Sven Libaek | Artist

Sven Libaek is a Norwegian-Australian composer, record producer and musician born 1938 in Oslo. He is well known for his film and TV soundtrack music and also had a significant influence on the Australian popular music scene in the mid-1960s as the staff producer for the Australian division of CBS Records. Libaek trained as both a pianist and an actor and is a graduate of the Julliard School in New York. He first achieved international recognition with a role in the Louis de Rochemont film 'Windjammer' in which he both acted and performed as piano soloist with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra. Libaek first came to Australia in 1960 as a member of the band the Windjammers, which toured the United States and Australia to promote the film. Shortly after the group broke up, Libaek and his wife returned to Australia to live. As musical director and A&R manager for CBS Australia, Libaek built up a strong roster of pop, folk and jazz performers and produced over two hundred singles and albums, as well as writing (or co-writing with his wife) many of the titles he produced. His CBS credits include producing all the CBS recordings by surf music band the Atlantics including their hit "Bombora", folk musicians Gary Shearston and Patsy Biscoe. He left CBS in 1968 to work as a freelance composer, arranger, conductor and established his own music production company. As a recording artist Libaek has released 20 albums including many outstanding movie and TV soundtracks, such as Nature Walkabout, To Ride a White Horse, The Music of Sven Libaek, Australian Suite, The Set, Boney, and Ron and Val Taylor's Inner Space. Libaek's music has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years following its use in the 2004 film 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou', where director Wes Anderson used five Libaek compositions taken from Inner Space, as part of his movie score.

Artist Website: wikipedia/Sven_Libaek

Featured Albums: Sven Libaek

Related Artists: Gary Shearston, The Atlantics

Video Clips: Solar Flares, Inner Space, Nature Walkabout