The exotic Fyrlyd Festival, Lista/Farsund (Norway)

These last couple of days I have had the pleasure of performing at the Fyrlyd Festival in the very south of Norway, at Lista and in Farsund - both close to Kristiansand. The artistic directors of the festival, Ingvild Koksvik Amundsen and Lars Jakob Rudfjord - impressed me with innovative ideas, great concert halls and a most wonderful way of reciveing their artists!







This festival hosts a lot of great musicians from many genres, it´s worth wild getting down here in the south of Norway to experience the wild and untamed nature of Lista and Farsund, people! And last but not least, to experience the wonderful concerts in the coolest places ever - not to speak of where the artists spend their time between he concerts!!





Allways a great pleasure to play with Bjarne Magnus Jensen! "Husan" - Great concert hall in Farsund!!







Koksvik and Rudfjord are not only administrating the whole festival, but also performing. They are both extremely gifted musicians with something really special to offer. Check it all out at www.fyrlyd.no !!

After my last concert I was given this little airplane engine by the festival to cruse around in and enjoy the fantastic nature of Lista. Now THAT´S a festival which kicks ass!!


I also made friends quickly, as you can see...

Photoshoot with Filippo Caroti for the October-show in Tallinn

I have had the previlge of meeting two abnormally gifted and interesting dancers from the ballet at the Opera in Tallinn, Anastassia Sav and Nadezda Antipenko - and also the very famous Italian photographer Fillipo Caroti. Combined with one of Harri´s old MG´s the result was obvious - a supercrazy photoshoot on a basketball court with a funky old piano which Helen managed to get a hold of from the most generous Heiki from Reval pianos, one very original pianomuseum in Tallinn. And yes - all of the people involved here are of course members of the creative mafia in Tallinn! These photos were just taken with my camera. Just to give you a glimps of what you are to expect - I tell you, the edited result of Caroti will blow your expectations all the way to the moon and back again.

Colorful trio in Tallin

I had the pleasure of performing several concerts in Estonia this time with two absolutely wonderful musicians, Kristina Kriit (violin) and Levi-Danel Mägila (cello). Kristina normally works in the orchestra in the opera in Tallin, Levi in Tallin Symphony Orchestra. More concerts are awaiting us this fall, hopefully as colorful as the ones we did this time! Thank you guys, you make the concert stage a better place for anybody performing with you:)

And yes...when we performed in Pärnu last night at our 10 pm-concert, I just had to leave my bag next to the white grand during the concert. We are all athletes!!




PS.: I sort of forgot to turn off my phone, which was lying in my bag. This I remembered when Kristina and I were in the middle of the second movement of Beethoven´s Spring Sonata. Never has any second movements been more ecxiting, I tell you that! Luckily nobody decieded to call me last night, much appreciated!!

Unforgettable Café de Concert-concert at Nano, Tallin

Despite the fact that the semifinals between Spain and Germany was going on at the same time as the concert, over 100 people found their way to the wonderful backyard of Nano. Read more about it on www.cafedeconcert.blog

First Café de Concert-concert in Tallin

Full house at Café de Concert´s first concert in Tallin, at the wonderful "Museum".
Read more about it on www.cafedeconcert.no/blog

You are what you walk

Row 1 from left:
Concert-shoes
Nikey and Puma basketballshoes - I wear them on stage and when I play basketball. I also wear the Puma in everyday life. So do I with the three others. The first converse shoes are "moods of norway"-converse which I often wear with the suits from "moods". Converse was also the first brand my parents bought me for playing basketball when I was 7. The love for converse will allways be there. The last pair of converse is in silver, cause I like to shine. On stage and in life in general. When I go out dancing, which I love to do - you allways see me in the silver converse, shaking it makeing the silver sparkle like James Brown doin´ it on stage. When ever James Brown is heard, I am seen on the dance floor. I love funk music. I also dig Earth wind and fire, Bee Gees and of course Prince.

Row 2 from left
Gershwin- and golden shoes
I started wearing the black and white ones when I did my Gershwin solo recitals and when performing the Gershwin piano concertos with orchestra. Gives me that old school feeling. They are also my favorite dancing shoes in weddings! The golden shoes makes me feel like a gold medal winning athlete, wearig the medal on me feet, and makeing everybody see wich path I have taken. The golden one.

Row 3 from left
Beach, water central park and Brazil
Beach sandales - I grew up next to the sea. I love the beach and can spend a whole day next to the sea doing absolutely nothing, or absolutely everything one would need to do in day. If I need to practise, I just bring my music scores with me to the beach, and read it while the sun is flirting with my skin.

Blue Helly Hansen shoes. Actually made for sailing - in august this year I´m organizing a Café de Concert sailboat regatta, with the Café de Concert logo on all sails.
(Read more about the concept here www.cafedeconcert.no) I also wear them on my chamber music festival in the Caribbean sea, we often perform on sailingboats. Need to have a good grip on the floor - and on the piano pedals.

Old school tennis shoes - comfortable, allways cool to wear. These are probably the ones you see me in the most, strolling down the street with my smokeing notebook and my pencil on fire, writing down new ideas and music. You can also see them one on top of the other when I am sitting on benches in parks. Trying to hear what the benches have to say. Can you imagine how many secrets benches all over the world know? How many love stories, tragedies, proposals, confessions and international secrets don´t they know of? Imagine if benches could talk...I love to wonder off in parks. Physically and mentally. Yes, these ones are definetly my walk in the park-shoes. See you in Central Park on Sunday morning?

Brazilian style - Statement. If you are wondering about which brand for man which has the coolest shape, most stylish colors and feel like female hands massageing your feet while walking? The answer is simple. Ferracini.

Row 4 from left:
I am Norwegian
A couple of months every year you see me in my cross country skiing-shoes, skiing in the Norwegian forests and on mountains, jumping around in deep snow in my Helly Hansen orange snow shoes or
you probably see me on my ass after a terrible fall on the ice with my ice skates. I must admit I am not a world champion on the ice, even if my skates were in gold - but I love it. Simply love ice-skateing! Last time I went ice-skateing in Central park I was skateing with a former ice-skateing queen. She did all these funky jumps and stuff. Everybody was clapping and admiering what she did. I saw the people, I heard the clapping - I went for it.
I flew through the air like nobody ever before. Everybody went quiet when I was floating helplessly in space. I landed. Not like Bambi on ice, more like Ferdinand the Bull. And I landed on my iphone, in my chest pocket. The audience went crazy, clapping more than ever. Laughing their asses off. So did I. I stood up, took a bow, and got several new friends that day. God, how I love ice-skateing!