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| Schei back on stage with new life Singer/pianist performs first show since birth of daughter last year
Liv Mari Schei hasn't been singing about life in Svalbard the past year so much as discovering it. Schei, perhaps Longyearbyen's most famous musician, returned to the stage Saturday after a year's absence to focus on her new daughter. The 80-minute concert with cellist Bernt Simen Lund to a full crowd at Brasseri Nansen revisited the stories about life in Svalbard featured on her first two albums. "I think it's great to be back," she wrote in an e-mail interview following the concert. "It took time to get used to having children – I actually had plans to return to the cultural life much earlier." Schei's return continues Nov. 12 and 13 as she will pair with Swedish guitarist Staffan Johansson for performances scheduled as part of KunstPause Svalbard 2009. The Nov. 12 performance at Galleri Svalbard will be a 20-minute opening night preview while the Nov 13 show at Brasseri Nansen is a full concert. Her return concert at the restaurant in the Radisson SAS Polar Hotel played to a nearly full crowd seeking a more nuanced evening than the Halloween costume party in the pub down the hall. Her soprano rang clear with little sign of rust, harmonizing smoothly with her piano backings and Lund's interweaving dialect. The songs, while familiar, were well received by the audience, even if not everyone was locked in. "I think it was nice that there were many who came up the concert," Schei wrote. "There were some who talked loudly. I'm used to it, but the reason is probably they ate dinner and listened to the concert. Then there will be some noise. I got a lot of good feedback, and felt that I and Bernt Simen played well together." She said she asked Lund to play the duet after he appeared on her 2006 debut album Soløde. Lund said he met Schei during a concert that year, which led to his playing on the album and subsequent appearance. "She took a big risk," he said after the recent concert. "He came up on Friday, and we were rehearsing on Friday and Saturday," Schei wrote. "He also prepared himself much at home." Also, while she was offstage, "I have the piano in the living room and play often." Schei, who performed in Longyearbyen with Johansson during Solfestuka 2008, said the concerts during KunstPause will feature some similarities and differences. "It is a more rhythmic concert, but the same songs," she wrote. Schei is also looking ahead to a new project, although her daughter, Sigrid Schei Fledsberg, isn't the inspiration, Instead she plans to look partially to her past while expanding her musical storytelling beyond Svalbard to "heritage old and new" in places like Bodø, Alta, Tromsø and Kirkenes, the latter being where her father grew up. "I'm trying to collect money to get a tour of northern Norway," she wrote. "I think it is time to present these stories, which are a cultural treasure, other than just Svalbard." Biographical information, photos and full-length streaming audio from Schei is available at www.livmarimusikk.com. |
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