| Jocelyn Montgomery with David Lynch |
| Lux Vivens: The Music of Hildegard von Bingen |
 Jocelyn Montgomery was drawn to the musical life from her earliest childhood days. Her grandfather was a Scottish fisherman and fiddle-maker, and she was deeply influenced by him during frequent family trips to his village on the North Sea coast. She grew up in London primarily, though her recognizable talent gained her an acceptance to The Purcell School of Music in Harrow, Middlesex by the time she was ten years old. She spent six years there, cultivating her musical interests among the apple orchards of the beautiful Georgian campus. At sixteen, Jocelyn moved to Saint Paul's Girl's School in Hammersmith, where she continued her formal vocal training. She also studied violin under the tutelage of the well-known Hungarian master, Suzanne Rozsa. After she finished school, Jocelyn spent a year or two busking in London, performing at various weddings and social engagements. She did some modeling and indie film acting to make extra income, and even appeared in videos by pop icon Dave Stewart and then-unknowns The Verve.
Jocelyn continued her classical pursuits, spending two years studying composition in London. She did some work with the medieval troubadour group Sinfonie, and she credits them with introducing her to the work of Hildegard von Bingen. The seeds for a solo project were firmly planted. Then in 1996, Jocelyn's natural abilities and hard work came to fruition when she was awarded a fellowship by the Arts Foundation. The income she was provided allowed her to focus exclusively on developing her vocal talent. She spent another year in London, before marrying and moving to Los Angeles. It is a rare artist these days that gets discovered by chance, but that is exactly what happened after Jocelyn's relocation. While singing on a walk in the Hollywood Hills, her voice fell upon the right pair of ears. She was signed to Mammoth Records and in the studio within weeks, working with the noted filmmaker David Lynch as her producer. The result of this collaboration is Lux Vivens (Living Light), interpretations of the works of Hildegard von Bingen. It is Jocelyn's debut solo album, and certainly not her last. Some things are just meant to happen.
You can order the CD here.
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Jocelyn Montgomery main page | David Lynch page
© Mike Hartmann
mhartman@mail.uni-freiburg.de