Waiting for the ferry… And waiting for the plane...

Blog entry 27th and 28th of October 2009

Nordfjordeid, Norway

I am sure you’re dying to know if Laila (my agent) and I made it to St.Petersburg and Novgorod. I am therefore delighted to tell you that we did! After that little incident with Laila not reaching her flight, the rest of our little Russian adventure went without any major difficulties.

Here you can see the eldest church in Russia, it is situated in Novgorod.

On Tuesday I had a concert in Novgorod, after the concert we were invited to the best restaurant in the little town. It was inside the Kremlin (along with the concert hall) and when we arrived there with Yuri (the artistic leader of the festival, conductor and pianist) it looked like a deserted church. But once we went inside and upstairs there were a lot of people and live singing and dancing! We ate traditional Russian food, and I got ice cream, lucky me ☺

Wednesday we went to St.Petersburg. It is a good two hours drive and while Yuri drove the car I drove him nuts with reading in Russian from my “visit St.Petersburg” guide… I don’t remember so much now though, only some words. He understood everything I tried to say, it either means that I actually have some talent for Russian, or he was just trying to be polite… At the evening we went to the Marinsky and watched The Magic Flute, in Russian! My little Russian from the car didn’t help me there… Lovely singers ☺

On the right side you see The Church on Spilled Blood and under you see me in the concert hall at Sheremetev Palace.

Concert in Sheremetev Palace on Thursday. There are so many beautiful buildings and palaces in St.Petersburg, it’s a bit unbelievable, and everything is almost completely authentic from the old days. Friday was practise day and visiting a couple of tourist spots, The Church on Spilled Blood and we went to the Winter palace and Ermitage. Gala concert on Saturday. Played Grieg, it was a wonderful experience. So many great people, so warm and nice and giving. I had a great week in Russia.

Me outside the Winter Palace.


Sunday I went to Trondheim (St.Petersburg – Copenhagen – Oslo – Trondheim) and had en evening rehearsal with the Trondheim Soloists. My mother met me in Oslo and joined me for my evening in Trondheim so that I could change some of the content in my suitcase… Two and a half week and 10 concerts take a lot of different clothes and things, so it was good to be able to change some of it. Then Monday morning, at 7 o clock in the morning (way tooooo early) the bus left my hotel (my mother went home to Oslo) and soon we were on the road to Nordfjordeid. Had the first concert on our tour yesterday, so much fun! Looking forward to the rest.

Stavanger Sola Airport…

My Internet connection has been bad, so I am still writing on this same entry. Now I am sitting at the airport in Stavanger. We just arrived here from Bergen and are going to London, the plane boards in half an hour or so. It is the 28th today; yesterday we had our second concert on the tour in Bergen. At Troldhaugen, Grieg’s home, lovely place. Today the others have a free day in London, while I have some interviews to attend. My CD is being released on the UK on Monday and I am very exited. Tomorrow we have a concert in Cadogan Hall in London, Friday in Canterbury and Saturday in Leeds.

Will be back with a report from the road…
Until next time, be sure to visit the Winter palace and the Ermitage museum if you are in St.Petersburg, to see paintings by Matisse, Monet, Rembrandt and Da Vinci in real life if simply amazing.
Tine ☺

Düsseldorf Airport

Blog entry 19th of October 2009

Action already…

So, I’m back again. Never a trip without a little bit of action… My day started okay, and the checkout from the hotel and the drive to the airport was action-free. However, it all started when I arrived at the check-in counter. I was already aware that my luggage was a couple of kilos too heavy, and was of course prepared to pay a little bit extra. Düsseldorf to St.Petersburg via Stockholm, 20 euro per kg, 5 kg = 100 euro!

Security control: Full check of all my hand luggage (trumpet bag, piccolo trumpet case and handbag), some weird check of the surface of my Mac Book, full body visitation… Everything was fine, luckily I am no criminal, and I went to buy myself some breakfast. Then my manager calls me. She was supposed to meet me in Stockholm and we would fly together for St.Petersburg, but it turns out not everything goes as planned. Due to some traffic accident she arrives at Flesland airport (in Bergen, she lives there) too late for check-in of her luggage, and (even though she really tries some heavy arguing) she misses her first flight to Stockholm. Then she finds out there is no way of getting to Stockholm so that she will reach our flight to St.Petersburg. So much for my quiet breakfast… Many phone calls later she has arranged herself a new flight; she will now arrive in St.Petersburg late in the evening (travelling via Oslo and Riga…).

Hopefully we will meet tonight in St. Petersburg ☺

Here are the pictures from the last entry:

In Norway they clearly start Christmas celebrations in some stores way too early. Date: 4th of October!

And last a couple of pictures from the making of my new music video! Yes, my new CD is soon arriving, and now it is official, it is a Christmas album. I had the best tome making the album (with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Elise Båtnes(leader) and Isa Gericke (soprano)), and wow did we have fun making the video! This is a little taste of what’s coming. I will let you know all about it of course.

The winter is arriving

Blog entry 18th of October 2009

Düsseldorf - Germany

I am sitting at my hotel room in Düsseldorf. The TV is on, Mahler’s 1st symphony with Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, while I write to you. I am sorry for all the time that has gone by since my last entry. My intentions has been good all the way, I really wanted to write sooner. But, here I am again.

I practically just got of stage at the Tonhalle here in Düsseldorf, concert with Mendelssohn Kammerorchester Leipzig. Very nice concert, I really enjoyed it. Tomorrow I fly for St.Petersburg, and after a couple of hours on the road I will be in Novgorod. I am on a long tour at the moment, not back home until the 3rd of November; I promise I will write to you on the road.

Some pictures from my last two months ☺

First one from the concert with the Oslo Philharmonic on the 10th of September, I did Birtwistle's Endless Parade (as I told you about in my last entry). It was SO much fun! This was a huge goal for me, and I just simply really had a great time onstage. A real kick!


Then you see me the next day at my friend Frida’s house, making pizza! So nice, that is the differences in my life, and do I love them!



Now, something weird happend to the internet connection and the uploading of pictures... But next time you will see these pictures aswell:
In Norway they clearly start Christmas celebrations in some stores way too early. Date: 4th of October!

And last a couple of pictures from the making of my new music video! Yes, my new CD is soon arriving, and now it is official, it is a Christmas album. I had the best tome making the album (with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Elise Båtnes(leader) and Isa Gericke (soprano)), and wow did we have fun making the video! This is a little taste of what’s coming. I will let you know all about it of course.

So, hopefully you will here from me in a couple of days (with pictures...),
Until then, enjoy life ☺
Tine