Randi Pontoppidan

Denmark, b. 1970.

The Royal Conservatory in Den Haag, in the Netherlands, 1995-2000 majoring in jazz vocal technique and minoring in classical singing. Studied with singers Jeanne Lee and Rachel Gould, and has participated in workshops with David Liebman, Norma Winstone, Sidsel Endresen and Marc Ducrét.

In 2004 she met Sissel Vera Pettersen, and they founded Lift.

Both as a singer and composer, Randi Pontoppidan is especially focused on improvisation. She is using her voice as a means for exploring musical landscapes and for bringing forth new sounds. The voice becomes the instrument. She is currently a member of the Copenhagen-based concert association, Kanten.

The vocalduo Lift is an experimental, improvising and imaginative mini-ensemble that sets its sights on guiding the sound of the voice into sonic worlds that it has never penetrated before. The use of loop machines and the live manipulation of the voice contribute to the result that the sound landscapes vary from the entirely near and intimately acoustic to a world of “ambient” sound and polyrhythmic beats. Lift is also working with the performer/dancer Stuart Lynch. Working on a cd with remix from the composer Hans Sydow.

Randi Pontoppidan is frequently working in collaboration with Morten Carlsen, Dan Marmorstein, Nina Björk Elíasson, the poet Ulrikka Gernes and the dancer/performer Bo Madvig.

http://www.myspace.com/liftduo