Light and music create a magical farewell evening

Simple. But powerful.   

The afternoon began in a dreamy calm.

Simple. But powerful.   

The afternoon began in a dreamy calm.

The lights on the stage behind the orchestra and singers were simple but effective and gave the hall a magical, almost hypnotic atmosphere.

The farewell concert, organized by his partner of 17 years, Jim Milne, also took place on the occasion of Josef Josefsen's 45th birthday, where he wanted to give one last concert as a gift and expression of gratitude to the audience.

Josef Lund Josefsen himself was so busy leading up to the concert that he didn't have time to feel his emotions before he stood on stage.

- When I went on stage, emotions suddenly burst into me. The concerts, the courses... my tears were in my throat. When I stood on stage with Jim (Milne, ed.), I really realized that it was my last concert, says Josef Lund Josefsen.

It is partly his own decision to leave the world of music. But he emphasizes that his work is still needed, both musically and as a teacher.

Unfortunately, he can quite literally feel that support for his activities has declined in recent years.

- For me, my livelihood as a professional singer is therefore over. It has simply become too hard as there are fewer concerts and fewer workshops, he explains.

He now has something else up his sleeve, which he can't go into detail about yet. But it will be a fairly ordinary job where he won't have to go out and apply for money himself to make ends meet.

- I'm going to do something completely different. It has nothing to do with singing or teaching. It's something completely new for me. It's exciting, he says thoughtfully and concludes his thought:

- It's my decision now, so that's how it will be.

He has a few workshops and concerts up until Christmas, but from there he changes tracks.

On a hanging hair

The farewell concert's repertoire was wide and varied, with Greenlandic songs, Italian songs, English songs and pop classics that showed Josef Lund Josefsen's versatility.

Pianist Jim Milne, with his natural connection to the audience, led the small orchestra, consisting of Fabrizio Barzanti on bass, Jonas Lundsgaard Nilsson on drums, Hanne Sannvig Imannuelsen on violin, Najannguaq Qvist also on violin, Tobias Van Der Pals on cello and Titken Jakobsen on tenor saxophone, with a sure hand, and it was clear that both musicians and audience enjoyed the interaction.

Josef Lund Josefsen and Jim Milne had also filled the concert with celebrities. Singers that Josef himself looks up to. Pernille Kreutzmann-Larsen, Nick Poulsen, Arnarissoq Beck Vetterlain and Inunnguaq Petrussen, were also invited to the stage in the Katuaq cultural center in Nuuk.

The declining support that he talked about earlier, he sees very clearly and most noticeably in relation to funds and customers. It has simply become far too difficult to obtain the necessary funds for both concerts and workshops.

Josef Lund Josefsen has dedicated the last 17 years of his life to creating his workshops and concerts from scratch.

- If I'm going to do concerts or if I'm going to be in charge of a workshop, I have to find out all the funds to hold it all myself. Apply to foundations and municipalities. If it's for workshops, find out who will buy my teaching, who will work with me. Make travel plans, if it's on the coast. Budgets. I've made every event from scratch myself, in order to be able to get it up and running and at the same time cover my expenses, explains Josef Lund Josefsen and makes it extra clear with an example: his farewell concert. It almost didn't come to fruition.

- It cost almost 400,000 kroner. That was just before the funds didn't come home. Just three days before the concert, we managed to close all financial gaps. Otherwise, I had considered whether we should just cancel. Or postpone. But for logistical reasons, postponing it wasn't an option either, he says.

He is very grateful to Tips and Lotto, who have continued to support him until the end. There have also been helpful private companies that have always been ready to support his various projects, such as Matas, ILJ ENTREPRISE and Ittu.net. He emphasizes that during his 17 professional years as a singer, he has experienced support from many companies.

"I'm really grateful for that. If it weren't for them, my Christmas album or Easter album wouldn't have come to fruition," he says.

He has noticed the lack of support from, for example, the Greenland Arts Foundation, which, according to its own descriptions, has the opportunity to provide grants to trained artists.

- I have applied every year for the last five years, but I have never received a positive response, says Josef Lund Josefsen, a trained opera singer from Iceland.

New chapter

For the farewell concert, Josef Lund Josefsen had two nieces, Arnakkuluk and Arnannguaq, aged eight and 12, on stage. They sang the Abba song, Slipping Through My Fingers, with their uncle and Arnarissoq Beck Vetterlain. The microphone of one of the girls started to howl, but it didn't put them off. They took it in stride and sang along with their beautiful voices.

- Akkaangua (uncle, ed.), we would like to give a concert again before Christmas, they said to their uncle afterwards.

He had to explain to them, laughing, that it doesn't just happen. That there are several months of preparation before a concert. Josef laughs.

If he felt that the support for him and his projects was not decreasing, he is sure that he would continue his musical career, but now that the decision has been made and he is about to turn a new chapter in his life, he is happy.

- But I will always be available to new singers who seek advice and guidance, he states.

The experiences

Having been on the road for so many years, it goes without saying that Josef Lund Josefsen has had many different experiences along the way. He has received many thanks after a concert, but there are still some experiences that stick.

- Jim and I gave a concert at the Patient Home in Copenhagen. In front of them was an elderly couple who looked to be in their 70s. I remember like it was yesterday that we were supposed to sing “Qaammarpoq nuna”. Jim’s piano prelude is never very recognizable until I start singing. The woman’s husband started crying uncontrollably when he recognized the song. He sobbed. His whole body shook as his wife put her arm around him and did her best to comfort him.

Josef gets tears in his eyes at the memory and takes a sip of water.

- It was a very moving experience. To the point where I even had to hold back my emotions, he says.

Josef remembers another episode. This time he was in Qaqortoq and was singing “Ataatarpooq.” There was someone in the front row who burst into a heartbreaking cry and started crying.

- There I also had to swallow my tears that were stuck in my throat, he says.

When he thinks back on his musical career, he absolutely cannot avoid Jim Milne, for whom he has nothing but great praise.

- He has a university degree in piano and has proof of composing. He just needs a key to play. He doesn't need any sheet music.

- When I was in training, classically trained pianists still had to use sheet music to play. In addition, Jim is really good at interpreting what a song says from verse to verse. So I usually tell him what each verse says. He is really good at that. I have worked with several different pianists, but no one comes close to Jim, he states.

- In addition, he is just a nice person who is easy to talk to and we have a huge love for each other, as partners, friends and people, he says.

The contact the two have does not end “just” because Josef is now putting music on the shelf.

The hypnotizingly good closing concert is at the end of the road. The audience moves on into life, after an hour and a half, where life's problems could be put aside and just enjoy the present.