Green Pilot Tours

North Sea String Quartet toured Sweden from 28 November through 4 December 2023. The Dutch quartet performed at 5 locations in the Knutpunkt network of venues, plus 2 jazz clubs in Gothenburg. They also did 3 workshops with music students during the trip. They traveled by airplane to Copenhagen and from there by train and (full) electric car. The return flight to Amsterdam was from Gothenburg.

The quartet stayed in hotels with a 'green' certificate for four nights and in in a house rented via Airbnb for 3 nights. Big enough for practicing as well. The tour was set up following the Green Rider, as promoted by EJN. Vegetarian meals were ordered by the venues. No plastics or other disposables on stage, no throwaway merchandise, just the qr codes to the quartet's website and a pen & paper for newsletter registration.

In Gothenburg, at jazz club Utopia, a meeting was set up with people involved in this tour, plus Carl Forsberg, 1st vice president of the Cultural Committee of the region of Västra Götaland, a prominent member of Sweden's Green Party. Also present was Sara Sivre, board member of the Cultural Committee of the Gothenburg Municipality (a Green Party member as well). Speeches from Maria Rylander (Knutpunkt), Mark van Schaick (inJazz/Buma Cultuur) about the thoughts behind the Green Pilot Tour, and its preparations. Followed by a captivating speech by Forsberg, stressing the importance of support for green goals within the cultural sector, and international exchange. Also present were Sara Aldén, president of IMPRA, a national organization for female and non-binary musicians in the field of jazz and improvised music; Lars Elf from Musik Centrum Väst, a regional organization working to highlight musicians based on the west coast. And, on special invitation, composer-pianist Tomas Bodin, with whom the quartet bonded on many levels. A green party sign (Miljödepartementet) present at the meeting, was posted on several organizations' social media.

Media review: https://kulturbloggen.com/?p=174821&fbclid=IwAR03VmEJjS7lcdzpEAvndZ5E7XFY7ntpC-lI8pJycFyb11VU6lF1K1KDoEU
InJazz article: https://www.injazz.nl/green-pilot-tour-by-north-sea-string-quartet/
Tour Vlog: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0yvv_pobD-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=NTYzOWQzNmJjMA