"Blog on the (trumpet) Road"

A new year - a fresh start!

2012-01-21T14:41:00.002+01:00

Blog entry 19th of January 2012

A new year - a fresh start!

I have decided that I will quite promising to write more often, maybe then I'm actually going to do it... The autumn went by in a spin, like a whirlwind! Suddenly Christmas was upon me and I completely dived into the holiday season with no thoughts of work what so ever (yeah - really! Not easy, but for once I managed to do so...)
So many things have happened since I last wrote a blog post, and I will not use this space to guide you chronologically through all my performances, but I would still like to mention some of them.
Living in a bus with tenThing for two weeks is definitely worth mentioning! We all felt like real rock stars, having our very own bunk bed on the top floor in our jumbo cruiser double decker bus... Very glamorous! (do you hear the irony in my voice?) Even though we lived like a proper rock band and played concerts (and had master classes and work shops) every single day, we turned more and more into a real ladies club. By the end of the tour everyone was knitting, shopping only exercise outfits and running shoes, not to mentioned we actually used the stuff we bought and went for a run almost every day. No drinking, no smoking... What a thrill for our tour manager (male) and light/video guy (also male), they thought ten girls would be fun!

The countries I got to visit autumn 2011 were Italy, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland,
United Kingdom, Monaco and not to mention so many great places in Norway I had not been before. This is one of the real privileges in my job, I get payed to visit new and wonderful places around the world!

Right now I'm in Belgium, preparing for my first concerts of 2012. This Spring will take me to many new (and old) places, among them Canada, United States, Hong Kong, Japan, UK, China, Ukraine, Germany... :) it's going to be a good spring (I hope)!

One absolutely thrilling experience that started this autumn and will continue throughout the spring of 2012 is the release on my very first album for EMI Classics. It's called Storyteller and it's a collection of songs written originally for the voice. I play with the amazing (I do love them) Royal Liverpool Philharmonic with conductor Eivind Aadland and I also have Håvard Gimse( the one and only!) with me on the disc. It's already released in Scandinavia and Germany/Switzerland/Austria, and will be released in the rest of the world this year. Look out for it!

Well, that's all for now. I have to get back to my practicing.

All the best from the road,
Tine :)

Video from Bamberg :)

2011-09-27T21:32:00.001+02:00

YouTube Video

- Tine Thing Helseth 2011 -

Finally made another video... :)

2011-09-03T16:30:00.001+02:00

Hi there,
Finally figured out how to use iMovie on my iPad - great stuff! And quite easy.... Here comes first video. It's from my tour with pianist Håvard Gimse February 2011.
Enjoy :)

Tine

YouTube Video

- Tine Thing Helseth 2011 -

We will never be the same

2011-08-05T07:02:00.001+02:00

There are those moments were you just know that the world will never be the same. Something happens that makes you think that there is no thing more precious than life itself. I love what I do - but without life I couldn't do it. Without life I wouldn't be here.
Friday the 22nd of July started out as a normal day. I woke up in Liverpool, pretty tired after three long and amazing days of recording, and had rehearsal with the Liverpool Phil and Carl Davis for a concert the next day. Just when I get off stage I feel my phone vibrating in my handbag, I ignore it. It rings again and I check the caller ID, my mother, I ignore it again thinking I can call her back when I get to the hotel. She call a third time, and I answer - the first thing she says is that there's been a bomb in Oslo. I think she must be joking, she has too, this can't be happening. I turn on the TV as soon as I come to my room and the pictures on SkyNews live from Oslo are just unbelievable. This isn't my city, my home, this can't be happening in Oslo - the city of peace. My mother calls again, and she assures me that all my friends are safe - good. I talk to her for a long time.
That evening I've got tickets for Harry Potter, the last film. I'm a huge fan of the books, but seeing the world collapsing on screen on a day like this? I meet up with someone from the orchestra and we go together. Everyone has heard about the bomb. My mum calls again - there is a guy shooting at the labour party's youth camp at an island. This can't be happening. I watch the movie. It's really amazing (I have to watch it again, my head wasn't there the whole time...) and I go to bed. I wake up the next morning,for a couple of minutes I'm happy - then I remember. The bomb. The shooting. I call my mother. Almost 90 people dead. Murdered. Young people. It's a bit too much, and I'm so far away. I go for a walk, every front page of every newspaper has pictures from Oslo. I decide to focus on the concert that evening. I dedicate one of the songs I play to the victims and their families and I play with a black ribbon.
Next day on the plane, the tears comes.

Monday is a strange day. Out on the streets people care for each other, even though we are total strangers. You feel the love. Around 5pm I get a phone call - two hours later I play for over 200 000 people in front of the city hall. All there to pay respect, to show the man who did this that we are stronger together, to say that we love each other no matter religion or skin color. It's like I'm not there. When I play the very opening of my piece, solo trumpet before the piano joins me, everyone lifts the roses they have in their hands. Then I just close my eyes. I'm not there. My voice is, my music is, but I have to be strong. I tell myself I can cry later - right now I have to forget I'm there and just play. It's definitely one of the strongest and most special moments in my life. I feel privileged to have felt, seen and tasted air full of so many emotions - most of all love.

There are so many other amazing things I want to tell you all about from the last month. And I will. I just needed this entry for these emotions. I'm lucky, I didn't personally know anyone who died, but I know people who did. Norway is a small country, not so many people, we are all affected by this.

We will never be the same after 22nd of July 2011.

Love,
Tine

- Tine Thing Helseth 2011 -

tenThing at the mall

2011-07-06T15:09:00.001+02:00

Just wanted to share this short video with you. From a festival in Kongsberg in Norway in January ;)

YouTube Video

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Back on the road

2011-06-21T16:44:00.001+02:00

Blog entry 21st of June 2011

I love meeting people I know at airports! Today I met two amazing musicians at Gardermoen. While checking in, the great jazz trumpeter Mathias Eick calls my name from the line next to me. On his way to LA to play :) His record The Door is truly amazing - I highly recommend it! Always nice to bump into Mathias (this is not the first time!) always smiling - even when he discovered that I could skip the incredibly long line at security and use the fast track...
Arriving in the SAS lounge, working on my iPad and waiting for my flight to start boarding - who other than Arve Tellefsen walks in! Great Norwegian violinist, has been around forever. He was one of the first to "discover" me, I think I was 16 years old the first time he invited me to play at his two festivals in Norway. He might be in his seventies, but he is so full of youth and spirit that you wouldn't notice. He and his violin was on their way to Alicante - I got instantly jealous, will imagine it's a tiny bit warmer there than in Glasgow (which is were I'm heading today).

So much has happened lately. May was full of concerts, and I truly had some wonderful musical experiences that month! Another thing that happened was that my best friend since I was 6 years old, Dagrun, got married. The horrible thing - I couldn't be there... I played an important concert that day and couldn't cancel.So what I did, was that I arranged all the music for the ceremony and made a video greeting/speech with a lot of pictures from we were kids :) I'm really sad I missed it, but I know that they both knew my heart was there with them. I wish them all the best in the world!

Sometimes it's hard to know how to make all your different aspect of life go together, but usually it works out in the end.
Tine :)

PS: me and Dagrun 11 years old

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I'm an EMI Classics Artist :)

2011-05-20T10:03:00.001+02:00

Blog entry 20th of May 2011

We have to stop meeting like this...
You can only guess were I am right now. That's right - up in the sky! I've just answered 13 emails and gone through my itinerary for the next 12 days, when I remembered that I hadn't written that blog entry about my EMI signing that I've been wanting to do for some weeks now.

19th of April was a truly exciting day for me. I flew over to London in the morning, checked in to my hotel in Kensington, went for some express stress-relaxing shopping, walked around one of my favorite neighborhoods in London (behind Royal Albert Hall) and tried to really enjoy and memorize everything so that I can think back on this day when I get old, and then - at 6pm - I entered the great EMI building. And from that on everything became very overwhelming. So many enthusiastic and happy people cheering, drinking champagne, eating EMI and trumpet muffins. Eric (the boss), Andrew (the A&R), Ed (my manager) and myself signed the contract - huge moment for me.
After the big gathering were I got to meet everyone from all the different departments there was a nice dinner with my amazing management team (Kathryn, Ed, Clare and Clare ;)) and some of the EMI Classics people. I can't wait to start working with everyone (well, I've actually already started and it's great!) and look forward to work out some new and exciting artistic concepts and record ideas.

I only have one thing to say - you're allowed to dream - and before you know it, it might just come true!

Yours from the road,
Tine :)

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SK841, destination: Zurich

2011-04-27T23:42:00.001+02:00

Blog entry 27th of April

'There's no use trying' she said. 'One can't believe impossible things'. (Alice)
'I daresay you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen. 'When I was younger I did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

I love this quote. It's funny, but true. Always believe, always. Your goals in life will never be achieved if you don't believe they will. It's a while since I read the book about Alice, but I always carry with me the Queen's words. At Oslo airport I bought myself a book before boarding the plane, and what a nice surprise that the first words in the book were actually this particular quote! I had to include it in this blog entry ;)

I'm at the moment a big Kurt Weill fan. I've been for quite a while actually, but just bought myself a CD with Anne Sofie von Otter recorded in the early nineties, and wow! What a voice for this music. Listening to it at the moment ;) I could of course go on and on about the music I love and artists I really admire, but let's take one at a time, shall we?

At the end; just a little encouragement to all of you loud talking gentlemen at planes, not everything is meant for everyone to hear...

Ciao,
Tine :)

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On my way home from Brno

2011-04-17T09:45:00.001+02:00

Blog entry 16th of April

In the air between Vienna and Oslo

I'm up in the sky again. It's been a lot of that lately... I'm sure I've already told you that I'm supposedly afraid of flying - well, I've just decided to forget all about that. It's no use when you spend so much time up here as I do. Besides, they say that flying is more safe than driving a car so...
Today the weather is perfect, no clouds which means that you can see everything that's happening on the ground as well. Not that I look down, I mean - hello - I'm afraid of heights... There's a lot of thing I'm scared of. But hey, I'm not complaining, that's just life :)

I've had the most amazing week in Brno. Brno is situated only one and a half hour driving from Vienna, and it's the second largest city in the Czech Republic. When I travel I always get a feeling of the city I'm in, if I feel comfortable, safe etc. Brno looks like a miniature version of Vienna and feels warm, welcoming and definitely both safe and comfortable. The orchestra is good, but most importantly the musicians are so generous both with their musicality and friendliness. I can say the same about their Chief conductor Alexandar Markovìc, a joy to work with. Two enjoyable concerts in a nice concert hall (a small version of Musikverein in Vienna, same architect), with a lovely and warm audience - can you ask for anything better?

It's time for my Easter holiday next week. Looking forward to spending time with my mother and little sister, I've been away so much the last month, so good to spend some nice days at home together. Lot of things to be done in our house, so I will try to be as useful as possible... Let's see how that goes!

Just some pictures from Hanover last week:

Lovely carrot flowers!
And here from Brno:

Not easy to stay awake backstage after a long day... Don't think the Schubert Symphony had anything to do with it...

That was all from up here,
Tine :)

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In a car in Germany

2011-04-08T13:29:00.001+02:00

Blog entry 8th of April

I just fell asleep in the car. The Finnish singers were talking in Finnish, the car is very comfortable, the sun is shining through the window so it gets warm inside the car - but most importantly it got a bit late last night... woke up by my own snoring (quite embarrassing...)!
I'm in Hannover playing with the wonderful NDR Radiophilharmonie. They have a Norwegian Chief Conductor, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, and he invited us to his apartment after the concert last night. It's so nice after a performance to have some social time with the others. Extra special this week is that they have a visiting Norwegian Concertmaster, so a real Norwegian trio in front - fun ;)

As I were saying we are in the car. New concert tonight, new place but same reportoire. Hummel is a great piece to play. The concert last night was definitely fun, full hall and nice atmosphere, but some concerts I find it hard to focus - last night was one of those. I guess when you play concerts all the time it's hard to have the same concentration and focus in all of them, but I hope that it will feel better tonight. Because that's the thing, even though I might not have complete focus it still goes well (most of the times anyway... :)), it's just that I want to feel good, feel great actually, because there is nothing better than a performance were you just forget everything else and live in the music.

A friend will visit me tonight, always great to have a friendly face among the audience ;)
Including a picture of the Maestro and myself trying to figure out how to take pictures with this iPad.

That's all for now. Will enjoy tonight, try to focus - and at my early flight home tomorrow I will definitely stay awake, snoring among total strangers on a plane that IS embarrassing :)
Tine
.
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Skopje

2011-04-02T11:24:00.001+02:00

Blog entry 1st of April

Had the earliest start ever this morning. Pick up time from hotel 2:50 am, I call that in the middle of the night... still alive though, waiting for our flight to Vienna to start boarding. If everything goes as planned I will end up in Flekkefjord, Norway, around 3 o'clock this afternoon. Just have to stop in Vienna, Frankfurt and Stavanger first ;)

But, the reason I'm writing is that I have to tell you about Skopje. I really enjoyed the two days in the capital of Macedonia. Such a nice place with a beautiful old city (our hotel was situated in that part) and so warm and welcoming people in the orchestra! Had an amazing lunch with Roza from the orchestra and the conductor at a great (and very cheap compared to Norway) French restaurant sitting outside in 20 degrees celsius!

Also so nice that one of my very best friends that I've known since we were both 6 years old, Dagrun, could come with me ;)

Here are som pictures:

Boarding now....
Tine ;)
Alexander the Great Airport, Skopje

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Video from Røros

2011-03-21T15:27:00.001+01:00

YouTube Video

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Home

2011-03-21T12:57:00.001+01:00

Blog entry 21st of March

The sun is shining!! Wonderful ;)
Just finished three hours of press for a new release that I'm part of. The Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces' new CD is full of Nordic music fir wind band. Together with conductor Ole Kristian Ruud I contribute with one trumpet concerto by Jukka Linkola. Great piece! Loved the process and looking forward to performing it, hopefully this autumn ;)

Wednesday last week was my Royal Albert Hall debut - Classic FM Live was a blast! Really enjoyed it. Friday was different but also great! My quartet, TTHQ, played at Studentimpulser in Bergen, and we had the greatest time. Including a video here of my band mates jamming backstage...

YouTube Video

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Backstage at Grieghallen

2011-03-13T15:10:00.001+01:00

It's me again. And quite some extraordinary days in Røros - such an amazing looking place! Lovely to meet up with good musician friends and also to meet new ones ;)

And I also wanted to answer some questions that people ask me a lot (also here at the blog comment section ;) )

My instruments:
Bb trumpet - Bach Stradivarius 37
C trumpet - Yamaha Xeno Chicago
Eb trumpet - Schilke
Piccolo - Yamaha and Schagerl

Mouthpiece:
Bach 1 1/4 C

Thanks for lovely comments about my Carnegie Debut! My last encore was Libertango by Astor Piazzolla. And of course I would love to come to all the countries in the world and play ... ;) just check out my web site for concert dates.

Rehearsal now - have to be on stage.

Tine ;)

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Between Oslo and Røros

2011-03-09T10:55:00.001+01:00

Blog entry 9th of March

Is it really possible that time are flying by at this horribly rapid speed?!? Already 8 days of March has been filled with concerts and a lot of thinking. Sometimes it feels like over 50% of what happens in my life actually goes on inside my head... Sometimes it's cozy in there, other times quite hectic - and right now it's the latter. A lot of stuff to sort out, I might be making things bigger than they actually are, but at least these 5 hours at the train gives me a lot of time to explore every single thought up there ;)

I'm looking forward to coming to Røros, it will be my first time! A festival with so many friends so I don't really see another option than having a great time.

For all you Norwegians out there reading this you should also start to follow the blog tenThing has just started! Promise you that you will get to know us all better. Maybe you watched the Norwegian Grammy on Saturday? We absolutely loved playing there!
Anyway, here's a picture of me from backstage:

Wishing you all the best from inside my head - in the middle of all my thoughts ;)
Tine

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On my way home from New York

2011-02-26T17:44:00.004+01:00

Blog entry 25th of February 2011

It’s been quite a while since my last entry. Christmas is over and the New Year has begun, and what a year so far! My schedule before Christmas Eve was hectic, I actually landed in Oslo on the morning of the 24th – and that’s when my holiday started. Great to have good friends with me when I’m touring, Dagrun (my best friend since we were both 6 years old) celebrated early Christmas in Zurich, and Maren joined me for a spa experience (and a concert of course…!) at Schloss Elmau in Germany at my very soft beginning of the season in January ☺

So, I’m in the air again! Feels like this is the time I like the best to write something. I’m on a flight from New York to Stockholm, and then I have another flight home to Oslo. Had a very exiting, long week in the big apple! Started with the final destination of me and Håvard Gimse’s recital tour: the Carnegie Hall. We had some concerts in Germany as well, and I just love touring with Håvard. Amazing pianist, but also a great travel companion – that is also very important! So, I just have to way that New York really was a mind-blowing experience, so special to me. It’s not every day you play in Carnegie Hall, and I really appreciate the wonderful audience that made it so easy for me to perform, they made me feel at home and that is the best feeling an artist can have on stage.
Sorry – have to go, “…as we are about to land…” is heard over the speakers! Will write more at Arlanda ☺

I wanted to write more at Arlanda, but I fell asleep… In front of many people… while we were sitting and eating… I heard people laughing, but I couldn’t help it, too tired… Not caring… Zzzzz…

At home now, trying to fight my jetlag! A lot of crazy things going on now, and I will make sure to tell you as soon as I can… Very proud of the feature in BBC Music Magazine this month ☺

Will write more soon, now I just have to sleep…
Tinezzzzzzzzzz…..

On my way to Luxembourg

2010-12-12T22:52:00.001+01:00

Blog entry 12th of December 2010

It’s Christmas time! But I have to admit that I have yet to feel the exhilarating, joyful sparks that I felt when I was younger. And also since I mostly travel this whole November-December period – the homey Christmas feeling is hard to find… I’m on my way to Luxembourg, my first time there, and I’m really looking forward! Have heard great things about this small country were the capital and country share the same name (that is very convenient, by the way, easy to remember – more kings (or whoever decides the names?) should have thought of that!).

It’s an especially pleasant flight from Oslo to Copenhagen today. Very quiet and I have an amazing view out my window. A SAS crew member made my day with an upgrade, and I’m sitting here now trying to read a book I just bought (of course RIGHT now I’m writing this blog, but you know what I mean…). One by Terry Pratchett and it has a witch on the cover. It’s been a while since I read about witches and since I’m a maniac Harry Potter fan I felt that I needed some refuel on the wizard and witchcraft literature. And besides, I just loved the opening paragraph:

“Why was it, Tiffany Aching wondered, that people liked noise so much? Why was noise so important? Something quite close sounded like a cow giving birth. It turned out to be an old hurdy-gurdy organ, hand-cranked by a raggedy man in a battered top hat. She sidled away as politely as she could, but as noise went, it was sticky; you got the feeling that if you let it, it would try to follow you home.”

Just a brilliant way of describing… I’m almost certain I will enjoy this book.
I’ve been up to quite a lot since my last blog entry. The tour with the Trondheim Soloists went very well, I had a wonderful time both in the concert and on travel days ☺, always great to travel with people you know. Then at the beginning of this week I was in Kristiansand, I played a Christmas concert with the orchestra there. Great atmosphere and so many people showing up for the concert! And I also have to mentioned that it was absolutely great to meet up with Isa Gericke again, wonderful soprano and friend, who sings on my Christmas album that was released last year. Truly special that woman ☺

Yesterday I did a concert with my band, Tine Thing Helseth Quartet, and that is something I’m always looking forward too and always enjoys tremendously. Jarle, Aksel and Erik truly are great guys and when Morten joins the forces with his bass clarinet nothing can stop us… ha-ha ☺

Fasten-Seat-belt sign is on, so bye for now.
Just remember to look out for noises that want to follow you home…
Best from up in the sky,
Tine ☺

On tour with the Trondheim Soloists

2010-11-27T23:38:00.001+01:00

Blog entry 27th of November 2010

On tour with the Trondheim Soloists

It’s cold outside….

-17 degrees Celsius, that is really cold. No other way of saying it and this was the temperature yesterday in Trondheim. I’m going on tour to Switzerland and Germany with the Trondheim Soloists, not the first time on tour with them, always a pleasure! Five concerts on eight days, so that is not too bad - Berlin and Cologne are among the cities we’ll be visiting. Four trumpet concertos on the repertoire – a different mix in every concert ☺

The last month and the next is really busy – I’m not home much – feels like I’m constantly on the road. It’s strange how well I adjust to this lifestyle. The last weeks have included Sweden with Gävle Symphony Orchestra and Venezuelan conductor Christian Vasquez, concert at a “castle” with my friend Ida on harp, Tour of Finnmark (the very north of Norway) and meeting very nice people in Inderøy! When I say that I adjust well I mean that I enjoy it – but there are still some times when I wish that each day had 48 hours…. So that I could be home more. At the moment, my mother, little sister and me are moving to a new house! It’s all very exciting – but I’m not at home. So my mother has to do everything, and that is not so easy for me, I feel sad for not being there. Not being able to help with all the things that has to be done – all the unexpected things that arrives (!) – and to say a proper goodbye to the place I’ve lived for the last 13 years. When I left this Wednesday it was the last time I’ll carry my heavy suitcase and all my trumpets down the two long stairs, because when I come back on Monday in little over a week the new house will be our home. I wont be there long though, only one night and then I’m off again. That’s my life – and I love it – but at times like this I also wish that I had the ability to be two places at once ☺

Trying to eat my salad (can really recommend the pasta salads on SAS, not bad for flight food!) and writing. I’ve really got the hang of doing useful things while flying lately – for instant I find it the perfect time to answer emails. Of course they will not be sent until I come to the nearest Wi-Fi (at the hotel or airport) but it feels great just to have done it! Right now also enjoying Josh Groban’s new Album “Illuminations”, perfect music to listen to with all the noise from the airplane.

I will try to write more soon,
Best from high up in the sky,
Tine :-)

Up in the air...

2010-10-19T18:03:00.002+02:00

Blog entry 19th of October 2010

It’s funny how every single person sees themselves as the centre of their own universe. Every one of us has different priorities, goals and thoughts concerning how we should live our lives. High up in the air everything seems small. All the houses are like tiny dots, the clouds look like sweet candy, the cars are like moving bacteria under a microscope – the reality seems far away. I love flying. I mean, I should correct myself; I love flying as long as there is no turbulence. I hate turbulence. Luckily for me, today’s first flight is so far without any turbulence. The movement of a plane just drifting away is so calming, it goes so smooth – and then you can kind of forget about all the crazy things down there. As soon as the turbulence comes you are awaken – reminded that the world still goes on, your life is still down there waiting for you.

I’m on my way to France. This will be my official debut here, and I’m very much looking forward to it! Four concerts with Orchestre National de Lille and conductor Michael Stern, Hummel’s trumpet concerto is on the program.

It’s been a while since I last wrote. I can say I’m sorry because I kind of am, but at the same time this is how it’s always going to be. That’s how I am – sometimes I write – sometimes I don’t. But my goal is of course that there should be more dos than don’ts.
The last three months has been great! So many wonderful experiences. And for those of you who like bird song – I’m also on Twitter! I’m quite good at updating that one ☺ Trying to post some impressions from the road – funny. Also great way to communicate, thanks for all the comments!

So – that’s it for now. Just wanted to show you how a dressing room full of wigs and a crazy conductor can be the perfect mix. No idea why he didn’t use that one on stage…
Yours from the road
Tine ☺

Spain

2010-07-19T17:22:00.000+02:00

Blog entry 16th of July 2010

Á Coruna Aeroporto (Airport)

One hour until my plane is supposed to head for Madrid, it’s 6 am in the morning… Sitting at the gate, it’s very dark outside – and it’s raining. I’ve just finished a short tour in Spain together with the Trondheim Soloists, three concerts in the northern part of the country: Santiago de Compostella, Lugo and Ferrol. My last destination today is not Madrid. I will – if everything goes as planned – end up in Trollhättan in Sweden later today. My route today is: Á Coruna – Madrid – Amsterdam – Gothenburg, and then I will go by car to Trollhättan. Or rather, someone will drive me to Trollhättan. My drivers license is yet to be qualified for, I’m really a late bloomer in that area. The thing is, in Oslo, it’s no problem not to have a drivers license. I live so close to the centre with very good public transport connections that I can get wherever I want in quite a short time. So – therefore I have postponed my driving career to a later time in life…

I had a really nice time here in Spain, I will post some pictures so you can see some of the nice things I’ve experienced. We lived in Santiago de Compostella – an old beautiful city – with the most amazing Cathedral. A lot of Pilgrims come here, especially this year as it is what they call a holy year. Also arriving in Spain on Monday was quite great – the day after their great victory in the world championship! The national soccer team were actually supposed to arrive in Madrid at the same time as us! Unfortunately their plane was delayed.

So, here you see some pictures :)

Best for now,

Tine

Pictures from the last months

2010-05-15T20:30:00.011+02:00

Hi everyone,
Here are some pictures from what I've been up to for the last monts!
Promise to write more soon :)
What you see: Finland (Pori, funny sign and the concert hall). Dortmund (look who was at the poster outside my dressingroom door!)(And the most amazing pink scooter, I want one!!) Tine Thing Helseth Quartett in action :) Old Oslo tram and beautiful view from the fortress in Fredriksten.
Tine

Video blog :-)

2010-02-26T13:51:00.002+01:00

Hi everyone,
My first video blog. (in english)
All the best,
Tine

On my way to Tromsø

2010-02-03T23:56:00.001+01:00

Blog entry 3rd of February 2010

Oslo Airport Gardermoen

Eating pizza… I shouldn’t, really, but I just couldn’t help it. I just got the message that my flight was an hour delayed (because of late incoming cabin crew) and before a knew what had gotten into me I had ordered two slices of pizza and was paying for a bottle of sparkling water with the taste of mango. These things just happens… Looking at the bright side of the situation, I’m now enjoying some great pizza, and because of the delay, I have some extra time to write. Writing always calms me down, I should definitely do it more often.

I’m on my way to Tromsø, up in the north of Norway. There is a festival there, and I will play a concert on Friday. First rehearsal with the orchestra is tomorrow morning. Saturday, I go back to Oslo, and then on Sunday I start rehearsing with tenThing for our two concerts the next week. It’s been a long while since we were together, so I’m really looking forward to these days. We have a lot of exciting things coming up this year with the ensemble, so it’s going to be good to get started and feel how our reportoire is getting better and also expanding.

The last couple of weeks, since my latest entry, have been filled with wonderful experiences. I’ve played our official debut concert with Tine Thing Helseth Quartett (Jarle-guitar, Erik-perc and Aksel-bass), been to Kongsberg and played 5 concerts in one day ending with fun baroque concert with Barokksolistene and Bjarte Eike, played in Gstaad with Camerata Bern and Lorenza Borrani, had a recital with Vebjørn Anvik playing songs only, had masterclasses with great kids (everything from string quartet to guitar ensemble!), played charity concert for Haiti, visited and played with incredibly warm and generous people in Volda, and the list goes on. But, I must say that sometimes I feel a strong need to just be me, without my instrument and without my music. Just Tine. In some periods there isn’t so much time for that, and it can be very frustrating. But, I love what I do. You probably think; of course she does, but it’s something really strong. At some points stronger than anything else, so it’s not so weird that Tine without the trumpet sometimes gets a bit lost.

In the air between Oslo and Tromsø

Finally in the air, the flight is almost full. I’m seated at the aisle, a man at the window and the middle seat is free, I like that extra space. I like to watch people when I’m travelling. In all the different places you always see the same types, only in a different setting. Today, I’m joined by a lovely mix. Some American tourists, the whole Tromsø football team, some students who’s back from a study trip (as far as I can understand from their loud conversations at the airport), three middle-aged ladies who’s been enjoying the sun in Spain, husbands waiting to get home to their wife and children and then you also have the rest of us (including a cracy trumpet-playing, suitcase-living girl☺). I don’t mean to listen to people’s conversations, but sometime the combination of voice and volume is hard to block out… ☺

The flight is a bit bumpy today, maybe the pilot is flying as fast as he can to try to make the delay a little bit shorter than it already is. Anyway, if I don’t want to get sick, I think I have to say bye for now.

I’ll write soon again, until then, make sure not to do anything unexpected when your mind is set on the opposite, it might cause a brain-crash…
Tine ☺

At the train station in Katrineholm…

2010-01-15T09:38:00.007+01:00

Blog entry 15th of January 2010

I’m waiting for my train to Oslo. It’s one hour delayed… A little bit of winter and snow, and the world stops ☺ I’ve been in Norrköping in Sweden, played Haydn with the orchestra last night. Lovely orchestra, such a warm atmosphere and I very much enjoyed playing with them and the conductor Christian Lindberg.

Since I’m just sitting here, waiting, I thought this was a perfect time for blogging a little bit. I’ve been a bit “lazy” with the writing lately, and I will try to do it better in the future ☺

Showing you some pictures from my touring the last months. Infront of the white house with my pianist, Steffen. Band session for TV-recording. Christmas concerts with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. In Italy, South Tyrol with Synphonic Winds.

That’s all for now,
Tine ☺

PS: Happy New Year!

BBT blog

2010-01-05T08:34:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone,
I've written a blog entry for Borletti Buitoni Trust. Read it here if you want :-)
Best wishes, Tine

Over the sea...

2010-01-05T08:24:00.000+01:00

Blog entry 11th of December 2009

In the air between Amsterdam and Washington
KLM flight, seat 34B

So, it’s me and Obama today. Both flying from Oslo at 10:30, both heading for Washington DC! Unfortunately I didn’t get a ride… Air force One sure would have been a nice experience, I’m sure ☺ Next time…

I am so sorry I did not get back to you on the suitcase London-Vienna matter! What a bad blogger I am… Sorry that I keep you waiting for almost a month to let you know how it went, but luckily I did get my luggage back only a little bit too late. Had a very stressful day of running around at the airport in Vienna (Sunday, everything else in the whole city was closed…), finding a dress and everything else I needed. Forever greatfull to the lovely lady from Austrian who helped me!

Wahington! Looking forward. Food being served here… Coming back to you soon…
☺ Tine

Action on the road...

2009-11-15T09:03:00.001+01:00

Blog entry 14th and 15th of November 2009

Waiting for my Vienna flight…
Heathrow, London

So many people walking by, I love watching them. I’m just sitting here in the middle of Terminal 3 at Heathrow, waiting for my flight to Vienna to start boarding. I left Belfast this morning, along with my mother, and after some delay we were on the way to London. She’s going back home to Oslo, and I’m going on a little Austria tour. Coming home Friday. Heavy weather on Heathrow today, that’s what causing all the delays. I was supposed to be in Vienna by now, wandering around one of my favourite cities in the world! But, it seems Mr. Weather wanted it differently… I will arrive in Vienna around 23:00, and who knows when I will sleep safely in my bed at the hotel. Hopefully not too late!

Today has been quite eventful. I woke up early, and walked over to the Ulster Hall to get room were I could practise a bit before our flight. Suddenly it turns out not a single room in the building is available, and I have to go back to the hotel. Luckily a meeting room in the basement is free, and I start playing loud on my trumpet straight away (without disturbing any of the other guests, yaee!). Then, in the middle of a Clarke exercise (trumpet players will know what I mean…) the fire alarm goes of! Everyone out in the cold weather. False alarm. Back inside. Then it goes of again. People come down to my room; I don’t have to go out. It stops. It goes of again. It stops. It goes of again. Then it stops. A bit disturbing for my practising… Then this nice man, who obviously is some kind of a technician or something, knock on my door and look at the air-condition in the meeting room I’m practising in. And believe it or not, he accuses me of setting of the fire alarm! (the room was absolutely freezing when I got there, and I turned up the heating…) I was of course shocked and told him I was so very sorry, and he was very nice saying it was not a problem at all, I just had to turn of the heating from now on. I told him I would. 2 minutes later some other guys joins this nice, friendly man, they tell me it is absolutely impossible that this is my fault. They look at my trumpets with admiration and we all part as good friends (I hope…).

My mother and I had the nicest taxi driver. I couldn’t quite understand all he was saying, but he had a very good sense of humour (the Northern-Ireland dialect is some times not too easy to understand…).

Heathrow is a very large airport! Huge, and so many people. In the lounge though, it was still and I tried to do some e-mailing, but I just wasn’t in the mood. I almost forgot my cell phone in the lounge! I panicked when I couldn’t find it, but luckily they had it at the front desk.

Vienna, Hotel Ananas (yeah, that is the name of the hotel… Ananas is pineapple in Norwegian)

So, even more action! My luggage never arrived. That’s right, my big, gold, heavy suitcase with all my stuff just didn’t arrive. So what do I do? It was way past 23:00, and after a terribly long day of travelling (it seems so much longer when you arrive at your destination so much later than you had planned), I was so not in the mood for this. I talked to the nice lady at the Austrian desk and explained the situation; I really need this suitcase before the concert the night after. All my clothes are there, my straight mute (I need it for the Shostakovich), my mobile charger (I usually always have this in my handbag, but of course not today..), my everything… Hopefully my luggage will arrive tomorrow with the first flight from London to Vienna! Fingers crossed!

The day after, early in the morning.

So, I slept a little bit. Woke up, and now I have just been on the phone with another nice lady at the Austrian lost baggage service. Not good news though, they have not received any messages about my luggage. So basically no one knows were it is! She is trying her best now to contact both London and Belfast, but maybe it has been sent on the wrong flight, and then who knows were it might be?!? I really hate this…. Well, there is really nothing I can do. It is Sunday, so all the shops are closed… Just my luck.

I have to eat some breakfast now, and then the rehearsal begins at 10. Hopefully the lady from Austrian will soon call me back with some good news!
I will let you know what happens… From now on I will always have an extra toothbrush (I did get one from Austrian, but it was not so good…) and some extra make up with me in my hand luggage. Always.
Tine ;-(

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

2009-10-28T09:18:00.005+01:00

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

2009-10-20T14:32:00.003+02:00

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

2009-10-18T21:06:00.006+02:00

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

The summer is over

2009-08-31T18:32:00.002+02:00

Blog entry 31st of August 2009

In my rehearsing room…

When the wind suddenly gets cold and wet you know that Mr. Autumn is taking over for Mrs. Summer. At least that was what I was told in kindergarten, and I still live after those funny and sweet little rhymes. Looking out of my window makes me grey. The clouds are grey, the rain is grey, the cars are grey, even the people walking by looks a little greyish to me (maybe someone should clean the windows…). It is the very last day of August, and I am enjoying a break and thinking about my summer. The break is only half an hour long, then my dear little child (my trumpet of course…) and I will start playing again. ☺

I know my writing has not been too often lately, and for that I am truly sorry. Sometimes the days fly by with the speed of a race car, suddenly a month has gone by, concerts have been played, flights have been delayed, friends have invited you for dinner, and you have become a year older. Yes, I am officially 22 years old. I even got a note in the paper, along with some politicians and TV-faces, which was a bit cool. With a picture and everything. Hopefully it will end by the third time I turn 30…

Of course you are all dying to know how my days in Italy were and I am glad to tell you that Ravello was absolutely amazing. Such a beautiful place! I will enclose some pictures!
After Ravello I played a concert in Drøbak, near Oslo, and me and Steffen (my pianist) was amazed at how many people showed up! The church was so full, and still a lot of people never came in. The audience was wonderful and I really enjoyed the concert. The Grieg-songs, Haugtussa, are so fantastic to play, I get to use all my emotions and just truly sing. I think deep down I am a wannabe-singer… After Drøbak was Oslo Grieg-festival, and then I went to Germany with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra for a festival called Musikalische Sommer Ost-Friesland. Then there was Oslo Chamber music festival, and back to Germany for Festspiele Mecklenburg Vorpommern. And last I was in a little town near Zurich, Ermatingen, for a recital with Christian Ihle Hadland. Now I have a week of before I play with the Oslo Philharmonic next week. Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Endless Parade, for the ULTIMA festival in Oslo. A contemporary music festival.

Endless Parade is a real challenge for me and I am both very excited and terrified. Or to be correct, I was terrified up until last week. I got a vision, or something, and I suddenly started to just really enjoy myself. I see it as a way of getting out a lot of hidden frustration and screaming. Who wants to spend money on a shrink when you can get it all out through the music!?!?

My half an hour break is over, time to play with my baby again ☺
Until next time, remember to clean your windows, Mr. Autumn is grey enough as he is.
Tine ☺

Italy

2009-08-02T10:40:00.002+02:00

Blog entry 22nd of July

On my way to Rome

In the air…
My seat is 5D. It is a quite comfortable seat for someone like me, since I am quite short and small. To be honest, everything is quite short and small on this flight. That was the first thought that entered my mind when I came in to the plane: small. Very small indeed.

My pianist, Steffen, is sleeping next to me, looking unnaturally big in the small seat. Luckily I am seated near the aisle, so the claustrophobic feeling doesn’t completely take the hold of me. Flying is, if you think about it, quite crazy. We’re sitting here, around 150 people, thousands of meters up in the air, over the clouds. Sleeping, eating, talking, laughing, reading - acting as if this is the most natural thing in the world. We fly higher than the birds. What if we fall down? Lately, my old fright of flying has been slowly creeping back in to my head, and believe me when I say that this is not good when you are, and have been, on the road around 200 days this year! That is a lot of flying… Lately I have noticed that each time I get a new offer for a concert somewhere, I always think about how long the flight will be… That is scaring me a little…

Today, the captain promised us nice weather and good flying conditions. Unfortunately his words were not exactly true for the first hour. It was actually quite a lot of turbulence, but since the flight crew is so nice and informing, I never got scared. I even started to think that there is no chance of this plane falling down, it is actually totally impossible. The flight attendant spoke on behalf of the captain, telling us that we unfortunately had to fasten our seatbelts because of some turbulence. The captain was very sorry for this and had already asked the once who sit on the ground and conducts all the planes (totally forgot what they are called in English…), to give us another, less bumpy route to Rome. This simple little message from the captain assured me of our safety in a way that I have never experienced before on a plane (not like on my way home from Vietnam, 12 hours on the plane, the captain never said one word, three hours of heavy turbulence in the middle…). This simple message had me thinking that unless the motors falls of or we break a wing or something, there really is zero percent chance of us falling down, these guys actually had everything under control (probably they would have known a safe way to get us down even though the motors fell down or we broke a wing…). I hope that this nice discovery can make this little green monster of afraidness go away as quickly as it came. As long as we don’t fly over huge seas that is…(I can’t help thinking about the air France accident). But hopefully this will also disappear before I go to Washington in December.

Steffen is awake, reading a newspaper. We are on our way to Rome. It takes about three hours by plane from Oslo; I look at my watch and see that we have an hour left. Then it will be 4-5 hours left of our trip before we reach our final destination: Ravello. We are playing a concert there tomorrow at a festival. I’ve heard that this is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places on earth; you will get an update on that later! You’ll definitely hear my perfect description of me sitting in the sun with my fresh orange juice and enjoying the amazing view, as you can see my expectations are high…

I don’t have my computer with me, I write this in my little travelling book, and when I come back home I will write it in to my computer and update my blog.

I don’t know if I have told you how great it feels to be able to write a little bit on the road, and know that at least a couple of people will read it. I feel so extremely lucky that I can travel around and play, and when I can share some of my thoughts, experiences and scrabbling with you, it feels better in a strange way. My life is quite special. By special I don’t mean that it is more important or exciting than others, it is just that I am my job. Always. I never have a real vacation (even if I try), because the music is inside of me all the time. Sometimes I wish I could press the pause button, just for a little while, but at the same time I am so grateful for my music, and wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. I call it my music, no matter what I play. Because I have to fell like I own it (together with the composer of course…), if I am to tell you the story and sound sincere. Every single piece is like a story or picture, poem or sentence, shape or colour or feeling that I am describing to you when I play it. At the exact moment that I play it to you it is still mine, but then it becomes yours to keep (if you want it…)

Wow, the thoughts wonders in some very deep directions up here in the clouds… Especially when you just find out that turbulence is actually not dangerous at all.
Take care, and watch out for my description of Ravello in my next entry, be sure to have high expectations.

Until next time,
Tine ☺

Germany

2009-07-19T09:37:00.004+02:00

Blog entry 17th of July 2009
In the air between Frankfurt and Oslo

I am SO sorry for my lack of blog writing the last months! I really don’t have a particularly good explanation or reason, I promise you it will never happen again!
Anyway, a LOT of things have happened since April (!), and for the few of you who have also checked out my Norwegian blog you probably know some of it. (I actually wrote until May in the other blog… sorry…) So, here follows a short summary of what I have been up to:

• End of April: Great days in London with the Razumovsky (check out video blog at YouTube!). Some small concerts in Norway.

• May: Had a very good week with the Oslo Philharmonic and Saraste, doing the Shostakovich concerto with Håvard Gimse on the piano. It was also a DVD production ☺ TenThing week! Always having a good time with the other girls (check out video blog on YouTube!). Celebrated Norway’s National Day. Lovely weather, really hot in my “bunad” (Norwegian National dress…) I went to some concerts (you can actually see me in the audience sometimes as well! …hehe ☺) Bergen International Festival and Hardanger musikkfest. Lovely week, if not a bit full of concerts and rehearsals, rehearsals and concerts, but that’s work, isn’t it? Hardanger must be one of the most beautiful places on earth! Look at the pictures!

• June: Three exams at school, in one day! Pedagogic first, then Norwegian music history and last my final trumpet exam. Everything went really well, and the concert (final exam) in the evening was a great experience. I had it at a café actually. A concept called “Café de Concert”, really nice, will tell you more about this concept later. That was the final exams of my Bachelor degree. Bachelor, finito, Master Diploma, here I come… ☺ I went to Berlin and played a concert in the Berlin Philharmonie with a chamber orchestra. A lot of meetings and office work this month… And then, recording! I can’t tell you exactly what it was yet, but I can assure you it was the most amazing week! Soon you will know what this mysterious project is…The end of the month I spent in Risør, at the Risør Chamber music festival. I may use the word “amazing” a lot, but this week was extremely amazing. It started with a boat ride with a small ship from Kristiansand to Risør, some of us musicians played concerts aboard. I have never played while the ground is moving before, everything has a first I guess. The week was especially nice because my mother and little sister, Amalie, had rented a house and stayed there with me. The weather was as good as it could get, and the summer feeling was complete. I met many nice people and great musicians and lovely audience. Very special atmosphere. Went home for one day before next trip…

• July: … to Bad Kissingen, and the Kissinger Sommer Festival. Third year in a row I am there, and it is always so nice to be there. Two concerts, both went really well. Already looking forward to next year, then we go there with tenThing. Home for a couple of days, editing my mysterious CD project, then Germany again. I’m going to be in Germany so much this summer I am suspecting to both think and speak fluent German by the end of August… I wish! Last weekend I went to Stuttgart, two concerts with Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra at the Mercedes Center. Playing Haydn among all the amazing cars! (look at the picture, I fell in love with this one...) I really enjoyed it ☺ Then my mother and I had a very loooooong train ride from Stuttgart to Potsdam (I think it was over 7 hours…). Potsdam was such a beautiful little city situated around 25 min (by train) outside of Berlin. We stayed there for rehearsals with Kammerakademie Potsdam and Michael Sanderling. So nice people to work with. Yesterday we went to Wiesbaden (another, not so long this time, train ride) and concert at the Rheingau Festival in the evening. It was outside at a very beautiful place called Kloster Eberbach, and we could not have been luckier with the weather. Lovely surroundings, musicians, conductor, music, audience (even bird singing!), it doesn’t get much better than that.

That was my last months and days in a short (hopefully) summary. Right now I am sitting on the plane from Frankfurt to Oslo, on my way home. I am staying there for some days before I’m back on the road. Italy is my next stop.

As this blog is my blabbing about small funny things that happens, I could tell you about the insect invasion at our hotel room in Stuttgart, the crazy shouting taxi-driver, hearing a bunch of kids singing “Fairytale” at the train from Potsdam to Wiesbaden, Hunting for the mosquitoes lookalike creatures at hour hotel room in Potsdam, walking and walking and walking in Berlin because we choose the wrong station…. There is a lot. But it would be a novel, so I will leave it up to your imagination ☺

Until next time (which will definitely not be this long!), remember to enjoy yourself, things doesn’t get better than you make them…
Tine

Estonia

2009-04-24T14:11:00.002+02:00

Blog entry 24th of April 2009
In the air between Tallinn and Oslo

I’m in the air again. The weather is beautiful, so it should be a nice flight. This early flight from Tallinn is not particularly crowdie, as a matter of facts the seats rows around me are quite empty. The more space for me then! ☺ The flight crew are on their way with the food (as I mentioned in an earlier blog entry, food and flying has a weird bond of connection), my mother is sleeping in the inner seat by the window and I am writing. Before that I was reading a book (the title not too sophisticated I’m afraid) and even before that, I woke up too early in Tallinn…

I’ve been in Estonia since Sunday, and played three concerts with Pärnu City Orchestra. The four biggest cities in Estonia are Tallinn, Tartu, Narva and Pärnu (according to our very nice driver!), and I played in three of them (the one I did not play in was Narva). I stayed three nights in Tallinn and two in Pärnu, and drove a lot across the country. It is quite small (with a population of approx 1.8 mill) and very flat. The highest point is around 300 meters, but that’s just nice when you drive a lot, the roads is mostly straight so it gets quite comfortable.

This was my first time in Estonia and I enjoyed it very much. The weather was actually quite nice, the sun was shining most of the day, but I must admit the temperature was a bit on the cold side. Since I am a Viking (well, at least I am from Norway…) I never panicked, but simply took the winter jacket back on, and then everything was fine ☺ Tallinn is a very beautiful city, especially the old town and luckily our hotel was situated very near that part. Also near the concert hall, so it was very convenient.

I liked this banner, can I have it everytime I play a concert?

After the first concert, which was in Tallinn, I was very hungry. I usually get hungry after the concert because my stomach doesn’t want too much food before I go on stage (I’ve heard that’s a normal musicians syndrome…). So my mother and I wandered the streets of Tallinn in search for some quick and easy food. Well, what other than the familiar American chain starting with Mc and ending with Donald’s magically appears in front of us (here comes the part where I should say I only bought some water, but you know better…. Don’t you?). I walk in to the restaurant and see that there is a full row of cheeseburgers behind the counter (just waiting to be eaten by someone), and I start to order from the smiling man. Three cheeseburgers (one for my mother (yes, I have a bad influence on her as well…) and two for myself) and the smiling man answer that I have to wait 2 minutes. Since I can fully see the row of cheeseburgers I kindly ask if those aren’t cheeseburgers? Well, he answers, they are already ordered. Since the row counts 5 cheeseburgers I look eager around to see who could have ordered all these cheeseburgers and are possibly even hungrier then myself? Well, I get my answer when the smiling man takes the 5 cheeseburgers along with two Big Macs and head for the window table. A young couple is sitting alone with two large French fries, one ice cream, one apple pie, two big sodas and now; five cheeseburgers and two Big Mac. I can see that I am not the only one being hungry tonight! End of story; I get my two cheeseburgers and eats them happily on our way back to the hotel.

When I land in Oslo I have exactly five hours before my next flight to Haugesund. That means I can go home and change the suitcase (and do some important things like print out my flight tickets for the flight to Haugesund today and for London on Sunday, remember all the scores, mutes, new concert clothes and so on...), and take the bus back to Gardermoen (Oslo airport). I am going to a festival called the Fartein Valen Festival, named after the composer, in Haugesund. Concert tomorrow night.

I will write soon again! In the mean time, remember not to be to embarrassed next time you secretly by a cheeseburger (or two) at Mc Donald’s…

Best wishes from high above,
Tine

Visiting Köln

2009-04-10T15:32:00.007+02:00

Blog entry 9th of April 2009

In the air, between Düsseldorf and Oslo

High up in the air, looking down at Germany, soon Denmark and then Norway. I am on my way home from Köln…My very good friend Frida studies Cello in Köln and this was my first time visiting her. I arrived Monday, and it is Thursday today, so that means I have been there for three nights and almost four days ☺ I’ve had such a wonderful time! We managed to do so many different activities in a very short amount of time… Practising, visiting the Zoo along with Mari and Linnéa, practising, eating, visiting Düsseldorf, practising, see the Kölner Dome, walking over the Rhine, practising, go shopping, take the train and eat at a café near Barbarossa Platz. My flight was from Düsseldorf, only 40 min from Köln Hauptbahnhof. A nice little train ride ☺

My last blog entry was almost a month ago, it has been some hectic times, but now I am enjoying my Easter Holiday. Hopefully I will write more to you when I am of to work again next week. First stop: Sursée, Switzerland.

On Norwegian radio (NRK P2) everyday at 13 and 19 you can hear a new programme called “Kort og Klassisk”. This is a program for young people about classical music, I think this is amazing! Every week I write in a blog called kortogklassisk.blogspot.com , so make sure you check this as well ☺ (it is in Norwegian only…)

Ein bisschen deutsche: Frohe Ostern ☺ (My German is really bad, I have a goal though, to speak it almost fluent some time…)

Until next time,
Tine

PS: I also have my own twitter account, and I try to update it regularly. www.twitter.com/tinetrumpet

2009-03-20T01:50:00.002+01:00

Blog Entry 19th of March 2009
Between Gloppen and Bergen

I am on my way from a little place in Norway called Gloppen to Bergen. The occasion? I am on a tour with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. The AMAZING Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. Not only are they extremely good, they are also extremely nice, and I am really enjoying myself whether we’re playing or spending time on the road in the bus.

We started this little tour in Oslo on Sunday, continued in Ålesund on Monday, Ullsteinvik on Tuesday, Gloppen yesterday and Bergen today. Our last concert will be in Bærum on Saturday. The program is Haydn trumpet concerto (and a little piazzolla tango called Oblivion as an encore (if the audience wants to of course…), which really is one of my favourite pieces). The conductor and really inspirational leader is Arvid Engegård, and we are having a lot of fun in the concerts. The atmosphere is electric and I am really looking forward to tonight.

As I told you I am on the bus, and for those of you who have been travelling a lot on the west coast of Norway you know what I mean when I say that the roads are not exactly straightforward… All the mountains ☺And I don’t want to get sick while I am writing this, so I think I will take a little break and be back when we are more like standing still. Maybe on the ferry?

Here you se me on one of the many ferries. It was quite some wind!

I am back, not exactly on the ferry, but at my hotel room in Bergen. The concert tonight was amazing! It was such a great experience, and I just have to thank everyone I met while signing CDs afterwards. Everyone I met at signing CDs at all the concerts really, one of the greatest things about being me is being able to meet all of you. Thank you ☺

It has been some great five days, with five concerts, bus driving, ferries, hotel rooms (and one suite, I will never forget that huge room (or should I say living room, bed room, 2 bath rooms)!!!), great music, great audience and lovely nature!
Tomorrow we go back to Oslo and then we play the last concert on Saturday.

You will hear from me soon ☺
Tine

Goodbye Hanoi

2009-03-03T08:20:00.001+01:00

Blog Entry 2nd of March 2009
Hanoi

I did manage to cross the streets. You just have to walk slowly, and the cars and motorbikes will drive either in front or back of you. Your nerves just has to be in the right place, that’s all…
My stay here in Hanoi has been full of new experiences. Like I told you in my previous blog entry this is a project between Norway and Vietnam, and I must say it has been a joy to be a part of it. Especially to meet all the musicians and the conductor Pierre André Valade, and perform two wonderful concerts together. Haydn always is a joy to play, and the audience here in Hanoi was also very nice ☺

I am at the airport now, in Frankfurt, and there is still three more hours before my flight to Oslo. The flight from Hanoi to Frankfurt was 11 hours and 40 minutes, it is quite some time… I tried to sleep, but I have the feeling this is going to be a long day. The time in Hanoi was 23:45 when our flight left, and after almost 12 hours it is now 8 :00 in Frankfurt. I am so much looking forward to the rest of my day with rehearsing and everything and only three hours sleep this night ☺ Well, in a couple of days I will be alright again.

You will hear more from me in a couple of days time. On Friday I am going to Bergen on a movie premiere, you will of course get a detailed report…

So long,
Tine

Destination Hanoi

2009-02-25T05:57:00.005+01:00

Blog entry 25th of February 2009

Hanoi

I am sitting by the pool at the most wonderful hotel here in Hanoi! The weather is a bit cloudy though (and even raining a bit), so it looks like my tan still will be non-existing by the time I get home… Hopefully the sun will show up tomorrow. It is really hot here, and very humid, so I still get a little bit of summer.

We arrived very late two days ago, and yesterday was a day to rest a bit and explore the hotel. Sofitel Metropol Hanoi is like a small city (very small, more like tiny maybe…) with shops for all you need (if you have a lot of money… Louis Vuitton and Hermés is not completely my style, but wonderful to do window-shopping!). Four restaurants, fitness centre, spa and pool. Amalie has already been out there twice. We have been outside the hotel also (of course...), but there is one tiny problem. It is almost impossible to cross the street! They are driving their cars and motorbikes in their own system, real anarchy. Red light doesn’t mean much, and it feels a bit like Russian rulet. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but it is quite terrifying when you come from a completely different culture when it comes to traffic and driving. Later today we are going to a water-puppet show, so then we have to cross the streets… You will here my report tomorrow… lol ☺

" My view from my table at the café on the hotel"

I have my first rehearsal with the orchestra tomorrow; the concerts are Saturday and Sunday. This is a project that’s managed by Transposition, and it is an exchange program between Norway and Vietnam. To let Vietnamese and Norwegian musicians play together, I am very happy to be part of the project. The conductor is French, Pierre André Valued, and I am looking forward to meet both him and the orchestra tomorrow.

My Jasmine-Green tee was just served, so I think I have to say goodbye for now. My tee is waiting, I do want it while it is still hot ☺
Lời chúc tụng, Tine

Destination Tokyo

2009-02-24T08:45:00.005+01:00

Blog entry 23rd of February 2009

Tokyo

I am in Tokyo. We arrived on the 18th but my Internet connection at the hotel has been a bit limited, so therefore I have not gotten a chance to write a blog entry before now.

The flight was comfortable, and the movie and game selection on the plane was nice. Finnair from Oslo to Tokyo via Helsinki. I am on this two-week tour (and a little holiday…) to Asia together with my mum and little sister. I really like having them with me, it is so nice to experience all of this together with my family. We did have a little incident on the first flight from Oslo to Helsinki though. Our jackets were in the overhead compartments and when we arrived in Helsinki my mother’s coat was completely soaked on one side! It turned out our neighbour had a bottle of water, one of these with sports cap, outside his bag and it was leaking. The compartment was full of water… The coat was almost dry when we arrived in Tokyo (thanks to a lovely stewardess!). But that was really all the drama, and I would say that was quite little.

Tokyo is so full of people! 33 million inhabitants (we are 4.5 million in the whole of Norway!) and the main city centre is huge. Our hotel is located in Musashino, about 15min by train to the nearest part of the centre, Shinjuku. At the left side you see me in Shinjuku and on the right side in Asakusa.

The city is so clean! And most places there are not allowed to smoke on the streets, they have their own small painted squares on the streets were you can smoke. You should have your phone on silent mode and not talk in your phone while you are on the train or the subway, and the line and queue system everywhere is remarkable! I also love the way they greet eachother, with all the bowing and give things with two hands. There is just something with the respect they give and show one another.

The people from the Musashino Cultural Foundation is so nice, especially Mr Wada, and the concert on the 20th were so much fun! It was sold out and such a lovely audience. I played with a great organist, Naomi Matsui, and my first concert in Tokyo was a great experience.
The two last days has been spent as tourists, taking a lot of pictures and trying to see as much of Tokyo as possible.

Tonight we are leaving for Hanoi, so right now I will finish my practising and then do some last packing. It is 30 degrees Celsius in Vietnam, so I think I will try to work a little bit on my tan (which at this moment is non-existing…).
You will hear from me when I arrive in Hanoi!
Sayonara, Tine ☺

Arendal-Oslo by train

2009-02-14T23:27:00.002+01:00

Blog Entry 14th of February 2009

Train is a comfortable way of travelling. Today I am on my way home to Oslo from Arendal. It is so much beautiful nature around me, I really get to refresh my love to the nature here in Norway. It is terribly cold outside, but the sun is shining, and you know how everything gets even more beautiful when it is cold. It is something about those cold degrees that makes the air shine in a special way.

I will not bore you with my romantic nature talk. (I do get like this when I watch and read romantic comedies, and that is the best way to get time to fly by!) Instead I actually have a really dramatic story to tell you.

It has been over a week since I last wrote a blog entry. If I remember right I were in Stavanger, enjoying my great hotel room very much ☺ Since that I have done a lot of things and concerts. I had a project going on with “Stabsmusikken” (the national band of armed forces) with a world premiere. That was a great experience, but here also comes the drama.

On Wednesday, three days ago, I had just arrived in Lillestrøm and was on my way to the dressing rooms backstage. Then the most surprisingly horrible thing happened; I slipped and fell on my way down the stairs. And I fell right on my trumpets! (Yes, this is the place where you should scream!) First I thought everything was going to be okay, but then I checked my C trumpet… The trigger got stuck and the second valve was a bit shaky. One and a half hour to the concert, what do you do?

Well, we tried to call everywhere and everyone to find someone who should fix my trumpet before the concert was supposed to start. But we didn’t have much time so it needed to be a place near Lillestrøm. We drove in to Oslo to fix it, but I had bad luck and my trumpet only got worse… it felt like my little baby was sick and I just wanted to hold her and tell her that she would be okay! Luckily one of the trumpeters in the orchestra had a C trumpet that I could borrow. The same brand and model as mine, but as you know; your own children are always the best. But, I am glad to say that everything turned out well! I got through the concert with my “stand-in” trumpet, and the day after I went to Sarpsborg and Hans Gunnar made my baby good again! He is a real lifesaver ☺

That was all the drama for today. Tomorrow I go to Trondheim and on Tuesday I am leaving for Asia. First stop: Tokyo!

Until next time, be careful when you walk the stairs…

Stavanger

2009-02-03T10:55:00.002+01:00

Blog entry 3rd of February 2009

I have this great hotel room here in Stavanger, it is huge although it’s only supposed to be a single room. I do get kind of a royal feeling, thank you to whoever arranged this. You do know how to make a girl feel welcome!

I arrived here yesterday and played a concert last night together with Stuttgart Chamber orchestra, the same orchestra I played with in Tromsø last week. Great orchestra and great audience. No crazy photographers snatching hundreds of photographs for the local newspaper (seriously, sometimes you would think they believed they where invisible!), and I didn’t fall on my way on to the stage. So all in all it was great experiences.

Sunday was another long visit to Heathrow. First I must tell you that I had a wonderful time in Belfast, and the orchestra and conductor Roy Goodman was so great to work with. It was an all-baroque program, and I think I have completely fallen in love with playing this music. I mean, I have always liked it, but lately I get this amazingly content feeling when I play it. I get all excited about hemiols and small rhythmic patterns and twists, I hope this is a good sign. (But maybe if I start to talk too much about it in this blog, someone should warn me…)

I updated my profile picture, you see me standing outside the city hall in Belfast.

Well, I have to leave you then. I am on my way to rehearse a little bit, I go home to Oslo tonight. (No food on this flight though, SAS do not serve food on domestic flights that are as short as Stavanger-Oslo, and especially not on my Happy-prize ticket). I am working on a new piece, a commission, by Wolfgang Plagge. I am premiering it on Thursday in Oslo. First rehearsal tomorrow, looking forward!

So, until next time…

Destination Belfast

2009-01-29T22:53:00.003+01:00

Blog entry 29th of January 2009

Some people have already asked me when I will write a new blog entry. I am greatly surprised that someone has already discovered this blog, and of course I now want to update as regularly as possible. So, here goes.

I am back at Heathrow, this time terminal 1. I left Tromsø too early this morning (flight departing 6:50) and I am on my way to Belfast. My breakfast was eaten on my flight from Tromsø to Oslo, my early-lunch from Oslo to Heathrow, and who knows, there might be a little bit of eating on the last flight for Belfast. We do that a lot; eat on flights. Sometimes the flight attendants run through the plane and almost throws the little snack at you, along with a cup of coffee or tee, and some minutes later they hurry past you again and tries to throw your food in the trash before you have even eaten it. And then the plane lands. The flight may not have taken much longer time than you use on the bus every morning to work, but you have to eat. Flying and eating is somewhat connected. I wonder who decided that?

Ooo, have to go to the gate, my mother is calling my name. Will write more when I arrive in Belfast.

Hilton Hotel, Belfast:
So here I am. It is a bit late in the evening here now, and I have just practised in a conference room at the hotel. Trumpet is not always so popular with the other guests (especially in this hotel I would imagine, I can practically hear what my neighbours are talking about!), and there is almost always a possibility of finding another room at the hotel to play in. The people at the reception here at the Hilton in Belfast are extremely nice, and I got a room right away where I could play as loud as I wanted! But I must admit I am a bit tired, I always get so sleepy after a long day of travelling.
You will hear from me soon! So stay tuned…

Thoughts on the road: Airports

2009-01-19T20:36:00.001+01:00

Blog-Entry, 19th of January 2009

You can observe so many unbelievably different people at an airport. You have the business-type, with his PC-bag and important look on his face. Like “I am on a mission, for work, I am important”. And of course they get really annoyed with the family of four in front of them in the security line. The family of four (mom, dad and two children, the boy pulling the hair of the girl, you get the picture), who are going on a long awaited family vacation. It always starts with arguing and stress through the security check. Shoes, jackets, belts, mums computer, dads blackberry, trying to get everything in the boxes, with a LONG line of business people behind them. All of them checking their watches, breathing heavily and looking extremely bored and stressed at the same time.

You may wonder why I am telling you this. Well, I do spend quite some time at airports. And there is a lot of waiting, so you might as well have some entertainment while you wait. Watching and observing all those different people is actually quite entertaining. You should try it yourself next time you have some spare minutes at an airport.

Heathrow, Terminal 5. I have installed myself with my laptop in a little café called “Prêt a Manger”. I like this place, they have good and easy food. Today it's a sandwich with chicken and avocado, chips (yes I know….), orange juice, sparkling water and carrot cake (yes, yes…). I spent almost the whole day in London, and I am heading back home for Oslo this evening. I have another hour until my flight is departing. And, that is why I am sitting here and writing to you (and a little bit to myself). There is a lot of funny stuff going on in a life as a travelling musician. No day is the same, and you do experience so many different situations, countries, people, food, you name it. I don’t know if you will find it particularly interesting to read about, but I will give you the chance. This is my “Blog on the (trumpet) Road”.

So, how do I spend my time at the airport? First I visit all the incredibly expensive shops. Window-shopping. Looking at all the bags and clothes I would love to by if they where ten percent the price they are. Then I check out the bookstore(s), check outs for books and magazines. There are no way getting time fly by like reading a book. Then I get some food, or at least something to drink (since I left my bottle of water at the security check). And if I still have time left, I rest, I check my laptop, or I just simply watch the people around me. Which was exactly what I was doing when I started to write this blog-entry.

So, now I have to eat my food, and then probably walk a bit around before I head for the gate. Oooh, well, my flight is delayed. I just checked the screen, delayed with 30 min. Well, my plane to London was delayed with 45min (a LOT of snow in Oslo today) so lets hope it's not so much more delays. My flight is landing very late in Oslo as it is. I am already longing for my bed ☺

Until next time, hopefully not too long,
Tine