Kevin Spacey. In his opening words, Mr Spacey pointed out that the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision was also a means of reminding the world how important it is to take care of our planet.

Young Norwegian trumpeter Tine Thing Helset had the honour of opening the concert with a fanfare composed by Kjetil Bjerkestrand especially for the occasion. She was followed by Kylie Minogue, Morten Harket accompanied by the Norwegian boy’s choir Sølvguttene and Melissa Etheridge, who performed the song she wrote for the Al Gore movie “An Inconvenient Truth”. The first part of the concert concluded with Alicia Keys.

After the intermission, the audience was treated to performances by Earth Wind & Fire, Colombian singer Juanes, American folk-rock singer KT Tunstall and Pakistani Junoon, before Annie Lennox brought the concert to a close. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation Orchestra, under the leadership of conductor Nick Davies, provided musical backing during the entire concert.

The Laureates 2007

This year’s Nobel Peace Price was split between the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes (IPCC) and Former US Vice President Al Gore for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.