Tora Augestad

Tora Karen Elisabeth Augestad (born 10 December 1979) is a Norwegian mezzosoprano, musical conductor and actor. One of Norway's most established classical singers, she focuses on jazz, musical theater, contemporary music, and cabaret.

She is the daughter of Program 81/82 vocalist Kate Augestad and composer Geir Johnson.

Career Augestad and Mathias Eick with Music for a While in Bergen 18 December 2014.

Augestad sang in Det Norske Solistkor (2000–2005) and the vocal band Pitsj (1999–2006). She is the lead singer in the ensemble Music for a While, with the record release Weill Variations (2007). They released their second album Graces that refrain (2012) accompanied by a tour in Norway. Their third release was the album Canticles of Winter (2014).

Augestad has been a soloist at the show The Source: Of Christmas with "The Source", participated in various cabarets and operas is and has been an actor/singer at "Teater Ibsen" in Skien as well as at the Riksteatret. She conducted the "Norges ungdomskor" (200-06). She is singing in the trio BOA, has been a soloist with various orchestras and ensembles, including the Oslo Sinfonietta during the "Oslo Kammermusikkfestival".

Augestad moved to Berlin in 2007, and has been currently working with some of Europe's leading ensembles for contemporary music including Ensemble Modern and Klangforum Wien. 15 October 2010 she was a guest on the Beat for beat, a program at NRK1.

Since 2009 she has worked with the Swiss star director Christoph Marthaler. She has participated in the following of his productions at the opera in Basel: as soloist in "Wüstenbuch" (opera by Beat Furrer), in "Meine faire Dame – ein Sprachlabor", and "Lo Stimolatore Cardiaco".

In 2018 Augestad and the Oslo Philharmonic released the album Portraying Passion: Works by Weill/Paus/Ives, with works by Kurt Weill, Marcus Paus and Charles Ives. and noted that it "proved to be one of the most engaging works" in recent years; "the cycle expresses Parker's favorite theme: how awful human beings are, especially the male of the species." Augestad won the 2018 Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy Award) in the Classical class for the album.

At the 2019 concert "Paus meets Cohen", Augestad and NyNorsk Messingkvintett performed new works by Ole Paus and Marcus Paus.

In 2020 Augestad released the mini-album Good Vibes in Bad Times, a song cycle by Marcus Paus that reconceptualizes texts by Donald Trump as poems.

Discography Solo albums

Within Music for a While including with Stian Carstensen, Mathias Eick, Martin Taxt and Pål Hausken 2007: Weill Variations (Grappa Music) 2012: Graces That Refrain (Grappa Music) 2014: Canticles of Winter (Grappa Music)

Within 'Augestad & Waagaard Duo' 2010: Over The Piano: American Cabaret Songs (Norway Music)

Within 'BOA Trio' including with Morten Barrikmo and Tanja Orning

2013: BOA mOOn Over tOwns (Grappa Music)

Collaborations

Within 'Pitsj' 2006: Pitsj (Grappa Music)

With 'Kammerkoret Nova' and Anne Karin Sundal-Ask 2012: To Whom We Sing (Lawo Classics)

With Trygve Seim, Frode Haltli and Svante Henryson 2016: Rumi Songs (ECM Records)

With the Oslo Philharmonic 2018: Portraying Passion: Works by Weill/Paus/Ives (Lawo Classics), with works by Kurt Weill, Marcus Paus and Charles Ives

With various artists 2019: Dialogues

With Anders Kregnes Hansen 2020: Good Vibes in Bad Times (MTG Music)