Anne Marie Almedal (born 6 December 1971 in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporati ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

musician. She was lead vocalist in the band

Velvet Belly Velvet Belly is a Norwegian pop band from Kristiansand. Biography The band started as a trio in 1989, and was joined by vocalist Anne Marie Almedal the following year. Her vocal was wrapped in a vague and melancholy soundscape dominated by sy ...

(1989–2003) and has since released five solo albums.

Career

Almedal is a graduate of the Rhythmic music program at the

Rotterdam Conservatory of Music Codarts University for the Arts ( nl, Codarts hogeschool voor de kunsten) is a Dutch vocational university in Rotterdam that teaches music, dance and circus. It was established in its present location in 2000. History Codarts can trace its origin ...

. She studied Dutch language and culture at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

and a foundation in Christianity studies at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

. She currently works as managing director at AKKS Kristiansand, an idealistic music organisation working for equality and gender balance in the Norwegian music industry. She is known to many as the composer and singer of the theme song for the TV series Himmelblå broadcast by

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

. In 2000, she married the musician and composer

Nicholas Sillitoe Nicholas "Nick" Sillitoe (born September 1971) is an English composer/music producer. Based in Norway, Sillitoe won the 2015 Amanda Award for Best Music for the film '' Dirk Ohm''. Sillitoe has composed the music for the Norwegian TV-drama serie ...

and they currently live in

Vågsbygd Vågsbygd is a borough and disrict in the city of Kristiansand which lies in the municipality of Kristiansand in Agder county, Norway. It is the largest borough and district in Kristiansand. Until 1965, Vågsbygd was a part of Oddernes municipal ...

, Kristiansand together with their two children, Florian and Stella Marie.

Discography

Solo albums

*2007: ''The Siren and the Sage'' (+47/Warner Music) *2010: ''Blue Sky Blue'' (+47/VME) *2012: ''Memory Lane'' (+47/VME) *2018: ''Lightshadow'' (+47/VME) *2022: ''We Dance Alone'' (+47/VME)

Collaborations

;Within

*1992: ''Colours'' (, released again with new cover by BMG in 1995) *1993: ''Little Lies'' () *1994: ''Window Tree'' () *1995: ''Window Tree'' (BMG, new release with new record-company) *1996: ''The Landing'' (BMG) *1997: ''Lucia'' (BMG) (European and Japanese releases, with different covers; Japanese release includes ''The Man With the Child in His Eyes'', a cover of the Kate Bush song) *2003: ''Velvet Belly'' (Playground) double-album ;With Lars Saabye Christensen, Ole Henrik Giørtz, Anne Marie Giørtz, Kristin Kajander & Elin Rosseland *1999: ''Skrapjern Og Silke'' (

Grappa Music Grappa Musikkforlag (established 1983 in Norway) is a Norwegian music company initiated and directed by Helge Westbye. It is one of the oldest and biggest independent record companies in Norway today. The company represents prominent Norwegian a ...

) ;With

Jan Bang Jan Bang (born 21 August 1968) is a Norwegian musician and record producer who has worked with Morten Harket, Sidsel Endresen, David Sylvian, Nils Petter Molvær, Arild Andersen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Arve Henriksen, and Erik Honoré. (in Norwegian) ...

Erik Honoré Erik Honoré (born 11 December 1966) is a Norwegian writer, musician, record producer and sound engineer. As a musician, he has collaborated with Jan Bang, David Sylvian, Brian Eno/ Peter Schwalm, Jon Hassell, Nils Petter Molvær, Arve Henriksen, ...

& Nils Chr. Moe-Repstad *2002: ''Going Nine Ways From Wednesday'' (Pan M Records) ;With

Green Carnation Green Carnation is a Norwegian progressive metal band from Kristiansand, formed in 1990. Green Carnation's trend of music has continuously changed on every release one by one; from straight forward death metal in their demo, to death-doom, th ...

*2007: ''A Night Under the Dam – live DVD'' (Sublife Records)

Film music

Himmelblå, for TV series Himmelblå at

. Dirk Ohm

References

External links

''Livet med og uten «Himmelblå»'' Anmeldelse av Blue Sky BlueAnne Marie Almedal – memory lane
on Wordpress.com *Ingrid Michalsen: ''Portrettet: Anne Marie Almedal''. Article in

Fædrelandsvennen ''Fædrelandsvennen'' is a regional newspaper based in Kristiansand, Norway. It covers the southernmost part of the country, ( Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder), focusing especially on the area between Mandal and Lillesand (west and east of Kristians ...

God helg 22. 22 May 2010, pp. 20–23. {{DEFAULTSORT:Almedal, Anne Marie 1971 births Living people Norwegian pop musicians English-language singers from Norway Musicians from Kristiansand 21st-century Norwegian singers 21st-century Norwegian women singers