Life of Guangzhou - Norwegian Band Secret Garden

Venue: Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Memorial Hall
Time: 2008-04-26 20:00
Tickets: ￥180/280/380/480/680/880/

Secret Garden was established in 1994, composed of two talented musicians. One of them is Rolf Løvland, who enjoys a world renowned reputation and acts as a composer, supervisor and keyboard player for different musicians. The other is an Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry, who has a classical music education and has cooperated with many world-famous musicians and singers. When they met each other, Secret Garden was born. Rolf Løvland strongly believes that, when suffering dismay or disappointment, people need to search for serenity and solace. This inner place is the Secret Garden.

Rolf Løvland (L) and Fionnuala Sherry

Nocturne was the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995, performed in Norwegian by Secret Garden representing Norway. This was the first time an instrumental performance had won the contest in 40 years. Secret Garden's music became world renowned with their first album, Songs from a Secret Garden, and in 1996, they appeared on the American Billboard music charts and were still there a year later. In 1997, they issued their second album, White Stone, which combined Norwegian and Irish music culture and became globally popular. Thereafter, Secret Garden released several albums including, Dawn of A New Century, Once In A Red Moon and Earthsongs, incorporating a variety of styles.

Their music includes Celtic ballads, Norwegian folk and classical. Listening to their music is relaxing and eases tension. As a result, many Yoga Houses and SPA Beauty Parlors choose the albums of Secret Garden as background music. Wong Kar Wai's film 2046 and Yang LiPing's Peacock also used their music.

In recent years, the band have employed elements from China and India. Secret Gardens' first appeared in China came in August 1997.

(By Jamster Deng, Alan Devey)