Anneli Marian Drecker (born 12 February 1969, in

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

) is a Norwegian singer and actress from the city of

. She is the frontwoman for the

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such ...

band

Bel Canto , )—with several similar constructions (, , , pronounced in English as )—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing, and whose definitions have often been misunderstood. ''Bel canto'' was not only seen as a vocal technique ...

Life and career

Drecker's father Peter, a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

from

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

, emigrated in 1960 to Norway. Peter Drecker and his son, Per-Arne Drecker are known for their optician business called "Drecker optikk" with up to 14 stores. Drecker Optikk is now one store in Tromso calle
Drecker Design
as the other stores where sold to a chain in 2010. In the fall of 2007 Bel Canto celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the first album with several concerts. She has released four solo albums, and has provided vocals for various artists including

Motorpsycho Motorpsycho may refer to: * Motorpsycho (band) Motorpsycho is a Norwegian rock band from Trondheim. Their music can generally be defined as progressive or psychedelic rock, but they also mix in elements from alternative, jazz, post-rock, po ...

Jan Bang Jan Bang (born 21 August 1968) is a Norwegian musician and record producer who has worked with Morten Harket, Sidsel Endresen, David Sylvian, Nils Petter Molvær, Arild Andersen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Arve Henriksen, and Erik Honoré. (in Norweg ...

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

a-ha A-ha (often stylised as ''a''-h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ros ...

Röyksopp Röyksopp () a Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø formed in 1998. The duo consists of childhood friends Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland who formed Röyksopp during the Bergen Wave. After experimenting with different Electronic Mu ...

Jah Wobble John Joseph Wardle (born 11 August 1958), known by the stage name Jah Wobble, is an English bass guitarist and singer. He became known to a wider audience as the original bass player in Public Image Ltd (PiL) in the late 1970s and early 1980s; ...

Ketil Bjørnstad Ketil Bjørnstad (born 25 April 1952) is a pianist, composer and author. Initially trained as a classical pianist, Bjørnstad discovered jazz at an early age and has embraced the emergence of "European jazz". Store Norske Leksikon (in Norwegian ...

Simon Raymonde Simon Philip Raymonde (born 3 April 1962) is an English musician and record producer. He is the son of the late arranger and composer Ivor Raymonde. He is best known as the bass guitarist and keyboard player with the Scottish band Cocteau Twins ...

Mental Overdrive Mental Overdrive is the primary solo moniker of Per Martinsen (born 31 July 1966), one of Norway's most prolific and influential techno musicians. His tracks have ranged from hardcore rave techno to vibrant space-disco, and he's always maintained ...

, Illumination and

Hector Zazou Hector Zazou (11 July 1948 – 8 September 2008) was a prolific French composer and record producer who worked with, produced, and collaborated with an international array of recording artists. He worked on his own and other artists' albums, inclu ...

. Drecker contributed as composer and singer in a production of

Pär Lagerkvist Pär Fabian Lagerkvist (23 May 1891 – 11 July 1974) was a Swedish author who received the 1951 Nobel Prize in Literature. Lagerkvist wrote poetry, plays, novels, short stories, and essays of considerable expressive power and influence from hi ...

's ''Bøddelen'' at

Det Norske Teatret Det Norske Teatret ()Moe, Jens. 2011. ''My America: The Culture of Giving''. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, p. 133. is a theatre in Oslo. The theatre was founded in 1912, after an initiative from Hulda Garborg and Edvard Drabløs. It opened in 19 ...

(2000), and has worked as a freelance actress and composer at

Hålogaland Teater Hålogaland Teater is a regional theatre serving the region of Nord-Norge, the northernmost of Norway. It got its name after the northernmost county in Norway in the Middle Ages Hålogaland. When established in 1971, it was the first regional the ...

from 2009 to 2020. She worked with fellow Norwegians

, since 1999-2012 including as the vocalist on the track " Sparks" and as their live vocalist (as heard on their live album ''Royksopp's Night Out''), on three songs on their album ''

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

''. Additionally, she appeared with countrymen

on their ''Minor Earth, Major Sky'' Tour and appeared on the live DVD ''Live from Vallhall'' and the following album from their European Tour, ''How Can I Sleep With Your Voice In My Head''.. In 2004 she was a jury member in the Norwegian version of ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and pa ...

''. She continues to occasionally perform live in Norway. In 2012 Drecker took part in the NRK TV-show Stjernekamp, first season. In 2014 she appeared again on TV2 as one of the artists in the famous series "Hver Gang Vi Møtes". On her latest album ''Rocks And Straws'' (2015) we are given the home reversion of a journey that began in 1986 with

. During the journey, it became increasingly clearer to Drecker where she comes from, and the music she creates is the result of this Nordic arctic acoustic landscape, with influences of music from all around the world. She has composed the music with lyrics based on poems by the Northern Norwegian poet Arvid Hanssen. At the

Vossajazz Vossajazz or Vossa Jazz (established 19 December 1973) is an international jazz festival in Voss, Norway, which takes place annually during the week before Easter, and which also includes concerts throughout the year. The festival has been led by ...

festival 2015, Drecker performed the tune "Little Tree" from this album, with her daughter Luna (b. 2006).

Honors

*1992:

Spellemannprisen The Spellemannprisen (also referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards) is a Norwegian music award ceremony presented by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry#Local associations, IFPI Norge and :no:FONO, FONO. It was first awarded i ...

in the category Pop, with

for the album '' Shimmering, Warm and Bright'' *1996:

in the categories Band and Dance/techno, with Bel Canto for the album ''Magic Box'' *2007: Nordlysprisen *2008: Gammlengprisen in Open class

Filmography

*1983: ''Søsken på Guds jord'' as Margit, by

Laila Mikkelsen Laila Mikkelsen (20 August 1940 – 13 January 2023) was a Norwegian film director and producer. Career Mikkelsen was born in Vardø on 20 August 1940. She made her film debut in 1976 with ''Oss''. Her film '' Little Ida'' is set during the Ge ...

*1992: '' Svarte pantere'' as Sonia, by Thomas Robsahm *2000: ''De 7 dødssyndene'', by Ø. Karlsen, M. Olin, M. Sødahl, F. Mosvold & L. Gud

Theatre

*2000: "Bøddelen"/ "The executioner" (as archangel), from Pär Lagerkvist, directed by Yngve Sundvor at

*2004:" "Peer Gynt" (as Solveig) The North Norwegian Theater Company, directed by Alex Scherpf- Tromsø, Meieriet 2004 *2009: "Hamsun's Feberr" / "Hamsun's Fever" (as Alvhilde), directed by Jon Tombre-

homepagereview in Nordlysreview in ITromsø
*2010: "Vi Hever Våre Hoder I Skam"/ "We Raise Our Heads In Shame", directed by Kristin Eriksen Bjorn and Jon Tombre - Ferske Scener, Tromsø *2011: "Knutby" (as Åsa Waldau, The Bride of Christ), directed by Kjersti horn -

homepage
*2011: "The Black Rider" (musical with music from Tom Waits), directed by Sigrid Reibo-

homepage
*2012: "Blikktrommen" / "The Tin Drum", (as the mother of Oscar; Agnes) from Günter Grass, directed by Jon Tombre -

homepage
*2014: The Operetta "Kiberg Odyssey" (as Penelope) together with Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra (NOSO), music Composed by Trygve Brøske, directed by Ivar Tindberg
homepagepress pictures on flickr
*2015: "Trollmannen fra Oz" / "The Wizard of Oz", (as Toto, the dog, Dorothy' s best friend) from L. Frank Baum, directed by Jon Tombre, music by Snah

homepage

Discography

Solo albums

*2000: ''

Tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

'' (

EMI Music EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), c ...

) *2005: '' Frolic'' (

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

) *2015: ''Rocks and Straws'' (

Rune Grammofon Rune Grammofon is a Norwegian record label founded in 1998 by Rune Kristoffersen. Rune Grammofon's reputation for lovingly issued experimental electronic music, jazz, and improvised music by Norwegian artists has grown over the years with its a ...

), lyrics by Roy-Frode Løvland, based on poems by Arvid Hanssen *2017: '' Revelation for Personal Use'' (Rune Grammofon)

Singles

;From ''Tundra'' *2000: "It's All Here" *2000: "Sexy Love" *2000: "All I Know" ;From ''Frolic'' *2005: "Stop This" *2005: "You Don't Have To Change" ;From ''Rocks & Straws'' *2015: "Circulating Light" *2015: "Come Summer's Wind" ( radio single )

Music videos

*2005: "You Don´t Have To Change" *2015: "Alone
official video on vimeo

Bel Canto , )—with several similar constructions (, , , pronounced in English as )—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing, and whose definitions have often been misunderstood. ''Bel canto'' was not only seen as a vocal technique ...

*1987: '' White-Out Conditions'' (

Crammed Discs Crammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released around 400 albums and 300 ...

) *1989: '' Birds of Passage'' (Crammed Discs) (Nettwerk Productions in North America) *1992: '' Shimmering, Warm and Bright'' (Crammed Discs) (Dali/Chameleon/Elektra Records in North America) (Columbia/SME Records in France) *1996: '' Magic Box'' (Lava/Atlantic) *1998: '' Rush'' (EMI Records) *2001: ''Retrospect'' (

WEA Records Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

), compilation album *2002: '' Dorothy's Victory'' (EMI Records)

Collaborations

*1989: ''Song Of Joy'' (

), by Tsunematsu Matsui featuring Anneli Marian Drecker *1989: ''East On Fire'' (Crammed Discs), by Foreign Affair featuring Anneli Drecker & Apoptygma Berzerker on the tracks "Ghosts Can't Run Away", "Diversion", "Misunderstanding", "Keep Me In", "The Same" *1992: ''

Sahara Blue ''Sahara Blue'' is a 1992 concept album produced by Hector Zazou. The album commemorated the 100th year of the death of French poet Arthur Rimbaud and included collaborative musical works by John Cale, Khaled, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tim Simenon, and ...

'' (Crammed Discs), by Hector Zazou featuring Anneli Drecker and

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor. An icon of French cinema, considered a world star in the same way as Alain Delon or Brigitte Bardot, he has completed over 250 films since 1967, most of which as ...

on the track "I'll Strangle You" *1994: ''Take Me To God'' (

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

), by

's Invaders Of The Heart featuring Anneli Drecker on the tracks "Becoming More Like God", "When The Storm Comes" *1994: '' Timothy's Monster'' (EMI), by

on the track "The Golden Core" *1995: ''Mantra For Peace'' (Warner Elektra Atlantic), by Music Channel *1997: ''Sou'' (

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

) by

Inoran , better known exclusively by his stage name Inoran, is a Japanese musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Luna Sea since 1986. He started his solo career in 1997. Luna Sea disba ...

featuring Anneli Drecker on the track "Monsoon Baby" *2000: ''Sing a Song for You'' (

Manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

), with

for the tribute to

Tim Buckley Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. He began his career based in folk rock, but subsequently experimented with genres such as psychedelia, jazz, the avant-garde, and funk paired with his ...

on the track "Morning Glory" *2001: ''

Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uni ...

'' (

EmArcy EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by Bob Shad for the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Cli ...

) by

(Recorded live at

, 2000) (text: John Donne, 1562–1626) *2001: '' Melody A.M.'' (

Wall of Sound The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of session m ...

), by

on the track "Sparks" *2002: '' Lifelines'' (Warner Elektra Atlantic), by

on the track "Turn the Lights Down" *2003: '' The Nest'' (Emarcy), by

(featured vocalist on a number of songs) *2005: ''

You and Me Against the World ''You and Me Against the World'' is the fifth studio album from Norwegian electronic rock music band Apoptygma Berzerk Apoptygma Berzerk (; commonly abbreviated to APB or APOP) is a Norwegian band that produces a style of electro rock, indus ...

'' (

GUN A gun is a device that Propulsion, propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or water cannon, cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). So ...

), by

Apoptygma Berzerk Apoptygma Berzerk (; commonly abbreviated to APB or APOP) is a Norwegian band that produces a style of electro rock, industrial rock, synth-pop and ballads backed with electronic rhythms, commonly known within the scene as "futurepop". Apoptygm ...

on the track "Back on Track" *2008: ''Tome 2 1987 - 1995'' (Infrastition), by Complot Bronswick (featured vocalist on a number of songs) *2009: ''

'' (Wall of Sound), by

on the tracks "Vision One", "You Don't Have a Clue", "True to Life" *2018: ''A Suite Of Poems'' (ECM), by

featuring Anneli Drecker

References

External links

*
Anneli Drecker official websiteBel Canto official websiteBel Canto's official MySpace profileAnneli Drecker - You Don't Have To Change
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Official video for "Alone" - 2015
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drecker, Anneli 1969 births Living people Spellemannprisen winners Norwegian women singers Norwegian film actresses English-language singers from Norway EMI Records artists Capitol Records artists Musicians from Tromsø People from Tromsø Rune Grammofon artists Norwegian people of German descent