Sissel
Crystalline soprano vocals that feel like a cold morning in the fjords. Ethereal, orchestral crossover for moments of deep peace and cinematic reflection.
Crystalline soprano vocals that feel like a cold morning in the fjords. Ethereal, orchestral crossover for moments of deep peace and cinematic reflection.
Sissel's music is the sonic equivalent of a glass of ice-cold water. Her voice is famously pure, possessing a crystalline clarity that feels almost supernatural in its precision. While she is technically a soprano, she avoids the heavy vibrato of traditional opera in favor of a more direct, folk-influenced delivery that feels intimate even when backed by a full orchestra. The arrangements are often lush and cinematic, leaning into the 'Northern Lights' aesthetic that has become her signature.
What truly distinguishes her is the 'Enya-esque' quality of her wordless vocalizations. She doesn't just sing lyrics; she uses her voice as a primary instrument to build atmosphere, a technique most famously heard in the haunting themes of the Titanic soundtrack. There is a profound sense of space in her recordings, often utilizing high-end reverb to create a sense of vast, open landscapes and spiritual stillness.
For those new to her work, her Christmas recordings are an essential entry point, as they capture the peak of her emotional resonance. However, her crossover albums like 'All Good Things' show her ability to bridge the gap between classical technique and modern pop sensibility without losing her distinctive Nordic identity.
Sissel Kyrkjebø (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈsɪ̀sːl̩ ˈçʏ̀ʁçəˌbøː]; born 24 June 1969), also known abroad as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano. She is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos. Her musical style ranges from pop recordings and folk songs to classical vocals and operatic arias. She rose to prominence in Norway in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and her cover version of Ole Paus' song "Innerst i sjelen" (Deep in My Soul) gained wide popularity in the 1990s. She is well known for singing the Olympic Hymn (Hymne Olympique) at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway; for duets with Plácido Domingo and Charles Aznavour at the Christmas in Vienna concert of 1994, José Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, Bryn Terfel, Josh Groban, Neil Sedaka, Mario Frangoulis, Russell Watson, Brian May, Tommy Körberg, Diana Krall, Warren G, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and The Chieftains; and for her participation on the Titanic film soundtrack. Sissel received her first US Grammy nominations on 6 December 2007 for a collaboration with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Spirit of the Season, a collection of songs from the choir's 2006 Christmas concert at Temple Square, was nominated for the Best Classical Crossover Album of the Year as well as Best Engineered Classical Album. Sissel's combined solo record sales—not including soundtracks and other albums to which she contributed—amount to 10 million albums, most of them in Norway, a country with 5 million people. Her albums have also sold well in Sweden, Denmark, and Japan. She and Odd Nordstoga are the only Norwegian artists to have an album go 11 times platinum in album sales for Strålande Jul (Glorious Christmas). Although Sissel sings mainly in English and Norwegian, she has also sung in Spanish, Swedish, Danish, Irish, Italian, French, Russian, Icelandic, Faroese, German, Neapolitan, Māori, Japanese, and Latin. In Norway she is mostly known as Sissel Kyrkjebø, her last name meaning "church farm" or "church field". She started using her first name mononymously abroad later in her career.
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