The Norwegian Girls Choir
The Norwegian Girls Choir, directed by Anne Karin Sundal-Ask, is a choir with proud traditions and high artistic standards. The choir is composed of singers from the Oslo area who are admitted through auditions. The Norwegian Girls Choir is an independent continuation of the public Norwegian Broadcasting Company’s Girls Choir, which was established in 1947. The choir has long been a strong institution in the Norwegian cultural life, and it has fostered a number of great singers, musicians and artists.
The choir’s ambition is to be a learning environment that will help the girls develop into independent musicians and artists, with strong musical expressiveness that can touch both the audience and the singers themselves. Through experience in this environment the girls develop their understanding, and interest in music, with some subsequently performing at high professional level.
The Norwegian Girls Choir consists of four choirs with around 110 singers from 6 to 26 years: Studiokoret: Girls fram 16-26 years old, Hovedkoret: Girls from 11-16 years old, Aspirantkoret: Girls from 8-11 years old and Rekruttgruppa: Girls from 6-8 years old.
The Norwegian Girls Choir puts great demands on its singers. They all have to play an instrument and to learn sight-reading. The choir works with a methodical form of teaching based on an educational program developed by the Norwegian Girls Choir. The program has both theoretical and musical objectives with clear, specific methods for reaching these.
The choir offers all its singers from the fourth grade and up individual singing lessons. In addition all singers have to take part in “The supplement group” (6th and 7th grade). Where they learn music theory, aural training, singing technique, and the standard repertory of the choir.
Artistic partners – artists, musicians, and festivals
During the last few years we have performed with ensembles such as The Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, and Det Norske Solistkor, and appeared at festivals such as The Ultima Festival, Oslo International Church Music Festival, Bergen International Festival, Glogerfestspillene in Kongsberg, Oslo Chamber Music Festival, Risør Chamber Music Festival, Ny Musikk Stavanger’s concert series, Olavsfestdagene in Trondheim, Trondheim Chamber Music Festival, The Roskilde Festival, MiniØya, The Climate Festival 112, Vestfoldfestspillene, The Reverb Festival in London, The Rhythms of One World in New York, Aberdeen International Youth Festival, and Hamamatsu Youth Choir Festival in Japan. We have also contributed to productions at The Norwegian Opera and Ballet and at the Norwegian National Theatre.
During the same period we have premiered works by composers Ola Gjeilo, Marcus Paus, Ørjan Matre, Frøy Aagre, Magnar Åm, Andrew Smith, Bjørn Kruse, Martin Romberg, Tone Krohn, Ragner Rasmussen, Kjetil Bjerkestrand, Tone Bianca Sparre Dahl, Henning Sommerro, and Maja Ratkje.
The Norwegian Girls Choir´s recordings “Folketoner” (2017) and “Stille grender” (2020) were both nominated for GRAMMY (Best Immersive Audio Album). Our label is 2L, and producer is Morten Lindberg.