Sissel Kyrkjebø is the owner of a charming soprano. She works in several musical directions. The Norwegian singer is known to her fans simply as Sissel. For this period of time, she is included in the list of the best crossover sopranos of the planet.
Reference: Soprano is a high female singing voice. Operating range: Up to the first octave - Up to the third octave.
The cumulative sales of the artist's solo albums (not including musical accompaniments to films and other collections to which she contributed) amount to 10 million records sold.
Childhood and adolescence Sissel Hürhjebø
The singer's date of birth is June 24, 1969. Sissel's childhood years were spent in Bergen. She was the youngest child in the family. She spent her childhood surrounded by older brothers.
Sissel Kyrkjebø grew up as the most active child. Most likely, she inherited the activity and love for the movement from her parents. As a child, the family often went to the mountains.
Sissel dreamed of becoming a nurse, but at the age of 9 her plans changed. During this period of time, she begins to be interested in music. After some time, she became part of the children's choir under the direction of Felicity Lawrence. The singer gave the team a whole 7 years. A little later, Sissel will say that being part of the choir, she gained the necessary knowledge and experience, which she can compare with education at the conservatory.
When the girl was only 10 years old, she became the winner of a music competition. After winning the competition, the parents threw all doubts away. Now, they were sure that Sissel had a great musical future.
Classical music was often played in Hürhyebø's house. Sissel adored the classics, but did not deny herself the pleasure of listening to rock and country tracks. She adored the work of Barbra Streisand, Kathleen Battle and Kate Bush.
The creative path of Sissel Hürhjebø
In the early 80s of the last century, Sissel, as part of a children's choir, appeared in the television program "Syng med oss". The first solo performance was waiting for the audience in 3 years. Then the charming Norwegian sang a folk song. Until the end of the 80s, she was a frequent guest of "Syng med oss".
In the mid-80s, Sissel performed the musical composition A, Westland, Westland on Syng med oss. With her performance, Hürhyebø hit the music lovers in the very "heart". By the way, the song is still considered the hallmark of the artist today.
A year later, she appeared on the television show of Channel 1. On stage, she performed a track from Barbra Streisand's repertoire. In the same year, the singer pleased with the skillful performance of the musical work Bergensiana during the intermission of the international song contest Eurovision. After that, Sissel literally woke up popular.
Presentation of the self-titled debut album of the singer Sissel Kyrkjebø
On the wave of success, the singer presents her debut LP, called Sissel. The presented disc became the best-selling album in Norway. Fans have bought over half a million copies of the collection. In support of the record, the singer held a number of concerts.
Some time later, she also made her debut on Danish television. So, she became an invited guest of the program "Under Ureth". The performer delighted fans with the tracks Vårvise and Summertime.
A little later, the discography of the Norwegian performer was replenished with the second studio album. It was named Glade Jul. The collection repeated the success of the previous LP, becoming the country's best-selling record. By the way, this longplay is still considered a record holder. For this period of time (2021) - more than one million copies of the disc have been sold. In Sweden, the collection was released under the name Stilla Natt.
After the release of the disc, Sissel received an offer to represent her native country at Eurovision. Despite such a tempting offer, the artist refused.
Creative break in the musical career of Sissel Hürhjebø
Despite the popularity and recognition of the singer's talent at the highest level, she decides to take a so-called creative break. During this period of time, she becomes a student of a commercial high school, which is located on the territory of Bergen.
In the same year, she performed at Trygve Hoff's memorial concert in Tromso. He composed several tracks for the singer, which were included in the debut LP.
At the end of the 80s of the last century, she presented her third studio album. Despite the fact that Sissel made big bets on the record, it sold extremely poorly. Poor sales did not prevent her from going to the United States of America with her concert. Then she performed in New York. The performer became the guest of the television program.
A year later, she recorded the vocal parts of Princess Ariel for The Little Mermaid. Then Sissel visited the Faroe Islands. During this period of time, she worked closely on the Kistland project.
The next year she toured Denmark and Norway. In the same year, she appeared on local television, taking part in the filming of Momarkedet. She delighted the audience with an amazing performance of the musical work Solitaire. The artist's singing was accompanied by Sedaki's piano playing. The musician was amazed by her performance. The artists worked together on the singer's new LP Gift of Love, which was released in 1992.
The new longplay of the artist was coolly received not only by music critics, but also by fans. The experts "walked" through the collection "tank", mostly due to the fact that Sissel changed the usual style of presenting musical material.
Sissel Kyrkjebø at the opening of the Olympic Games
1994 was an amazing year. The artist performed at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. She managed to get acquainted with Placido Domingo. They even recorded a joint musical composition, which was called Fire in Your Heart. The track was included in Sissel's record Innerst i sjelen (Deep Within My Soul).
A few years later, the artist toured the United States of America with The Chieftains. A little later, the singer took part in the recording of musical accompaniment for the film "Titanic". The soundtrack boosted Sissel's ratings significantly.
At the end of the 90s, the performer started working on a new LP. The release of the collection was supposed to take place in the "zero", but the artist was dissatisfied with the sound of the compositions, so the presentation of the disc was postponed indefinitely.
Sissel's activities in the new millennium
In the fall of 2000, Sissel pleased the fans of her work with the release of a new album. The record was called All Good Things. By the way, this is one of the first LPs of the last 7 years, on which there are no guests. Commercially, the album was a success.
A couple of years later, she recorded several tracks at once with Placido Domingo. We are talking about the musical works of Ave Maria and Bist du bei mir. In 2001, her discography was enriched with the compilation In Symphony. Then it became known that she was working on another studio album.
On October 1, 2002, she released her first album in the United States of America. The record was called Sissel. The new tracks were warmly received by fans, although from a commercial point of view it cannot be called successful. In fact, the new disc is an All Good Things album in the "American way". But, the track list of the album includes new tracks - Solitaire and Shenandoah. She went on tour to support the album. As part of the tour, the artist visited several countries.
A couple of years later, the artist's discography was replenished with another gorgeous LP. It was named My Heart. A classic crossover in its pure, academic form - went with a bang to the public. The collection took a leading position in the music charts. She went on tour that same year. On tour, she was supported by a symphony orchestra.
At the end of the tour, the artist presented the disc Nordisk vinternatt. Then her discography was enriched with LPs Into Paradise (2006) and Northern Lights (2007). In February 2008, the artist skated a tour of 8 American cities.
Sissel Kyrkjebø: details of the artist's personal life
She was married to Eddie Scopler until 2004. There was a lot of beauty in this family union. The woman felt truly happy. The marriage produced two children. But, at some point, divorce seemed the only reasonable solution for both partners.
After the divorce, she was in the status of a "bachelorette" for a long time. Sissel was in no hurry down the aisle, realizing her creative ambitions. In 2014, she married Ernst Ravnaas.
Sissel Hürhjebø: our days
In 2009, the premiere of the album Strålande jul took place. A year later, the artist presented the record Til deg. Then Sissel focused on concert activities in the territory of colorful Scandinavia. Then the artist took a creative break and only in 2013 returned to the stage.
In May 2019, she released the first of 50 new songs to be released every week for the next 50 weeks. On June 6, Sissel performed with Italian singer Andrea Bocelli at a concert in Oslo. In the same year, she appeared on the show Allsång på Skansen. On stage, the performer presented two new tracks - Welcome to My World and Surrender.
This year is also interesting because Sissel went on the Sissels Jul tour. As part of the tour, she visited Norway, Sweden, Germany, Iceland, Denmark.
In 2020, she was forced to interrupt her concert activity, but already in 2021, Sissel again pleases her fans with concerts. The next performances will take place in Sweden, Denmark and Germany.
