Sissel Kyrkjebø (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈsɪ̀sːl̩ ˈçʏ̀ʁçəˌbøː]; born 24 June 1969), also known abroad as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano. She is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos. Her musical style ranges from pop recordings and folk songs to classical vocals and operatic arias.
She rose to prominence in Norway in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and her cover version of Ole Paus' song "Innerst i sjelen" (Deep in My Soul) gained wide popularity in the 1990s. She is well known for singing the Olympic Hymn (Hymne Olympique) at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway; for duets with Plácido Domingo and Charles Aznavour at the Christmas in Vienna concert of 1994, José Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, Bryn Terfel, Josh Groban, Neil Sedaka, Mario Frangoulis, Russell Watson, Brian May, Tommy Körberg, Diana Krall, Warren G, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and The Chieftains; and for her participation on the Titanic film soundtrack.
Sissel received her first US Grammy nominations on 6 December 2007 for a collaboration with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Spirit of the Season, a collection of songs from the choir's 2006 Christmas concert at Temple Square, was nominated for the Best Classical Crossover Album of the Year as well as Best Engineered Classical Album.
Sissel's combined solo record sales—not including soundtracks and other albums to which she contributed—amount to 10 million albums, most of them in Norway, a country with 5 million people. Her albums have also sold well in Sweden, Denmark, and Japan. She and Odd Nordstoga are the only Norwegian artists to have an album go 11 times platinum in album sales for Strålande Jul (Glorious Christmas).
Although Sissel sings mainly in English and Norwegian, she has also sung in Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Irish, Italian, French, Russian, Icelandic, Faroese, German, Neapolitan, Māori, Japanese, and Latin.
In Norway she is mostly known as Sissel Kyrkjebø, her last name meaning "church farm" or "church field". She started using her first name mononymously abroad later in her career.
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Early life
Sissel grew up in Lønborg in Bergen Municipality with two older brothers, Eirik and Bjørn. She and her parents often took hikes in the mountains surrounding Bergen. In her early years she wanted to be a nurse, but at the age of nine music became her passion.
She joined her first children's choir under the direction of New Zealand-born conductor Felicity Laurence. She stayed with the choir for seven years and said of her experience, "That was my musical education. We sang everything: classical and jazz, folk and even Māori songs. People said we sounded like an angel choir because we had this very clean pure sound, almost like an English boys' choir."
Sissel won her first local talent competition when she was ten. She was influenced by various musical genres; her parents were interested in country music and classical music and her brothers in rock music. She has also stated that Barbra Streisand, Kathleen Battle, and Kate Bush were inspirations.
Her first name "Sissel" is a Norwegian variant of "Cecilia". This is a popular first name from Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of church music. Her last name, meaning "church farm" or "church field", may be derived from an agricultural property owned by or located near the local church.
Career
1983–1985: First television appearances, Syng med oss
In 1980, she appeared in the sing-along program Syng med oss (Sing with us) together with a children's choir. Her first solo appearance was in 1984, when she sang the Norwegian folk song "Ung Åslaug". Sissel performed in this program many times until 1989. Her first solo television appearance without the choir was in 1983 on Norwegian television, with the song "Evergreen" in the children's program Halvsju. Later in the same year, she and Rune Larsen, her later manager, guested the television program Husker du? ("Do You Remember?"), hosted by Odd Grythe, in which she performed "Barndomshjemmet" (Childhood Home) and "Sukiyaki".
Her signature song has been "Å, Vestland, Vestland" (O, Westland, Westland) ever since she first sang it on Syng med oss in 1985.
1986–1994: Rise to prominence in Norway, Sissel, Soria Moria, and Innerst i sjelen
In January 1986, Sissel appeared on the Norwegian television show Kanal 1, hosted by Ivar Dyrhaug. She performed "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", by Barbra Streisand, and later, in February, she performed "Comin' In and Out of Your Life" on the 1986 Alpine Skiing World Cup television show in Norway. In May, Sissel performed "Bergensiana" during the intermission of the Eurovision Song Contest 1986, which took place in Grieg Hall in her home town of Bergen. That was her big breakthrough and in the same year, her first album, Sissel, was released. It sold more than 500,000 copies, making it the best-selling album in Norway at that time.
In 1987, Sissel made her debut on Danish television on Under Uret, hosted by Hans Otto Bisgaard. She performed two songs: "Vårvise" (Springtime), with Danish singer/composer Sebastian, and "Summertime". Later that year, in November, Sissel released her Christmas album Glade Jul (Merry Christmas) with several traditional Christmas carols. It broke her previous record for best-selling album in Norway, and still holds the record. Upon its release, it sold more than 600,000 copies in a country with a population of fewer than 5 million. To date, it has sold approximately 1 million copies. In Sweden, a Swedish-language version was released, called Stilla natt (Silent Night). Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet honored her as "The Name of the Year" in December. Sissel also was invited that year to represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987, but she declined, wanting a break from her music career.
She attended a commercial upper-secondary school in Bergen, but in February of 1988 she performed at the memorial concert for singer/songwriter Trygve Henrik Hoff in Tromsø. He had written several of the songs on her debut album, Sissel, from 1986 but died in 1987. In the fall of 1988, Sissel moved to Oslo for a short period to play the role of Maria von Trapp in the Norwegian version of The Sound of Music. This production set box-office records and was seen by over 110,000 people.
In 1989, she released her third album, Soria Moria, named after a Norwegian fairy tale, which sold 180,000 copies. In the summer of the same year, Sissel travelled to the US and performed in New York City on the television program Artists for Our Common Future, which was broadcast around the world, singing "Summertime" and "Somewhere".
1995–2001: Climb to international recognition, All Good Things and In Symphony
In 1995, Sissel was invited to perform at the 1995 Live For Peace – Royal Gala in London. In celebration of 50 years since VE Day—the end of World War II in Europe—she performed before Charles, then Prince of Wales and other Royal Family members in the London Coliseum, singing the renowned aria "O Mio Babbino Caro" (O My Dear Papa) from the opera Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini, and the Norwegian classic "Vitae Lux" (Light of Life) with the choir Gli Scapoli (The Bachelors).
In 1997, Sissel toured the US with the Irish group The Chieftains. They appeared, among other places, on the Late Show with David Letterman and in Carnegie Hall. Later that summer, Sissel was involved in recording the soundtrack to the film Titanic. The soundtrack, titled Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture, became immensely popular, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard charts and selling more than 30 million copies worldwide. James Horner, the composer of the film's music, knew Sissel from her album Innerst i sjelen (Deep in My Soul) and he particularly liked how she sang Eg veit i himmerik ei borg (I know in Heaven there is a castle). Horner had tried out 25 or 30 singers before deciding on Sissel. She was then scheduled to record the theme song to James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster film Titanic, but Celine Dion's vocals were preferred due to Horner's decision to support Dion's career. In an interview from December 2014, Horner said: "When I had completed the Titanic [movie], I had to decide for Celine Dion or Sissel['s] [vocals]. Sissel I am very close, while Celine I had known since she was 18, and I had already written three film songs for [her]. But that was before Celine was known and filmmakers and marketing people had not done what they should have done for Celine and [her] songs. So I felt I owed her a Titanic chance, but I could [still] have used Sissel there." Instead, Sissel completed much of the film score for the soundtrack album.
Sissel had a No.1 hit across Europe in 1998 with "Prince Igor", a duet with an American rapper Warren G on the concept album The Rapsody Overture, which combined American rappers with European opera singers. She sang an aria from Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor during the chorus, while Warren G rapped. When the song was recorded, she had just a half hour to learn the Russian lyrics. She got help from a Russian taxi driver in New York City—whose name, coincidentally, was Igor. Although she had been on her way to the airport, the taxi driver drove her directly to the studio and followed her in. He helped her sing the Russian words correctly while she recorded her part of the lyrics. In the end, he was satisfied and they made it to the airport afterwards.
2002–2008: More international success, My Heart, Nordisk Vinternatt and Into Paradise
On 1 October 2002, Sissel released her first album in the US, which sold over 100,000 copies in its first three months of release with hardly any advertising or marketing—better than Decca record executives had expected, their initial goal having been 100,000 copies in the first nine months. The album, titled Sissel, was largely a re-recording of songs from her Norwegian album, All Good Things with the addition of two songs, "Solitaire" and "Shenandoah". In late 2002, one of Sissel's concerts was filmed at the Oslo Spektrum and later broadcast on PBS in the US in March 2003. Among her guests was British singer Russell Watson. The production was subsequently released as the DVD Sissel in Concert. In December 2002, she was invited to represent Norway at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, singing in a duet with Josh Groban.
In April 2003, Sissel performed in Tokyo, Japan. During April and May, she also toured the US, visiting Philadelphia, St. Louis, and New York City. A Poulsen rose—a rose bred to thrive in cold Scandinavian winters—was named after Sissel on 10 August in Denmark with the accolade, "She spreads joy among all of us with her wonderful voice". During the award ceremony in the garden of Haraldsted Church, Sissel performed "The Rose", "Vatnet, våren, fela", and "Solveig's Song". Later that year, she sang with Swedish singer Peter Jöback on the Christmas single "Gå inte forbi" (Don't Pass By) for his new holiday CD and also guested him on his Christmas tour in Sweden.
Sissel released her second US album, My Heart, in March 2004. It was a classical crossover album, including two pop songs written by Richard Marx and one ballad, "Wait A While", written by Jon Lord of Deep Purple. My Heart reached No. 3 on the Billboard Classical Album Chart after debuting at No. 7 and spent 31 weeks there. In the summer and fall of 2004, Sissel went on tour with The Lord of the Rings Symphony. She was a featured soloist for an orchestral performance dedicated to the music from The Lord of the Rings films.
In May 2005, Sissel performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Salt Lake City, Utah, on its radio and television broadcast, Music and the Spoken Word, featured on nearly 2,000 stations across the US and around the world. She joined the choir to commemorate the centennial of Norwegian independence from Sweden, which was being celebrated that year. She sang the ABBA song "Like An Angel Passing Through My Room"; "Vitae Lux" (Light of Life); the traditional Norwegian hymn "Herre gud, ditt dyre navn og ære" (Lord God, Your Precious Name and Glory); and the Norwegian national anthem "Ja, vi elsker dette landet" (Yes, We Love This Country) with the choir.
2009–present: New influences and break from music, Strålande Jul and Til deg
On 9 November 2009, Sissel released a new Christmas album called Strålande Jul (Glorious Christmas), a project with Odd Nordstoga, another popular Norwegian singer. This album presented mostly lesser-known Christmas carols from Scandinavia. Sissel toured in both Norway and Sweden with Nordstoga; The Real Group; Orsa Spelmän; and Krister Henrikson. This album and their sold-out Christmas concerts received much critical acclaim in Norway and Sweden. The record company Universal Music anticipated sales of about 100,000 CDs but ultimately sold more than 400,000 in Norway in the first two months.
In May 2010, Sissel visited China with the Trondheim Soloists, appearing at Expo 2010 in Shanghai. They performed songs like "Jag vill alltid følja dig" (I Always Want to Follow You), "Solveig's Song", and "Wait A While". Parts of these concerts were broadcast on Norwegian television in the summer of 2010.
On 20 September 2010, an unauthorized biography of Sissel titled Sissel by Stig Nilsson was released in Norway. He had written several songs for Sissel earlier in her career. In the book, Nilsson claims—among other things—that Sissel never became a worldwide superstar because she did not want to be. The book has been released only in Norwegian. On 15 November 2010, Sissel released a new album in Scandinavia called "Til deg" (For You), recorded in ABBA's Polar Studios in Stockholm; Nidaros Studios in Trondheim; and Nashville. This album showed a new direction in music heavily influenced by the style of country music, roots, and folk. The album featured five songs in Swedish, three in Norwegian, and two in English, including a Norwegian translation of Victoria Shaw's song "Never Alone" titled "Velkommen hjem", and a Swedish cover of Alison Krauss' song "Ghost in This House" titled "Levande död". Collaborating with Sissel on the new album were Mikael Wiehe, Espen Lind, and Py Bäckman.
In 2011, Sissel moved back to Norway after 22 years in Denmark. On 21 August 2011, Sissel performed the Norwegian hymn "Til ungdommen" (To the Youth), by Nordahl Grieg at the National Memorial Ceremony for the victims of the 22 July 2011 terrorist attacks. This ceremony took place in Oslo Spektrum and was broadcast live in all the Nordic countries. HM King Harald and HM Queen Sonja of Norway attended this ceremony with members from all the Nordic Royal Houses; the prime ministers of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark; and the presidents of Iceland and Finland. In September, Sissel got her own stamp in Norway when a set of stamps of four Norwegian female performers was issued.
Personal life
From 1993 to 2004, Kyrkjebø was married to her first husband, Danish-American comedian and singer Eddie Skoller, in a church service described above. They have two daughters, Ingrid (born 1996) and Sarah (born 1999).
On 13 August 2013, Kyrkjebø married her second husband, Norwegian tax lawyer Ernst Ravnaas, in a private ceremony in Hov Church.
Awards and recognition
1986 – Årets Spellemann (Spellemann of the Year) in the Spellemannprisen.
1986 – Årets navn (Person of the Year) by Norwegian national newspaper Dagbladet.
1986 – På gang-scholarship from Norwegian national newspaper VG, with Åge Aleksandersen
1990 – Ansgarskolens Mediapris (Ansgarschool's Mediaprize), with Oslo Gospel Choir for the 1990 album Oslo Gospel Choir Live
1992 – Klods Hans Prisen
1993 – Gledespiken-prisen
1995 – Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International
2002 – Ranked Scandinavia's Mostselling Artist with a total of 460,000 records sold in 18 months, for the albums In Symphony and Sissel
2005 – UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
2005 – Knight of the 1st Class in the Order of St. Olav. On 8 October 2005, the King of Norway knighted Sissel for her contributions to music and as an ambassador for Norway. She was the youngest-ever recipient of this honor.
2006 – Juryens hederspris (Most Distinguished Artist—akin to a lifetime achievement award) in Spellemannprisen 2006. She was the youngest Norwegian performer ever to receive this award.
2007 – Topp 10 – Beste kvinnelige artist Sissel was awarded Best Female Artist of Norway by the Norwegian public broadcasting company NRK in the television program Topp 10 on 17 March 2007.
2009 – A rose developed by Poulsen Roses is named after Sissel and she baptized the rose in Baroniet Rosendal on 4 August 2009.