Mariam Wallentin is one half of the duo Wildbirds & peacedrums, a member and composer of the free jazz collective Fire! orchestration. Since 2013 she is also the solo project Mariam the believer. During the second day of Borderland, she will be based in the EP String Variations from earlier this year to explore the song's songs in a new context: backed by a symphony orchestra consisting of over 60s young musicians.

- To expand music in this way is absolutely fantastic. But also throwing yourself out with a whole new band of 60 people is a fucking experience in itself, she tells Culture News.

Want to make classical music available

The symphony orchestra is led by the conductor Christian Karlsen. It was he who co-founded the festival with pianist David Huang last year. The purpose: To take classical music to a new environment - and not least to a wider audience.

- We had known for a long time that there are many people of our own age who would like to listen to classical music, and think it is fantastic when they do, but they dare not open the door to the concert hall. You might have been looking at them and thought: I don't belong there, he says, and continues:

- But that's not how it should be. Then we thought we would take our orchestra to a place where many feel comfortable and play the music here instead.

"Should be a little risky with music"

Mariam the believers EP String Variations, which came earlier this year, is a rework of the artist's previous songs. Then with a string quartet - but now she takes in additional power with the symphony orchestra.

She describes that the new context in which the songs end up is very much about finding and for each other, she for the orchestra - and the orchestra for her. But also to take advantage of the moment:

- A lot of it is about letting go and surfing it. But it should also be a bit of a risk with music - that's the whole content of creating, she says, and continues:

- Mariam the believer is in itself my more populous project, but I work a lot with free improvisation and alternative sentences as well. So somehow this is an extension of me.

Conductor Christian Karlsen agrees:

- We go into your world and try to find ourselves in it as well. We try to approach Mariam and Mariam approaches us a little bit. That's the meeting that gets so exciting, he says.

Do you experience a difference in the songs?

- I definitely do. It feels like that's the whole point of bringing in new people and new energy, says Mariam Wallentin:

- Then I hope the songs themselves have a core. That they have their own personality that everyone, both the orchestra, the conductor and I, can come in and play around.