1999 Folketeatret

The Award Committee presented their award to Folketeatret for their marvellous fairy tale musical The Nightingale which, with its breath-taking set designs and the dedicated performance of all actors, appealed to the hearts of children and adults alike. Such an emotional experience is valuable in ­times where the flow of billions of ­pieces of ­information, threatens to make the ­hearts cold and also to deprive ­families of their close emotional ties.

As an ­antidote, director Preben Harris and composer Sebastian, who have had a long-standing artistic partner­ship, have successfully man­aged to create this marvellous musical for ­families with children. In this musical, with its brilliantly emotional music and well-written lyrics, and with his deep understanding of Hans Christian Andersen, Sebastian has contributed to a musical fairy tale that would have made the poet himself proud.