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Sverre Valen (9 May 1925 – 18 March 2023) was a Norwegian choir conductor. He founded and directed Sandefjord Girls Choir (Sandefjord Jentekor), Bel Canto-koret, the Valen Choir (Valen-koret) and Valens Solistensemble, many of which have won awards and toured internationally. He became Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav in 1992.Ina Strøm (16 November 2013
Ikke bare syng med det nebbet du har
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 ...
. Retrieved 14 February 2014


Early life and education

Born in
Levanger Levanger is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the district of Innherred. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Levanger. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Alstadhaug, Ekne ...
,
Central Norway Central Norway ( nb, Midt-Norge, nn, Midt-Noreg) is an informal region of Norway that is not clearly defined. The term ''Central Norway'' may in its most limited usage refer only to Trøndelag county, but may also be understood to include all or ...
to a father who worked as an
Adventist Adventism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that believes in the imminent Second Coming (or the "Second Advent") of Jesus Christ. It originated in the 1830s in the United States during the Second Great Awakening when Baptist preacher Wil ...
pastor, the family would move several times during Valen's upbringing. He got a varied musical education in his youth, playing the piano, various other instruments, and taking singing lessons for four years. He went on to study at the
Norwegian Academy of Music The Norwegian Academy of Music (Norwegian: ''Norges musikkhøgskole'', NMH) is a university-level music conservatory located in Oslo, Norway, in the neighbourhood of Majorstuen, Frogner. It is the largest music academy in Norway and offers the ...
.Aksel Korbøl (in Norsk biogragisk leksikon
Sverre Valen
Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 14 February 2014


Career as choir conductor

Valen married song instructor Mary Johannessen in 1952. In 1956, the couple moved to Sandefjord where they started Sandefjord Girls Choir. In 1969, the choir won its class in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
(later EBU) competition
Let the Peoples Sing ''Let the Peoples Sing'' (known until 1964 as ''Let the People Sing'') is an international choral competition currently organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The final, encompassing three categories and around ten choirs, is offer ...
. They won NRK's national competition for youth choirs 15 times. On tours in Europe, the choir performed in cathedrals like
Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese o ...
,
Notre Dame de Paris Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...
and
St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
. In 1976, the choir toured the US for three weeks as part of the
United States Bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...
. The tour ended with a performance in Carnegie Hall, for which they received an excellent review in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''. Valen stopped conducting the choir in 1997. Recruiting many of the best singers of the Sandefjord Girls Choir, he started Valen's Soloist Ensemble (Valens Solistensemble) in 1985 and conducted it until 2000. In 1961, Valen founded the women's choir Bel Canto which he conducted for ten years. Valen founded the Valen Choir (Valen-koret) for mixed voices in 1964 and conducted the choir to 1995. The choir had a mixed repertoire, including both sacred and secular choir traditions from various time periods. In 1974, the choir was awarded
Spellemannprisen Spellemannprisen, often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards in English, is a Norwegian music award presented to Norwegian musicians. The award was established by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organizat ...
for best recording of the year in classical music.Sverre Valen
International Adventist Musicians Associations. Retrieved 14 February 2014 The last choir Valen conducted was Adventistsangerne, a choir representing the Adventist community in Norway which he started in 1984. Aged 88, he held his last concert with the choir in Norderhov Church on 8 June 2013. Valen died on 18 March 2023, at the age of 97.(+) Sverre Valen er død. Han ble 97 år.


Awards

* Sandefjord city's Cultural Award (1972) * Vestfold county Cultural Award (1975) * St. Olav's Medal (1981) * Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav (1992) * Honorary member of the Association of Norwegian Choir Conductors (1995) * Sandefjord inhabitant of the century, class for culture (1999)


Selected recordings

* ''Jul med Sandefjord Jentekor'' (1970). With Sandefjord Girls' Choir. * ''Jul'' (1980). With the Valen Choir. * ''Grieg i våre hjerter'' (1993). With Valen's Soloist Ensemble. * ''Lovsang under kirkehvelv'' (1999). With Adventsangerne.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Valen, Sverre 1925 births 2023 deaths Norwegian conductors (music) Norwegian male conductors (music) Norwegian Academy of Music alumni People from Levanger Musicians from Sandefjord 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century Norwegian male musicians Norwegian Seventh-day Adventists Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Spellemannprisen winners