Astrid Nordstad

Astrid Nordstad is a Norwegian mezzo-soprano. From 2018 to 2020 she was a member of the Norwegian National Opera Young Artists’ Programme, where she performed Maddalena in Rigoletto and Badessa in Suor Angelica, Mercedes in Carmen, Masha in Queen of Spades and Tisbe in La Cenerentola.

In January 2024 she got a long term position at the National Opera.

In the 2023/24 season, she played Tisbe in La Cenerentola and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with the Norwegian National Opera. At the Royal Opera in Copenhagen, she sang the role of Olga in Eugene Onegin.

On the concert stage, she sang Cleofe in Handel's La Resurrezione with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre in Aix-en-Provence and at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. She also made her debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, singing Bruckner's Messe in F minor with the Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and Handel's Messiah with the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she performed Wagner's Wesendonck-Lieder during the Dresdner Musikfestspiele, conducted by Marck Minkowski.

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

In the 2021/22 season, she made her role 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 the Norwegian National Opera as Maddalena in Rigoletto, 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 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 St. John 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. She 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.