No fewer than 11 students from the University of Agder and CreaTeME traveled to Bergen and the Ekko festival on the last weekend of October 2025.
The group of students enjoyed a weekend filled with sound, light, and movement when Ekko invited them to three days of experimental and electronic music in all its forms. The festival aims to be a place for exploration and innovation—a space to try, listen, and discover. A place where artists, musicians, audiences, and the city’s spaces meet on a shared wavelength.
Diversity of Expressions
– I think it’s interesting because you’re introduced to so many different things, says Einar Måløy, who studies electronic music and attended the festival for the first time.
– In a way, you’re forced to listen to something new and reflect on it. I’ve learned a lot about electronic music and how it can be performed. It doesn’t always have to focus on the person playing, but rather the atmosphere in the room and the music itself. There was also something about how unpolished much of the music was that really stuck with me, explains Måløy after the festival.
Networking Opportunities
Brita Urstad Toft, who teaches at UiA, also enjoyed traveling with the students and introducing them to the music and the network around Ekko.
– Ekko is especially interesting to me because they book artists outside the mainstream. The artists incorporate technology as part of their performative expression. Ekko also has a good gender balance in its bookings, Toft emphasizes.
In addition to the musical experiences, Andreas Røshol and André Bratten, along with other staff from UiA and CreaTeME, held networking meetings with the Ekko festival management during their stay in Bergen.
Photo credits: Ekko (Oddbjørn Steffensen / Miriam Levi)