SHORT BIO

Norwegian – born musician and composer Yngvil is a spirited, multi-talented stage performer and band leader. Yngvil plays the trumpet, acoustic and electric guitar, keyboards and willow flute - a Norwegian overtone instrument - and occasionally breaks into song… She runs a jazz festival in Alaska a free improv group in New York City and a "Purpose Built Orchestra " in Oslo , Norway

Yngvil Tours with her one-person jazz project "POCKET JAZZ" and does artist residencies across the USA and beyond.

Her next fun project will be a hosting Lenny Pickett (SNL)  at the 10th Spenard JazzFest in Alaska 01-05 June 2017

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LONG BIO

PERFORMER

Yngvil has lived and worked in London, Glasgow, Toronto and New York and recorded, performed and toured extensively in Europe, North America and to South Africa - with award winning bands, theatre and dance companies. She has appeared several times in London's West End and on Broadway. In 2002 a theatre tour brought her to Alaska, where (of all places) she decided to stay put, and has since been plugging a gap in the 50th state's cultural scene.

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COMPOSER

Yngvil composes and produces music in many styles and genres. Her works for bands, orchestra, choir, theater, film, radio and TV have been performed and broadcast on 4 continents. (Still waiting for that invite from Australia). At their heart, all of her compositions are simple songs, with strong melodies and original harmonic structures. This music is jazz, it's blues, part contemporary experimental, there are clear classical influences in there, plus a mix of latin sensualities and Nordic cool.
 

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EDUCATOR

Yngvil is a popular teacher, coach and workshop leader. Her work with exceptional ability learners of all ages has earned her much recognition and affection, but she is equally at home mentoring professional artists and "non-artists" looking new insights. Yngvil has been a part of the online teaching wave from the start, she has her own teaching company and consults to a number of reputable academies.

Yngvil teaches how to honor our creative nature in all aspects of our lives.

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AWARDS and stuff

Yngvil is a two time recipient of the Rasmuson Individual Artist Award in Alaska  (Project Award and Artist Fellow) and is a fellow of the Boochever Artist Award, also in Alaska.

Yngvil received an Alaska State Council of the Art Artist Opportunity Grant to go to South Africa with Max Roach Park, as well as many other project grants for local and international projects, including support from RAW (Radical Arts for Women).Yngvil's latest album "On the Crosswalk" was crowdfunded through Hatchfund (formerly USA Projects.)

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ALASKA

In Alaska, Yngvil enjoys the freedom and peace to develop and execute all kinds of art projects. She co-founded AKIMI - Alaska Independent Musicians' Initiative  - creating opportunities for artists and performers in the northern hemisphere.

She is the founding director of Spenard JazzFest, an annual festival for new, original works created in Alaska. Her first jazz album, Akutaq, was recorded in Anchorage in 2010, the live album Plan B came a year later.

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CARBON EMISSIONYngvil shares her time between Oslo, New York and Alaska. In New York she enjoys playing with the Brooklyn based improvisation concept The Pretzel Club and connecting with mentors and musical influences like Ingrid Jensen and Lenny Pickett.
 

MOST RECENT ALBUM RELEASE:
Yngvil released her third jazz album “On the Crosswalk” in January 2015. It made it to #5 on the  chartsThe album features Yngvil on trumpet with an ecclectic group of young international jazz players based in New York City: Matt Da Giovanni and Zulfughar Bhagirov on tenor saxes, Renato Diz on piano, Alex Da Silva and Joe Goehler on bass and Mareike Weining on drums. The album was recorded and mixed at Stadium Red Studios (formerly Ornette Coleman's Harmolodic Studio) in Harlem, with Grammy nominated recording engineer Tyler McDiarmid doing an outstanding job on the sound.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OTHER WORK

Yngvil runs an annual local jazz festival in Alaska, an improv group in New York  and has a "Purpose Built Orchestra " in Oslo, Norway.

She tours with her one-person jazz project "POCKET JAZZ" and does artist residencies across the USA and beyond.

Her next fun project will be a hosting Lenny Pickett (SNL)  at the 10th Spenard JazzFest in Alaska 01-05 June 2017

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EDUCATION

Yngvil has a BA Hons in Theatre Arts from Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in London UK, an MMus in Jazz Performance and Film Scoring from Steinhardt School, New York University and a PGDip in Jazz from Guildhall School of Music in London, UK.  In New York  she studied with trumpet greats Ralph Alessi, Laurie Frink and Michael Rodriguez, as well as with the John Scofield, Brad Shepik and Bruce Arnold on guitar. ​

Yngvil also studied film composition with celebrated film orchestrator Sonny Kompanek (Big Lebowsky,The Alamo) film composer Ira Newborn (The Naked Gun ) and music editor Tim Starnes (The Lord of the Rings).

Yngvil recently scored a series of animations and short films with young film directors in New York as well as a short musical for the THX festival in Greenwich.