Nolwenn Korbell

Nolwenn Korbell (; born 3 February 1968 in Quimper, Finistère), is a French Breton singer-songwriter. Best known for her songs in Breton, with her musicians or in a duet with guitarist Soïg Sibéril, she released four albums, regularly performs in concerts, and also keeps acting in plays and films.

Biography Nolwenn Korbell spent her childhood in Douarnenez with her younger brother and her parents, gwerz singer Andrea Ar Gouilh and Hervé Corbel, also a Breton music amateur. All four of them spoke Breton in their daily life, and Nolwenn learnt French at school. She followed her mother during her tours in the Celtic nations, where she heard Welsh, Irish and Scottish people sing in their respective languages.

She began taking theatre classes in her teens. At 16, she played in sketches during the , a pastiche of the César Awards ceremony. Youenn Gwernig, the head of Breton language programs of France 3 Ouest, noticed her. In 1984, France 3 bought the rights of a Welsh cartoon in order to dub it in Breton, and Gwernig gave her the female character's role.

During two years, she studied modern languages at University of Rennes 2, learning German, Breton and Welsh. She spent three years in the Dramatic Arts Conservatory in Rennes, learning lyrical singing, and performing as a soprano in the band Arsis Théâtre Vocal.

In 1989, she appeared in a few episodes of the Welsh language soap-opera "Pobol Y Cwm", produced by BBC Wales for the Welsh fourth television channel, S4C.

Between 1991 and 1999, she lived between Brittany and Wales, the home land of her partner, Twm Morys. She sang in his band. and Denez Prigent. There, she sang (My seamstress), a song she wrote as a tribute to her grandmother, and won the first prize. In 2000, after the birth of her son Gwion, she went back to France in order to devote herself to theatre and singing.

In 2002, she sang during the . The two heads of Coop Breizh were in the audience and offer her to record an album.

She included in the album "", a traditional song that her mother taught her, also sung by the Goadec sisters.

Another traditional theme is the subject of "" (Song of the girl who had nothing), inspired from a nursery rhyme designed to teach children the days of the week, the name of farm animals and the sound they make: every day, the narrator goes to the fair and buys an animal. In Nolwenn Korbell's version, starting on Wednesday, the narrator buys something that cannot be bought: a husband, a son, a heart, a voice and a life. According to the author, "this song is a parable which demonstrates that what makes the salt of life is not negotiable".

Her shows were produced by Big Bravo Spectacle, a company based in Saint-Quay-Portrieux. She sang in many events, such as the Vieilles Charrues Festival in 2004, the Festival du bout du monde, the Nuit celtique in Bercy in 2005 and 2006. In 2006, she performed in the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow and a concert in Olympia with Gilles Servat.

Albums

N'eo ket echu 2003, Coop Breizh

Ur wech e vo Padal Ma c'hemenerez Glav Y byd newydd Son ar plac'h n'he doa netra Luskell ma mab A-dreuz kleuz ha moger Deuit ganin-me Sant ma fardon

Bemdez c'houloù 2006, Coop Breizh

Bemdez choulou Termaji Dal Valsenn Trefrin News from town for my love who stayed home Yannig ha mai Pardon an dreinded Dafydd y Garreg Wen Un petit navire d'Espagne Olole

Red (with guitarist Soig Sibéril), 2007, Coop Breizh

Bugale Breizh Valsenn trefrin Billy Sant ma fardon Gourin Padal Anna Bemdez choulou Daoulamm ruz Kanaouenn Katell Turn! Turn! Turn! Yannig ha mai Glav News from town for my love who stayed home

Noazh 2010, Coop Breizh

Blues ar Penn Sardin Hir Mad Love Aet Oan An Dud Don't Try Anna Je Voudrais Kuit One More Day Misjac Na Nebi