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The German-born violinist, Astrid Kirschner, was accepted in her Bavarian childhood as a young student at the Mozarteum, Salzburg at the age of 12 years. She completed her studies at Musikhochschule Freiburg i.Br. and with a scholarship of the German government (DAAD) at the Royal College of Music in London.
Following her Norwegian husband from Germany to Norway, Astrid Kirschner has since 1995 worked as a Principal in the Orchestra of the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo. She is also a dedicated Baroque violinist, and specialized in music from 17th and 18th century. She received major impulses within her studies in Baroque violin from Rachel Podger, Monica Huggett and Rinaldo Alessandrini with whom she has performed since 2005. She is a member of the Norwegian Baroque group Barokkanerne, and plays regularily in other early music groups like Barokksolistene, Academia Montis Regalis, Divertissement and others.
In 2015 Astrid Kirschner started her own Baroque group Oslo Circles. She has a busy concert schedule with Oslo Circles, both in Norway and abroad, cooperating with soloists like David Hansen (counter-tenor), Marianne Beate Kielland (mezzo-soprano), Berit Norbakken Solset (soprano), Magnus Staveland (tenor) and the Norwegian film actor Anders Baasmo Christiansen. Oslo Circles’ first CD "One Charming Night" (Simax) with arias and theatre music by Henry Purcell (with David Hansen, counter-tenor) was released in 2019 to excellent international reviews. Oslo Circles’ second recording "Lamento" (with Marianne Beate Kielland, mezzo-soprano) for LAWO is released in autumn 2021, and several new CD recordings for LAWO are in preparation.
Astrid Kirschner has performed in numerous international Early Music Festivals, like Tage der Alten Musik Regensburg (Germany), Festwochen der Alten Musik Innsbruck (Austria), Oslo kammermusikkfestival, Oslo kirkemusikkfestival (Norway), Stockholm Early Music Festival (Sweden), Baroque & Beyond (Sweden), Oslo Early (Norway), Froville Festival (France), Spazio & Musica (Vicenza, Italia), Varazdin Baroque Evenings (Croatia), where her group Oslo Circles also won the critic’s prize for the festival’s best musical interpretation in 2019. |
