We would like to welcome four new singers to The Norwegian Soloists' Choir.
Jan Kuhar – Bass
Jan Kuhar began his career as a professional singer at the age of 19 when he joined the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir. He was the founding member of the Slovenian vocal sextet Ingenium and toured all around Europe for nine years with the ensemble. He is completing his bachelor’s degree in singing at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana in the class of the Canadian-Slovenian soprano Theresa Plut. To pursue his greatest passion, chamber ensemble singing, and to acquire new skills as a singer, he simultaneously enrolled in the master’s degree in Advanced Vocal Ensemble Studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel with Evelyn Tubb and Tony Rooley, which he completed in April 2018. With the Irish vocal ensemble Anúna, which he joined in 2015, he has toured widely, across Europe and to Japan and China, acting also as an educational facilitator and as an musical director. He regularly performs with internationally acclaimed ensembles, such as the German sextet Singer Pur, the British Voces8, and the Swiss baroque orchestra and vocal ensemble La Cetra.
Ragnhild Thu Austnaberg – Soprano
Ragnhild Thu Austnaberg (1987) from Bryne in Norway is a soprano who works with a versatile repertoire and is engaged both as a soloist and ensemble singer in Norway. She studiet at the Norwegian College of Music, where she graduated in 2019 with a master's degree in classical singing. She has been a soloist with ensembles such as Tønsberg Domkor, Romerrike Oratoriekor, The Music College's Chamber Choir, and Sandnes Clarinet Choir, and she regularly sings in The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir. She has also been involved in productions of modern opera at The Norwegian Opera in Oslo.
Marian Dijkhuizen – Alto
Dutch Alto Marian Dijkhuizen is a versatile singer whose repertoire contains works from early baroque till modern music. She sang roles in baroque operas by Haendel and Purcell, but also appeared in newly written operas, for instance in ´Forelle Stanley´ by Swiss composer Daniel Fueter. At the Dutch National Opera she was heard in the world premiere of ´Only the sound remains´, written by Kaija Saariaho and directed by Peter Sellars.
She performed the role of ´Youngest daughter´ in Trauernacht; a scenic version of Bach cantatas, directed by Katie Mitchell, with the Ensemble Pygmalion under the baton of Raphael Pichon. Marian Dijkhuizen sings the alto and mezzo-soprano solo in oratorios from Bach to Verdi. Active as a concert soloist she has worked with conductors such as Peter Dijkstra, Risto Joost, Daniel Reuss, and Clau Scherrer.
She also loves working in ensembles and participated in projects with the Dutch Chamber Choir, RIAS Kammerchor and with the swiss Ensemble Vocal Origen. Her love for music leads her to contacts with diverse chamber music partners with whom she can make and perform own programs and enjoy the immense resource of everything written. She started her singing studies in The Hague and continued to study in Zürich with Werner Güra. There she obtained her master´s degree of opera with the highest distinction. She keeps working with inspiring coaches and bodyworkers to learn how to free the voice, body, and mind.
Frida Lund-Larsen – Alto
Frida Lund-Larsen (b. 1996) is a mezzo-soprano from Asker. In spring 2019 she completed her bachelor's degree at the Norwegian School of Music with Prof. Mona Julsrud. At the age of 15, she began singing in Bragernes Churchs' Youth Choir under the leadership of Beate Fevang, and took singing lessons with Marianne Willumsen Lewis. Frida was later admitted to the talent development program at the Norwegian School of Music with Mona Julsrud and Svein Bjørkøy as teachers. During her studies, Frida exchanged to Hochschule für Musik und Teater «Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy» in Leipzig with Prof. Carola Guber. She has also participated in several master classes with Susanna Eken, Randi Stene, Bo Skovhus, Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz and Matthew Marriott. In 2016 and 2019, Frida received Asker Municipality's cultural grant, and in 2018 she won the international song competition "NINA Solo Competition - for young voices". In the autumn of 2019, Frida starts her master's degree at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen.
Welcome to The Norwegian Soloists' Choir!