Britta Byström

With her music-drama work Eatnama Váibmu (Heart of the Earth) from 2025, Britta Byström has made a significant impact on the contemporary cultural scene by composing, in a vibrant and dynamic way, the music for the first family opera in Northern Sami.

Drawing on a broad musical range, Byström embraces the task and, through this richly contrasting work, demonstrates both her dramaturgical sensitivity and her craftsmanship as a composer, with a finely tuned sense for orchestration. In addition to the solo passages, the work gives prominent space to percussion and choirs in alternately minimalist, austere, and melodic sections featuring traditional elements of joik.

Eatnama Váibmu (Heart of the Earth) is a highly topical Nordic work in which Sápmi – and thereby the shared Sami history of the Nordic countries – takes centre stage, resulting in an outstanding artistic tribute to children’s culture.