Scan Magazine | Cover Feature | Linda Lampenius
Linda Lampenius – Wife, mother and violin virtuoso In the 1990s Linda Lampenius became known as a striking Pamela Anderson doppelganger with some serious talent when it came to playing the violin. She was internationally famous with a definitive sex symbol status. But this media image might have missed the point, as Lampenius, more than anything else, is and always has been an exceptionally gifted musician. And that is not all that she is. Today, Linda Lampenius-Cullberg is a loving wife, proud mother and successful recording artist. So naturally Scan Magazine jumped at the chance to ask Lampenius about her career highlights. By Nia Kajastie | Photos: Unlimited Management
Linda Lampenius was born in Helsinki, Finland, to Swedish-speaking parents who both worked in music and the arts. Growing up, she was surrounded by musical influences and even featured in the media as somewhat of a child prodigy. She started her career at the tender age of eight, when she went on tour with the Helsinki Junior Strings in Northern America. “It was challenging, but at the same time quite amazing to be able to play with other musicians who were considerably older than me. All my trips around the world with the Junior Strings strongly influenced my development as a musician as well as a human being,” says Lampenius. “On top of the musical experiences, I got to know a lot of different cultures and people.”
At the beginning of her career, Lampenius studied at the Sibelius Academy, a uni-
versity level music school in Finland, and played in a chamber music ensemble called Ofelia quartet for a few years. Her years playing the first violin in the Finnish National Opera Orchestra are also very close to her heart, as she was always playing out of a true love and respect for the music. With the start of her solo career, her image became sexier and a lot more marketable abroad, with a new stage name, Linda Brava, to top it off. It gave her the chance to do some modelling (for Björn Borg) as well as acting (most famously a guest appearance on Baywatch) and a celebrity cover for Playboy. But behind this sexy image, there was still the classically trained violinist and the undeniably amazing artist, who also caught the attention of
Issue 21 | August 2010 | 9