Isgaard

Isgaard comes from the north of the republic, from Husum in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Her parents chose an Islandic name for their daughter born in 1972. Isgaard means „Ice garden“. A little poetry and a touch of beauty was already there. The name fits. As a child Isgaard discovered her love of singing and as a teenager spent many years in the church choir. During this time she became acquainted with the musical classics (like “West Side Story“, “My Fair Lady“) and was fascinated by them. From this time on it was clear to her that singing would play an important role in her life. After finishing her school exams she moved to Munich where she studied advertising and typography with the intention of opening a small advertising agency with her boyfriend who happened to be a musician. On the side she sang with her boyfriend’s rock-band and recorded a few titles. But Isgaard wanted more. She initially took classical singing lessons with various teachers but later studied at the Hamburg Singer Academy. Isgaard soon got to know a few music producers who were attracted by her clear tone which ranges through three octaves. “To stand on an opera stage and sing Mozart, Verdi and Puccini over and over again - no, that was too much of a boring future for me and was never my intention.” Isgaard says. An offer from Mirko von Schliefen und Christopher von Deylen withtheir dance project Schiller and the album “Weltreise” came at an opportune moment. They asked Isgaard for her voice – and made a good choice as it later turned out. Isgaard raised two of the “Weltreise” songs to a new level: ”Ein schöner Tag” and “Dream of you” (with Heppner). Was it just a coincidence that precisely these two songs became chart hits? Driven by the success of the two singles, Schiller’s “Weltreise” made it to first place on the German album charts in August 2001. In March 2002 the project was given an “Echo” award. Since then Isgaard has continued to develop her individual musical style. With the producer and composer Jens Lück ( among others, “Kind of Blue” and “Privat”), who she has worked with since 2000, she made her first solo album, “Golden Key”, which was released in early 2003 by Edel Records. In March 2003 Isgaard appeared in public for the first time with her own music. Her recording company nominated her for the German preliminary heats of the Eurovision Song Contest where many expected a qualitative musical improvement. In the light of her personality and artistic talent she was made one of the advance favourites by the media but in the end the contest was dominated by conventional hits and ballyhoo. Perhaps this was not the right venue for her music? Disappointed after having her hopes raised so high? Fear of being labelled “the one from the Eurovision contest”? No way. Isgaard takes it in her stride and is glad to have had the experience as well as having gained many new friends and fans for whom she has become the “winner in their heart” of the contest. The visitors book on her website is noticeably getting filled up and her album is beginning to sell well. Various television appearances are coming. In April 2003 Isgaard accompanied the internationally very successful group “Gregorian” on their concert tour of Germany and sang in support. The enthusiastic public reaction, which cleared the available stock of CDs on several evenings, demonstrates that Isgaard is on the verge of a great career. Since March 2003 Isgaard`s album has been published in 14 countries. In the Philippines the latest album actually reached number 9 in the charts and reached number 8 in the Taiwanese TCR & Rose Classical Charts. In late Autumn 2003 Isgaard began to record her new album ”Secret Gaarden,” again together with Jens Lück and this was finished in March 2004. In the age of “Casting-Shows” and similar shows it was very brave to bring out such an album containing the entire repertoir from chillout-pop to classic. An album for people who still look on music as an adventure, who want to be surprised, who can and want to listen and who are not satisfied with the everyday uniform mixture. That also shows itself in the euphoric public reaction to Isgaard’s guest appearance during the Germany tour (March 2004) of the talented singer Galileo when she presented songs from her new album for the first time. A repeated concert highlight was the new version of Isgaard’s song “Dreams will never die” (with Galileo as duet partner) which was noticed by MDR. For this reason “Dreams will never die” was chosen as the theme song for the MDR television show “Ein Fest für Alle” on May 1st 2004 in Zittau to celebrate the enlargement of the European Union. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.