Sina

The Swiss vocalist Sina, active in pop and rock, is most often identified as a Mundartrocksängerin on account of her consistent use of regional dialect instead of standard German. Although this trait limited her reach across Germany and Austria, where her recordings remained largely unknown, it strengthened her bond with domestic audiences, above all those in her native canton of Valais. Her commercial arrival occurred in 1994 via a dialect version of “Son of a Preacher Man,” and while national singles proved infrequent, her long-players routinely performed strongly inside Switzerland and frequently reached the Top Five. The second of these, Wiiblich (1995), attained the top chart position and brought her a Prix Walo that same year. Throughout her career Sina maintained regular partnerships with fellow Swiss musicians, most prominently Polo Hofer, Erika Stucky, and the Swiss Jazz Orchestra.

Ursula Bellwald, later known professionally as Sina, entered the world on May 28, 1966, in Visp within the southern canton of Valais. She spent her childhood in Gampel and, after finishing her education, spent several years employed as a Bankkauffrau in Geneva. At seventeen she captured first prize at the Oberwalliser Schlagerfestival by performing “The House of the Rising Sun.” Between 1983 and 1993 she explored an array of musical idioms—classical, jazz, pop/rock, and improvisation—while also appearing in the stage productions Annie Get Your Gun and Jesus Christ Superstar.

Her first full-length release, the self-titled album of 1994, introduced the hit adaptation “Där Sohn vom Pfarrär,” rendered from Dusty Springfield’s original on Dusty in Memphis (1969) by Polo Hofer. The record spent twenty-three weeks on the Swiss charts and climbed to number seven. Its successor, Wiiblich (1995), advanced to number one, securing Sina a Prix Walo in the Pop category. The third album, Häx Odär Heilig (1997), entered the Top Ten and yielded her initial national single, “Immär und Ewig,” which peaked at number forty-three. The follow-up, 4 (1999), likewise lodged in the Top Five and delivered the Top Fifty entry “Nix Värbii.” Also extracted from 4 was “Där Papa Isch äs Chorbi Gsi,” Sina’s reading of “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” the 1972 Temptations hit; the track appeared as a duet with Polo Hofer, who supplied the adaptation. A second joint performance with Hofer, “Wenn es Nötig Wär,” surfaced on his 2000 Die Schmetterband album Härzbluet.

Following assorted collaborative and theatrical engagements, Sina returned in 2001 with Marzipan. The set reached number two, featured the Top Fifty single “Propäller,” and earned her a second Prix Walo, this time in the Singer/Songwriter division. Muve issued the retrospective Bescht of Sina in 2002; that year she also undertook wide-ranging tours, among them a visit to China, and took part in the inaugural ceremony of Expo.02 at the Swiss National Exhibition in Biel. Beginning in 2003 she joined jazz vocalist Erika Stucky—another native of Valais—on the Toluheischis Vorläbu project.

All:Tag, Sina’s first collection of original material in four years, appeared in 2005 and rose to number two despite producing no charting singles. Her next single success arrived in 2007 with “Alperose,” a Top Twenty collaboration alongside Polo Hofer, Sandee (Sandra Moser), and Kandlbauer (Daniel Kandlbauer) that was included on Hofer’s Duette 1977-2007 anthology. The same year she contributed “Däheimu” and “Aber Zärtlech Bisch du Nid” to the Swiss Jazz Orchestra’s Buebetröim. In 2008 she issued In Wolkä Fische, which attained number two and generated the Top Twenty-Five single “Wänn Nit Jetzt Wänn Dä.”