Ozzie Sollien

Norwegian Accordion Music Ozzie Sollien

When Gerd Marit Sollien passed away in the small town of Kongsvinger in eastern Norway on October 10, 2009 at age 82, she left behind a local legacy. In her adolescence - because she was a female - she had been denied her father's comprehensive teaching and coaching in accordion playing extended to her twin brother, and later to private students, and the accordion was kept under lock and key. As a little girl, however, her drive to play was so strong, she picked the lock of the case with a hair pin and took the accordion out when nobody else was home. Her brother became one of the best accordion players in Norway, and was featured several times on Norwegian national radio. One of her father's students became a two time Norwegian champion, went on to participate in the European and World championships and is now heading an accordion orchestra while teaching, doing concert tours and releasing CDs. Gerd beat all the odds against her and created her own music. Completely unaided she won three competitions in the mid 1970s against accordion players from both Norway and Sweden. This booklet contains six of her melodies, including the three winners. It also contains two melodies by her father, Karl August Ruud.