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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Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Sunday, 17 April 2011
On my way home from Brno
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 :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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 :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, 8 April 2011
In a car in Germany
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
.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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
.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, 2 April 2011
Skopje
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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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
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, 21 March 2011
Home
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...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Backstage at Grieghallen
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 ;)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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 ;)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Between Oslo and Røros
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
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, 26 February 2011
On my way home from New York
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…..
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…..
Sunday, 12 December 2010
On my way to Luxembourg
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 ☺
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 ☺
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