Karen Salicath Jamali
Karen Salicath Jamali is a new kind of classical artist - thoughtful, multi-talented and confident. With the debut radio single 'Angel Gabriel' running up the charts, Karen Salicath Jamali is in a unique position to re-define the genre.
LAUREN: Let's just get this out in the open- What is the craziest thing that has happened to you in your music career?
KAREN SALICATH JAMALI: The way the music came to me, after having a near-death experience and a head injury in 2012 and 3 years of recovery into 2015, the music suddenly came to me, and I was able to play the piano and compose which I never have done before and never played the piano before, I began to hear music in my dreams and there after play and record the music. For me, this still is a mystery I can't explain, now after 7 years of making compositions and playing, the music still comes to me. And how 3 years later I was performing my music in Carnegie Hall solo. My life has changed completely.
LAUREN: Your song 'Angel Gabriel' is receiving a positive listener response on radio. What was your initial reaction when you first heard your song playing on radio?
KAREN SALICATH JAMALI: I am amazed and thankful that my music reaches into listeners' hearts and touch them on a deeply personal level.
LAUREN: What was the inspiration behind your radio single?
KAREN SALICATH JAMALI: My inspiration behind 'Angel Gabriel', I got the music in a dream, and I woke up very early in the morning and recorded it. And I got intuitive in that this piece I should name Angel Gabriel. Angel Gabriel is the messenger of Hope and Peace.
LAUREN: It is often said that great art arises from difficult experience. Is there something in your life experience thus far that you would describe as the ‘catalyst’ or ‘fuel’ for your desire to create music?
KAREN SALICATH JAMALI: When I was 8 years old, I played classical guitar for 15 years, I had a teacher from The Royal Danish Academy of Music, I wanted to become a musician but became a professional Artist instead. I am educated from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts - school of Design. Now 25 years later, after I had a near-death experience, and the things I experienced out there, changed me and my life, and the music came to life in me again.
LAUREN: How would you characterize yourself as an artist/musician?
KAREN SALICATH JAMALI: I have always been an artist since I was a child, art and music have been a part of me for as long I can remember. It is the core of my being, it is why I am here. My art and music are spiritual, intuitive and a life, it's all about the energy, which I transform into music, sculpture or painting and photography. Some people connect best to music they can hear, some best to forms, things they can touch, and some to things they can see. I am trying to describe the same energy in all kinds of these expressions of arts, to touch people's hearts and feelings to let them connect to the energy which I am transmuting. Angels have been very close to me since I was a child, and you see them everywhere in my art and music, the energy of angels which is Peace, Love, Hope and Compassion. This is the energy I am working with in my music and art.
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LAUREN: What has your experience been like working with the other people on your team?
KAREN SALICATH JAMALI: I am mostly working alone, with my music and art, but I am working with some amazing people to help me do technical things and guides, I just worked with the excellent sound master Bryon William Harris, President at BWH Music Group on my latest album Hope of Angels.
LAUREN: Did you come from a musical background? Are there other musicians in your family?
KAREN SALICATH JAMALI: I am coming from a family full of artists of all kinds, for many generations. My grandmother Inger Salicath was a concert pianist and a teacher at The Royal Danish Academy of Music. My ant Kirsten was an organist for 25 years in Roskilde, Denmark. But the most influence I had was from my grandfather Johan Galster who was a well-known sculptor and artist in Denmark and professor at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts which has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, he was also a Knight of Denmark he received the order of the Dannebrog corresponding to today's Knight of the Grand Cross. But foremost he was the sweetest most loving grandfather you could have, he taught me about art and about the angels in secret, about the history and myths in art about shapes and structure, about being honest to yourself, and not listing to teachers their like to shape you in their picture, he also played the piano, there was always piano music and a special atmosphere in this Atelier, I loved to be there, he guided me and believed in me. My other grandfather, on my father's side Eddie Salicath, was a poet and a writer, he created a poetry house in Copenhagen Admiral Gjeddes Gård https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiral_Gjeddes_Gård where writers and poets and musicians could come and share their arts in Holbergsalen, a venue for literary and cultural events. My father Per Salicath was a librarian and loved to share all kinds of histories with me and my brothers, my mother Anna Galster was an architect. My grand grandmother Hanne Thiele Plum was a painter and friend of many artists some of them were Karen Blixen and Carl Nielsen, she made art parties for discussing the arts, philosophy, and aesthetics in her and her husband Niels Munk Plum my grand grandfather, they had an estate outside Copenhagen named Haralds Gave https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haraldsgave it was designed for an exclusive boarding house and recreation home, where among others Niels Bohr was to be found among the regulars. And my husband is the world-famous painter Jamali. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamali_(artist)
LAUREN: What do you find most rewarding about being an artist? What do you find most challenging?
KAREN SALICATH JAMALI: The most rewarding is to live my dreams and be able to create. It is like my air and water that I cannot live without, and when people come back to me and tell me how my music has touched them, I become so great full, and humble that this music can change other people's lives, and fulfill them with more peace and healing, this is an amazing experience. The most challenging is to keep up with time. There is so much to do and there are only 24 hours in a day. It is a challenge to learn all the stuff you must learn, to promote yourself on all the platforms, how to do all these technical things, and schedule them so you have time, and then still learn new things. It's never-ending and really exhausting.
LAUREN: Who are your role models in music?
KAREN SALICATH JAMALI: Some of my favorite composers are Johan Sebastian Bach, Vivaldi, Hector Villa Lobos, Beethoven, Chopin, Clara Shuman, and I love the cellist Hauser and Adele. I love so many and different musicians.
LAUREN: Describe your best or most memorable performance.
KAREN SALICATH JAMALI: This was this year June 12th in Carnegie Hall Sterns Auditorium, where I performed my composition 'Angel Gabriel'. It was amazing and an honor to be invited to play in this historical hall, I would never have imagined this should happen. To perform on this stage was like being in a dream.
LAUREN: What advice would you give to young, aspiring artists out there who are unsure and need guidance?
KAREN SALICATH JAMALI: I would tell them always believe in themselves, especially if they are doing something nobody has done before, always trust in themselves and keep going, and never give up, you got a gift and it is your responsibility to take care of it, nobody else can do this for you.
LAUREN: What's next for you as an artist? Is there an album in the works? If so, what can you tell us about it?
KAREN SALICATH JAMALI: Right now, my album Hope of Angels is up for the first ballot of this year's Grammy® Consideration, and I am working on my next album, in the early stages, so can't talk much about it other than it is on it’s way. Hopefully, the start of next year springtime it will be finished.
LAUREN: That sounds great! Thank you for giving us more insight into your life as an artist. I wish you much continued success in your career!
https://www.theakademia.com/artistkit/KarenSalicathJamali-AngelGabriel.html