Award-winning singer and storyteller Nora Fischer is renowned for her adventurous approach to live performance and her creative and genre-defying collaborations. Originally trained as a classical singer, she developed a strong interest in the many other music genres and art forms around her. She learned to use her voice in a wide range of techniques at the Complete Vocal Institute in Copenhagen, nourished her hungry brains by studying Philosophy and Musicology at the University of Amsterdam, and learned to channel her creative performance ideas at the Music Master for New Audiences and Innovative Practices at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. Her very first solo performance, in which she cooked for her audience to create an intimate feeling of coming together, was the starting point of a rich career in which she passionately kept searching for ways of overcoming differences and bringing opposite worlds together. She is most comfortable right at the sweet spot where different music genres and performing arts join forces and forget that they once had strict boundaries. Her “affinity with experimental classical styles and sharp dramatic instincts” (New York Times) have led to close collaborations with world-renowned composers, ensembles and theatre/dance/mime directors such as Louis Andriessen, Simon McBurney and Yo-Yo Ma’s Silkroad Ensemble, and to solo performances at prestigious venues such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Carnegie Hall in New York and the Philharmonie de Paris. But she also found her way to pop and theatre audiences at Lowlands Pop Festival, WOMADelaide and a mysterious forest at the Oerol Theatre Festival.
Nora is driven by the strong belief that her audience can take more than the comfort zones they are generally given credit for, as long as it’s brought to them in exciting and accessible ways. She brought contemporary music to pop festivals and pop influences to classical venues, always searching for that which connects and is universal. Her award-winning debut album HUSH, which appeared on Deutsche Grammophon in 2018, brought 17th-century music into the singer-songwriter realm, and was received with open arms at squat houses, roof terraces, pop temples, theatre festivals and classical concert halls from Amsterdam to New York – and was hummed along by toddlers as well as 90+ year old’s who joyfully re-discovered their favourite music.
In 2024, Nora made her debut as a storyteller in her highly personal one-woman show The Leap. In this grippingly tragic yet humorous monologue, Nora shares the intimate story of her gradually growing creative block, shining light on those parts of herself that she had so carefully tried to hide from the outside eye. The Leap is both a furious lamentation on our perfection-driven society, and a plea to reconnect with the joyful child inside of us. The Leap toured extensively in The Netherlands throughout 2024, and an English version will follow next season.
In continuation of The Leap, Nora is currently working on her first book which will appear with the highly acclaimed and Amsterdam-based publisher Pluim.
Outside of the stage, Nora is active as a mentor helping young artists to carve out their authentic pathways. She is also an active member of Splendor: Amsterdam’s unique musician-led concert venue and creative space.
Click here for an article about Nora in the New York Times, or here for an interview with Nora in The Guardian.
