A World Without Birds

"A World Without Birds" is a collaborative project between songwriter Ane Bjerkan and classical composer Ingebjørg Vilhelmsen. 

The 45-minute concert program is an experimental cross-genre project that merges popular music with classical compositional techniques. Musically, the project represents a meeting point between Bjerkan's artistic expression as a vocalist and songwriter, and the composer's background in classical and orchestral composition. 

The project is based on the book "Hva skal vi svare våre barn?" (Vetlesen and Willig) and transformates a scientific/philosophical text about the climate crisis into musical and poetic works. In the book, the authors write about nine mental "bird traps" that prevent us from seeing the truth about the climate crisis in the eyes, thinking clearly and speaking the truth. In "A World Without Birds", these "bird traps" have become self-examining and popular musical texts about escape routes.

"A World Without Birds" will be premiered in České Budějovice by South Czech Philharmonic in May 2026.