Astrid Nordstad is awarded the Tom Wilhelmsen Opera Prize

We warmly congratulate mezzo-soprano Astrid Nordstad, who has been awarded the Tom Wilhelmsen Opera Prize today during a surprise ceremony at the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet.

The jury about Astrid Nordstad:

“We have had our hopes confirmed: Astrid is the type of singer that moves us, not only through the rich timbre that captures both quivering light and velvety darkness, but equally through a deep musicality. Her ability to profoundly delve into the music, her understanding of style and intense love for content make her a first-class communicator and interpreter.

For the jury another important criterion has been her strong working ethics and clear goal to bravely expand her horizons towards an international career. We have the strongest faith that she will succeed and are very much looking forward to following her on her way!”

About the prize

Tom Wilhelmsen's Foundation’s Opera and Ballet Prize was established in 2009 and is the most important of its kind in Norway. The purpose is to give singers and dancers who have already distinguished themselves with outstanding quality in their work, optimal conditions for further development and to be a stimulus for them towards achieving their respective maximum potential.
The Opera and Ballet advisory board consists of Ellen Horn, Anne Gjevang. and Stine Østvold Aamodt. Previous laureates include Marita Sølberg, Audun Iverse, Yngve Søberg, and the Norwegian National Opera Orchestra, among others.

Astrid is one of the youngest singers who has received the prize since it has been awarded for the first time in 2009.

Norwegian mezzo-soprano Astrid Nordstad started her career as a member of the Norwegian National Opera Young Artists’ Programme, where she performed the roles of Maddalena in Rigoletto and Badessa in Suor Angelica, Mercedes in Carmen, Masha in Queen of Spades and Tisbe in La Cenerentola.

In the 2022/23 season, she will appear at Bergen National Opera as Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte, as Olga in Onegin and as Ruth Sherwood in Wonderful Town at Norwegian National Opera. On the concert stage, she will perform Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder with the Arctic Philharmonic and Mahler 3 with the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, again with Marc Soustrot, among other engagements.

More information about Astrid Nordstad can be found on her artist page and on her website.

For enquiries, please contact:
E: rozemarijn.tiben@interartists.nl
T: +31 6 34 27 22 82

Last season, she made her debut as Carmen with the Helgeland Sinfonietta, and as Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress at the Oslo Opera Festival. She returned to Norwegian National Opera as Maddalena in Rigoletto, she sang Ravel’s Shéhérazade with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra led by Marc Soustrot, and Mahler’s Lied von der Erde with the Kristiansund Symphony Orchestra.

Other recent highlights were her debut as Rosina in Ringsakeroperaens production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, her performance at the Kirsten Flagstad 125 year memorial concert broadcast, and Mahler's Rückert-Lieder with the Danish Chamber Orchestra and conductor Ádám Fischer.

As an active concert singer, Astrid has performed the solo part in works such as Händels Messiah, the Johannes Passion and Weihnachts Oratorium of Bach, and works such as Mahler’s  Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and the Rückert-Lieder.  As a recitalist, she has sung recitals at Grieg’s birth house, and is featured on a recording of Peter Heise: The Song Edition Condensed. In her native Norway she is a highly sought-after performer of Griegs Haugtussa song cycle.

Raised in the city of Trondheim, her musical upbringing there includes many years participating in Nidaros Cathedral Girls' Choir. Further training took her to the Norwegian academy of Music and Astrid was chosen to participate in the prestigious opera program at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (ONAA) . Thereafter she finished her studies at the Opera Academy in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she studied under the renowned voice teacher Susanna Eken, and reached the semi-finals of the 2019 Queen Sonja International Music Competition in Oslo, where she was awarded the Ingrid Bjoner Scholarship as the best Norwegian participant that year.