Cécile Corbel

Cécile Corbel (born 28 March 1980) is a French and Breton singer, harpist, and composer. She has released five albums of original music and worked for Studio Ghibli as a composer for its 2010 film Arrietty. Corbel sings in several languages including French, Italian, Breton, and English and has done songs in Spanish, German, Japanese, Irish, and Turkish.

Early life and education Cécile Corbel was born in Pont-Croix on 28 March 1980. As a child, she traveled all throughout Brittany with her parents, who had a traveling marionette show. She first learned to play guitar, and discovered the Celtic harp as a teenager during a concert by Greek harpist Elisa Vellia, who later became her teacher. At age 18, after obtaining a baccalauréat scientifique, she moved to Paris to study. She then entered the École du Louvre and earned a MAS in archaeology. She first performed in pubs and the streets of Paris, and gave her first official concert at the pub, Ti Jos, in 2002.

Career Professional debut In 2005, she released an EP with six tracks, Harpe celtique et chants du monde. After she signed with the record label Keltia Musique, her first studio album was released in 2006. SongBook 1 contained Breton, Welsh, and Irish songs. After this release, she began to go on tour. In 2006, she went to Australia, where she performed at a French festival organized by the Alliance française of Adelaide. She opened Laurent Voulzy's concert at Olympia Hall in Paris, and also shared the stage with Altan, Lúnasa, Alan Stivell, Carlos Núñez Muñoz, Dan Ar Braz, Hélène Flaherty, Ousmane Touré, and Ariana Savall.

In 2009, she played the role of Anne of Brittany in the rock opera, Anne de Bretagne. Songwriter Alan Simon chose Cécile Corbel after having difficulty finding someone for the role. Also participating in the project were other musicians such as Tri Yann and Fairport Convention. The show was staged at the end of June 2009 at the Château des ducs de Bretagne in Nantes, and was preceded by an album in which over 200 musicians participated.

Work with Studio Ghibli

After promotion ended for SongBook vol. 2, Corbel still had some promo albums left, so she sent them to people she admired. She sent one to Studio Ghibli because she had been a fan of their films for years. At the time, Arrietty was in pre-production and producer Toshio Suzuki wanted a Celtic-inspired film score. Less than ten days later, she received an email from Studio Ghibli about her CD. The envelope, because it was handwritten, had caught the eye of Suzuki, and he had listened to the CD. He was captivated by Corbel's voice and the sound of the harp, and played the CD for the film's director and Yamaha Music. As a result, Corbel was assigned to write the title song of the film. She was later asked to write more songs. By 2009, she was asked to compose the whole score. This was the first time a non-Japanese composer had worked with the studio.

The score combines the musical styles of Celtic folk music, medieval Turkish songs, Baroque madrigals, and Irish marches. It was recorded in France with a small orchestra including acoustic guitar, bass, a string quartet, bagpipes, Irish flutes, bodhrán, percussion instruments, and accordion.

2011 to present In June 2011, the third studio album, SongBook vol. 3 – Renaissance was released.

In 2012, Corbel along with her long-time collaborator, Simon Caby were invited to Malaysia to perform at the 11th edition of the French Art and Film Festival 2012 (FAFF 2012) organized by the Alliance Française Kuala Lumpur and the Embassy of France in Malaysia. She performed at HELP University, Kuala Lumpur on 8 June and at the Golden Sands Resort, Penang on 9 June as part of the 50th anniversary of the Alliance Française Penang.

In early 2013, Corbel took part in La Nuit de la Bretagne, performing along with Dan Ar Braz at the Zeniths of Nantes, Lille, and Caen. The album's musical style is a mixture of classical and pop music. She released her sixth studio album, Vagabonde, on 4 October 2016.

Her seventh studio album, Enfant du vent, was released on 29 March 2019. Inspired by her son, the album centers around childhood but is aimed at all ages. The track list include two cover songs from Ghibli films—"Tonari no Totoro" from My Neighbor Totoro and "Sayonara no Natsu" (duet with Misaki Iwasa) from From Up on Poppy Hill.

SongBook vol. 5 was released on 30 September 2021. Corbel's ninth studio album, La Fille du Verseau, was released on 7 July 2023. All songs on the album were composed by Laurent Tixier and performed by Corbel. Her tenth studio album, Graal, was released on 13 September 2024 and was inspired by Arthurian legend.

Personal life Her lifelong partner is songwriter Simon Caby, who is also her co-composer.

Collaborations

List of musicians that Corbel performs with at concerts: Cécile Corbel – harp and voice Cyril Maurin – guitars Pascal Boucaud – bass and backing vocals Julien Grattard – cello Christophe Piot – percussion

Discography

SongBook 1 (2006) SongBook vol. 2 (2008) SongBook vol. 3 – Renaissance (2011) SongBook vol. 4 – Roses (2013) La Fiancée (2014) Vagabonde (2016) Enfant du Vent (2019) SongBook vol. 5 – Notes (2021) La Fille du Verseau (2023) Graal (2024)

Accolades

Japan Gold Disc Awards 2011 Arrietty Soundtrack Best Original Soundtrack Album Tokyo Anime Awards 2011 Cécile Corbel – Arrietty Best Music