Last week it was announced that King Harald of Norway had to go on medical leave the rest of last week following pain in his foot. On Monday, the King was back at work; now he has performed his first official task in public following the medical leave. On Friday, His Majesty was present during the Norwegian school’s singing day at the Oslo Concert Hall.
The Oslo Philharmonic gave perfect music so that the choir of 1,000 children could sing beautiful songs to the King. The concert was streamed live to more than 380 schools across the country so that thousand’s of children could sing along. As many as 85.000 young children from all over Norway attended this live event in every part of Norway.
His Majesty King Harald arrives at the concert. Photo: Oskar Aanmoen
His Majesty King Harald at the concert. Photo: Oskar Aanmoen
The school’s singing day is a national day to highlight the joy of singing and dancing for Norway’s future, the young generation. All the participants on the project had practised in advance both their dance movements and the song repertoire, ranging from traditional folk tunes to modern music.
The main concert in Oslo who was attended by His Majesty the King was the most significant event of this years singing day. More than 1.000 young boys and girls were directed by conductor Håkon Daniel Nystedt, and together with Oslo Philharmonic orchestra, they performed both moderns, classical and traditional music. Norway’s first school’s singing day was organised in April 2016, with 152 schools. In 2017, 190 schools participated from all over the country, and this year there are more than 380 schools attended the event. In other words, the school’s singing day is a national boost for singing in Norway.
King Harald received great applause when one of the artists on the stage said she thought the king was very kind and the world’s best king. Then the king had to smile. Photo: Oskar Aanmoen
HM King Harald. Photo: Oskar Aanmoen
This was the very first official event the monarch attended in public following his medical leave last week. Last week, King Harald went on a short medical leave following pain in the foot. During this time, Crown Prince Haakon was regent. This was announced by the royal court at Oslo Palace Wednesday last week.
However, now the King is back at work. On Thursday, he granted an audience to Norway’s Foreign Minister as well as the United Kingdom’s Chief of Defence, Sir Stuart Peach. Yesterday, he attended this event, and next week he will participate in several official events.
