Soloists' Biographies

Lena Susanne Norin

Mezzo soprano/contralto

After studying singing in Stockholm, Lena Susanne Norin specialized early music, training with René Jacobs and Dominique Vellard at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland. During these formative years she performed and recorded extensively with the Ferrara ensemble. Following her studies she taught voice at the Schola Cantorum from 1986 to 1990, and has since then continued to teach.

Lena Susanne Norin is much sought after as a concert and oratorio singer around Europe, performing a vast array of music written from 1100 to 1900. During over two decades she has worked and recorded extensively with numerous renowned European ensembles: Ferrara Ensemble, Ensemble Gilles Binchois (medieval and renaissance chant and chanson), Sequentia (since 1987), La Chapelle Royale, Akantus, Rheinische Kantorei, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Akademie für Alte Musik, Musica Antiqua Köln, Cantus Cölln. International tours have led her to Europe and the USA, Asia and South America.

Lena Susanne also performs Scandinavian traditional music with Ulv, a trio with Agnethe Christensen and Elizabeth Gaver. While she is most eminent in the field of early music, she is by no means a stranger to the romantic repertoire, having sung the part of Erda in the 2002 produktion of Wagner´s Das Rheingold at the Stockholm Folk Opera.

Upcoming Concerts

28 October 2011
Early Music In Columbus, USA
Chant Wars

13, 14, 15 January 2012
Musée National du Moyen Âge, Paris, France
Frankish Phantoms

25, 26 February 2012
Da Camera of Houston, USA
Fragments for the End of Time

See full concert schedule

News

Between Music and Story-telling

In the context of a performance by Sequentia of The Rheingold Curse at the Radovljica Early Music Festival (Slovenia) in August, 2011, Benjamin Bagby spoke with Katarina Šter. Read the English original version of the interview here

Bagby and Rodenkirchen on WDR3

In June, 2011, Benjamin Bagby and Norbert Rodenkirchen were interviewed by journalist Anna Austrup for a Sequentia 'Portrait' broadcast in the West German Radio's prestigious 3rd program, in conjunction with a live broadcast concert in Cologne's 'Romanesque Summer' concerts series.
Listen to the recorded interview (in German)

2011 Thornton Scholarship

Laura Osterlund is the recipient of the 2011 Barbara Thornton Memorial Scholarship.
Read more

Benjamin Bagby on WQXR

On January 23, 2011, Bagby joined host David Garland at New York's classical music station, WQXR, to share his insights on the challenges and pleasures of bringing medieval music to life, and to present recordings by Sequentia.
Listen to the recorded interview

Beowulf on DVD

Benjamin Bagby’s legendary performance of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf (part I) recorded live in Helsingborg, Sweden.
Visit the Beowulf website