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"Without music, life would be a blank to me." - Jane Austen

Lena Willemark

Lena Willemark – after an early initiation into the rich musical traditions in her native Älvdalen in Dalecarlia, she studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Active as a singer and fiddler in a number of collaborations with musicians from different genres, and also as a composer/arranger. An extensive discography has received awards such as the Swedish Grammis. Appointed riksspelman (‘National Folk Musician of Sweden’) and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

Formative experience: As a child, I spent a lot of time up in a birch tree outside our kitchen window. From there I could look across the blue mountains, towards the north-west. I have a special memory from there – I was perhaps four or five. My father was quite ill, and I had climbed the birch, and sat there ‘meditation-singing’, improvising. Suddenly it was as if I became part of something much greater... an ‘immersion’ into the singing, and into everything around me. That feeling is always there.

About Bach: I love Bach’s music. That’s it, quite simply.

About dance: At the risk of repeating myself... I love dancing. Movement – small or large – is always present in music. And to just let oneself go and dance, be absorbed – it’s so life-giving.

Collaborating with Cecilia: Incredibly inspiring. We come from such different directions, Cecilia and I, and it has been – and is – a voyage of discovery to approach one another through music-making. Cecilia plays a wicked violin, and to bring what I have to that – with depth and curiosity at the same time – is simply great fun!