Amanda Somerville

Amanda Somerville (2016)

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

City of Heroes (with Michael Kiske )   DE 41 05/01/2015 (1 week)   CH 63 04/26/2015 (1 week)

Amanda Somerville (born March 7, 1979 in Flushing , Michigan ) is an American singer-songwriter ( mezzo-soprano ) and voice trainer or vocal coach . However, she is better known for her collaborations with various European metal bands . Since 1999 she has lived and worked mainly in Germany and the Netherlands .

Amanda Somerville with Tobias Sammet

Private life

On July 28, 2014, Amanda Somerville announced her wedding to the Dutch musician Sander Gommans (ex- After Forever ). Their daughter Lana Elise was born on July 17, 2015.

Discography

Amanda Somerville is not signed to any record label and is a member of Exit Eden . Her discography is mainly shaped by co-productions and working on other projects.

Solo career

The focus of her solo career is on pop / rock with some influences from hard rock as well as folk music and soul . In terms of style, the metal opera Days of Rising Doom stands out, for which she created the concept, wrote all the lyrics and partly composed the music. She also worked as a singer and vocal coach.

• In the Beginning There Was ... (album, 2000)
• Blue Nothing (EP, 2000)
• Never Alone (EP, 2003)
• Days of Rising Doom (album, 2003)
• Windows (album, 2008)

She played live as a solo artist with the following line-up of German musicians:

• Amanda Somerville - vocals, piano
• Sascha Paeth - guitar, backing vocals
• Olaf Reitmeier - bass, backing vocals
• Michael "Miro" Rodenberg - keyboards, backing vocals
• Robert Hunecke-Rizzo - drums, backing vocals

Trillium

Metal project; initially with musicians from her solo live band (see previous section) and her future husband Sander Gommans. In addition to Gommans, André Borgman (also ex-After Forever, drums) and Erik van Ittersum (keyboards) were mainly involved in the 2018 album Tectonic .

• Alloy (2011)
• Tectonic (2018)

Cooperations and guest appearances

Amanda was mainly involved as a singer, vocal coach, producer and choir director on the following albums:

• Kiske / Somerville - City of Heroes (2015), cooperation with Michael Kiske ; singer
• Aeverium - Break Out (2015); singer
• HDK - Serenades of the Netherworld (2014); singer
• Xandria - Sacrificium (2014); singer
• Kiske / Somerville - Kiske / Somerville (2010), cooperation with Michael Kiske ; singer
• HDK - System Overload (2009); Complete concept of the lyrics, singer and co-producer
• Avantasia - The Scarecrow (2008), The Metal Opera Comes to Town Tour (2010); The Mystery of Time (2013); singer
• Epica - The Phantom Agony (2003), We Will Take You With Us (2004), Consign to Oblivion (2005), The Road to Paradiso (2006), The Divine Conspiracy (2007), The Classical Conspiracy (2009), singer during the USA / Canada tour (2008); Vocal coach, singer, co-author, producer
• After Forever - Invisible Circles (2004), Remagine (2005), After Forever (2007); Vocal coach, singer, producer
• Asrai - Touch in the Dark (2004); Text revision
• Edguy - Hellfire Club (2004), Rocket Ride (2006); Singer, text revision
• Kamelot - The Black Halo (2005), Ghost Opera (2007), Poetry For The Poisoned (2010); Singer, text revision
• Shaman Ritual (2002), Reason (2005); Singer, text revision
• Mob Rules - Hollowed Be Thy Name (2002); singer
• Luca Turilli & Rhapsody - Prophet of the Last Eclipse (2002); singer
• Virgo - Virgo (2001); Singer, text revision

• Various collaborations with other bands ( Felony , Reverend Right Time and the First Cousins ​​of Funk, Lunatica , Ebony Ark, Kambrium etc.)

She was also commissioned for

• Phæno Science Center (2005) to write and sing a song for the opening ceremony.
• Böhringer Ingelheim (2005) to write two jingles for a new vaccine against swine disease.

In the summer of 2014, she took part in the third edition of the ProSieben music show Keep Your Light Shining , but took last place there.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chart sources: Germany - Switzerland
2. ↑ Timothy Flynn: Flushing native Amanda Somerville fronts Dutch heavy metal band Epica while lead singer recuperates ( Memento of the original from January 11, 2010 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: The Flint Journal . April 10, 2008. 
3. ^ Announcement on Amanda Somerville's official Facebook page , July 28, 2014
4. ^ Announcement on Amanda Somerville's official Facebook page , July 20, 2015
5. ↑ bloodchamber.de: Interview with Amanda Somerville
6. ↑ Amanda Somerville at Keep Your Light Shining 2014

Web links

Commons : Amanda Somerville  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official site with a collection of links to the most relevant social network providers