Kristian Blak

Kristian Blak in front of his house on Tinganes.

Kristian Blak (born 31 March 1947), originally from Fredericia, Denmark, lives in the Faroe Islands where he is a composer, musician, and record executive. He is the founder of the Nordic musical ensemble Yggdrasil (named after the World tree Yggdrasil). He has worked with sounds in the Faroese nature in several compositions. These include concerts in caves and other natural "concert halls" in the Faroe Islands.[1] He has composed solo instrumental works, chamber music, choral works and symphonic music,[2] for example the ballad Harra Pætur og Elinborg.[3][4] In 2010 Queen Margrethe of Denmark visited the Faroe Islands, and one of the events she visited was a grotto concert in Klæmintsgjógv (Gorge of Klæmint) by Kristian Blak and other musicians. The cave is 50 meter high and the sea in the cave is around 400 meter deep. There are some places inside the cave where the musicians can stand with their instruments and give a concert to the audience in the boats.[5]

He is the chief executive officer of Tutl, which is the leading record label in the Faroe Islands.[6]

In 2002 he received the Faroese Literature Prize for his work with music in the Faroe Islands.[7] In 2011 he received the Heiðursgáva Landsins, which is handed at the same time as the Faroese Literature Prize, given by the Faroese government.

Musical Works

Albums

Solo albums

Yggdrasil

Spælimenninir

Spælimenninir í Hoydølum

Spælimenninir í Hoydølum is the name of a former musical ensamble, they took name after a place name in Tórshavn called Hoydalar, the High School is located there.

Music for children

Prizes

Private life

Kristian Blak was married to Sharon Weiss in November 1977, she is also a musician and comes from Lexington, Massachusetts. Together they have three children: Mikael, Sámal and Rebekka.

See also

Literature

References

  1. Visitfaroeislands.com The Faroese Tourist Board
  2. Composers.fo A Faroese website with information about Faroese composers
  3. Rateyourmusic.com
  4. Harra Pætur og Elinborg on iTunes
  5. Captain.nordlysid.com About the grotto concerts (in English)
  6. Tutl.com
  7. BBS.fo Virðisløn M.A. Jacobsens fyri mentanaravrik 2002 (in Faroese)
  8. Last.fm Úr Holminum
  9. Last.fm Snjóuglan
  10. Last.fm
  11. Allmusic.com Harra Pætur og Elinborg
  12. Allmusic.com
  13. Allmusic.com Concerto Grotto og Drangar
  14. Kringvarp.fo The National Faroese Radio and Television (in Faroese)

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, February 12, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.