73 Facts About Linda Brava

Linda Brava was born into a Swedish-speaking Finnish family in which music formed a vital part of life.

Linda Brava's father, Borje Lampenius, was a former theatre director, actor, singer, and a composer of musicals and operettas.

Linda Brava's mother, Ulla Eklund, is a former actress and singer.

At age three, Linda Brava began to perform with her parents as a singer.

Linda Brava is married to Martin Cullberg, a Swedish defense lawyer, and they have two daughters: Olivia, born 2009, and Cecilia, born 2013.

Linda Brava's parents-in-law are professor Johan Cullberg and psychotherapist Marta Cullberg Weston.

In fairly rapid succession, Linda Brava was awarded a scholarship by the Swedish Cultural Foundation for being such a promising young violinist, became Concertmistress of the Helsinki Strings, and performed as a soloist of the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Finland at the age of 11.

Linda Brava studied at the Sibelius Academy in Finland from 1985 to 1997, first in the youth department and then the Department of Soloists.

Linda Brava was one of the first students to get into the university based only on one's audition performance.

At the Sibelius Academy, Linda Brava studied the violin, music theory and history, pedagogy and opera singing, having her own violin students as well.

Linda Brava played in chamber ensembles, and her Ofelia quartet was chosen to perform in the final concert of the master class course given by the Amadeus Quartet.

Linda Brava served as Concertmistress of the Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra on various occasions as well as played the 1st violin in the Finnish National Opera Orchestra for three years, before embarking on a full-time solo career.

Linda Brava has aberrantly lots of capability of expression, strength and artistry and her playing is technically on quite a high level", while violinist and conductor Ari Angervo has said that Brava "just wanted to learn to play as well as possible, to go as deep as possible into music.

Linda Brava has appeared as a soloist of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the RTE National Symphony Orchestra.

Linda Brava moved to Sweden in 2002 and her first major concert tours in the country occurred a few years later.

When Linda Brava Lampenius takes the stage in light blue coverings it is completely without prima donna behaviour.

Linda Brava has since participated in various concert tours and given concerts all around the country, performing among others with pianist Robert Wells, soprano Hannah Holgersson, and harpist Monica Ramos.

In 2010, Linda Brava performed in the last concert of the RTE National Symphony Orchestra's Summer Concert Series, playing works by Turlough Carolan, Michael William Balfe, and Michael McGlynn.

Linda Brava appeared as a soloist of the Royal Swedish Chamber Orchestra in the grand finale concert of the 40th Annual Royal Palace Music Festival at the Royal Palace of Stockholm.

In 2011, Linda Brava toured as a soloist of the Schoenbrunn Palace Orchestra Vienna, co-headlining concerts in many of the major concert halls in the Nordic countries such as Finlandia Hall and Stockholm Concert Hall.

Linda Brava has played for various European and American politicians, including the United States Secretary of Defense William Perry.

Linda Brava has performed for some of the Nobel Prize laureates on the Arctic Circle during festivities marking the 300th anniversary of scientist Carl Linnaeus' birth.

Linda Brava has played at the 150th Anniversary Gala Concert of the Queen Silvia Children's Hospital in Sweden, for several children's hospitals in Finland, and on behalf of Unicef during the White Turf celebrations on the frozen Lake St Moritz in Switzerland.

Additionally, Linda Brava has performed in gala concerts for the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation.

Linda Brava is a regular performer in Princess Sofia of Sweden's benefit events that assist underprivileged children in South Africa.

Linda Brava agreed and was offered a recording contract for pop music with a Finnish record label soon after.

Brava's debut album, Linda Lampenius, was released only in Finland, but immediately got international attention as well.

Thereafter, Linda Brava became known as the Bach Babe in the United Kingdom tabloids.

Linda Brava made some pop rock appearances around Europe and the US, including televised performances at the Royal Albert Hall in London and the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.

Linda Brava worked with Ofra Haza, with whom she recorded at Abbey Road Studios.

In 2003, Linda Brava starred in her own variety show Fantastix in a Stockholm theatre.

Linda Brava has since performed among others with singers Sofia Kallgren, Pernilla Wahlgren, and LaGaylia Frazier, in addition to playing with rock and heavy metal bands like Takida and Mustasch.

In 2008, Linda Brava was one of the leading soloists of the 10th anniversary tour of the Rhapsody in Rock spectacle, which has been staged all around the world, and she was titled as the best artist of the tour, "who awes as usual", by Aftonbladet, the biggest daily newspaper in Scandinavia.

Linda Brava has played in national basketball, football, and ice hockey matches in Finland and Sweden, twice at the ATP Champions event at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and for Formula One people in Monaco and Monza.

Linda Brava has worked as a session musician, playing the violin among others on Celine Dion's album Taking Chances, Sami singer Yana Mangi's Kee Marcello-produced album Earth Shadow, Carola's album Christmas in Bethlehem, and Nanne Gronvall's album My Rock Favorites.

Linda Brava started collaborating with the Irish choral group Anuna in 2006.

Linda Brava has recorded for Anuna's other projects, including the 2014 album Illuminations.

Linda Brava has performed in numerous Christmas concerts over the years, most notably headlining Sweden's original Christmas tour Julkonserten both in 2004 and 2008, touring in concert halls and arenas all around the country.

Linda Brava has headlined Christmas concerts in Finland, performing among others at Borga Cathedral and Temple Rock Church.

In 2015, Linda Brava performed numerous Christmas concerts in Stockholm, including Immanuel's Church, Hedvig Eleonora Church, and the Finnish Church.

Linda Brava performed twice at the Gustaf Vasa Church, where one of the concerts were attended by Prince Carl Philip and his wife Princess Sofia of Sweden.

Together with Jeff Goldblum, Linda Brava has played and performed jazz music in Los Angeles, in addition to her other jazz performances in New York and Stockholm.

Also The Sunday Times reported how Linda Brava "has enjoyed huge success in Scandinavia with an up-tempo version of Bach's Toccata and Fugue".

Linda Brava has performed material from the album in Finland and abroad, including Sporting Club in Monaco and televised performances at the Royal Albert Hall in London and the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.

Linda Brava was offered a recording contract by EMI in 1997, and she worked under the EMI Classics label from 1998 to 2002.

In 1998, Brava started recording her first classical album with John Lenehan at Abbey Road Studios in London, and the Linda Brava album was released worldwide in 1999, the track listing including Edvard Grieg's Violin Sonata No 3 in C minor as well as lyrical violin miniatures by Edward Elgar, Gabriel Faure, Jean Sibelius, Johann Sebastian Bach-Charles Gounod, Jules Massenet, Niccolo Paganini, and Fritz Kreisler.

The album peaked at number 14 on the UK Classical Chart, and Linda Brava became the biggest selling Finnish classical artist at the time.

Linda Brava was inspired to record the album after her two 25-city concert tours in Sweden together with Kalle Moraeus, a former violinist of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and one of the most sought-after folk musicians in the country.

Linda Brava's latest album Angels is a collection of Christmas carols from Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, England, and the United States, arranged for solo violin, string quartet, harp, and female choir, in addition to numerous guest artists such as guitarist Ulf Wakenius, trombonist Nils Landgren, and soprano Sofia Kallgren.

Linda Brava attended a modelling school and came 2nd in a major modelling competition in Finland in 1988, appearing in a few fashion shows and a televised coffee commercial.

Linda Brava was asked to participate in Miss Finland beauty pageants several times, but refused, because she wanted to concentrate on her playing.

Especially the Bjorn Borg fashion shows, some of which were televised, became popular, and Linda Brava drew international media attention as she was playing the violin while modelling swimsuits on catwalks.

Linda Brava's televised performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London in the middle of the 1st ATP Masters tournament between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe made headlines, and the picture of her in a tiny black, figure-hugging lycra outfit and red faux fur moon boots was prominently featured in the papers the following days.

The Swiss watch manufacturer Maurice Lacroix engaged Linda Brava to promote their Calypso range of watches in England in 2000.

Linda Brava appeared in the Finnish film classic Akseli and Elina in 1970.

Linda Brava's mother played the lead and she was her daughter-in-arms.

Since the 1990s, Linda Brava has appeared in a few Finnish and Swedish TV series, including Kadonnut naky, Uuno Turhapuro, and Cleo.

Linda Brava represented the Swedish People's Party and was elected to the Helsinki City Council for a four-year term in 1996, serving as a board member of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 1997, Linda Brava was titled as Finland's Tourist Envoy in Sweden as she had increased Swedes' interest in Finland.

Linda Brava has held her own blog site on lindalampeniusblogg.

Linda Brava suffered from anorexia, orthorexia, and bulimia for over 20 years, and has openly spoken about the issues in the media and as a public speaker.

Linda Brava got her rally licence in the 1990s, and has since raced Sports 2000 series cars and worked as a co-driver in rally competitions in Finland, in addition to having her own kart racing team.

Linda Brava has worked as a commentator for Nordic TV channels during ice hockey and Formula One meets in Europe.

In 2008, Linda Brava trained Muay Thai in Thailand and made a PR video for the Fairtex Bangplee training camp.

Linda Brava has learnt ballroom dances as she participated in Let's Dance on TV4 in 2008.

Linda Brava first came into the public spotlight as a child violinist, performing on Finnish TV numerous times in the 1970s and 1980s and being featured in Finnish newspapers, in addition to concert tours all around Europe, the US, Canada, and Japan.

Linda Brava has always been open about her personal life, and especially the Finnish media has been covering this field of her life in detail throughout the years.

Since 1997, Linda Brava has been featured in numerous TV programmes all around the world.

Linda Brava has starred in a music special on Rai Uno, the biggest TV channel in Italy, and the concert was broadcast in 160 countries worldwide, while her solo orchestral appearance with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales was televised for Britain.

In 2007, Linda Brava appeared as a violin soloist in Anuna's Celtic Origins music special on PBS, which aired the show on over 250 TV stations across the USA.

Linda Brava has been featured in news programmes on ABC, the BBC, CNBC, CNN, and Fox News Channel, including shows like BBC Breakfast and The O'Reilly Factor, which is the most-watched cable news show in the USA.

Linda Brava has been called "a striking Finnish blonde with impeccable musical credentials" by the Los Angeles Daily News and "Finnish Phenom" by the New York Post.

In 2010, Linda Brava was one of the judges of the 1st season of X Factor in Finland, a singing competition based on Simon Cowell's The X Factor franchise.