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The Norwegian soprano, Tone (Margaret) Wik, started singing at the age of 7 in the Norwegian Broadcasting Girls Choir under the conductor Marie Foss. There, particular attention was given to intonation and quality of sound, and years of rehearsals and concerts laid the foundation of her musical education. Having finished her studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Oslo Conservatory of Music, she developed an interest in early music. This repertoire, with its demands for technical virtuosity and almost instrumental clarity of sound, suited her perfectly. She then went on to complete graduate studies in baroque singing at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague, Netherlands.
Since then, Tone Wik has performed both chamber and church repertoire. She has appeared as a soloist with many distinguished early music conductors and muscians such as Andrew Manze, Joshua Rifkin, Andrew Parrott, Harry Christophers, Edward Higginbottom, Ketil Haugsand, Shalev Ad-El, Ronald Brautigam and Ryo Terakado and has performed with internationally acclaimed early music ensembles such as Concerto Copenhagen, The Bach Ensemble New York, Il Gardellino, Barokkanerne, Norsk Barokkorkester (the Norwegian Baroque Orchestra) and Stavanger Symfoniorkester. She has participated in many recordings and has performed on radio and television in many European countries. She has sung in many J.S. Bach concerts, including several cantatas, oratorios, etc., like the B-minor Mass (BWV 232) on a tour with Joshua Rifkin some years ago.
Tone Wik has also participated in many international festivals including Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, Festival van Vlaanderen Brugge, Festival Musica Antica, Händelfestspiele in Halle, Barockfest Münster, Israel Festival, Brezice Festival, Musicantica Trento, Stockholm Early Music Festival, Oslo Chamber Music Festival, Northlands Festival, Bergen International Festival and Ultima Festival. In 2002 and 2003, she performed the role of the Israeli Woman in George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Esther in New York, and received critical acclaim in The New York Times.
In 2003, her first solo CD, “Dolcissimo Sospiro”* of Italian music from the early 17th century and the contemporary piece “Rinuccini” by Ron Ford was critically acclaimed in both the Norwegian and the international press. "Her clean pitch allows for delightful wonderfully agile and accurate runs" (Metropolitan Opera News, USA, August 2004); "She is really terrific in the light, fast lilting numbers" (BBC Music Magazine, England, May 2004); “…the CD is from its beginning to its end a feast for the ears, thanks to Tone Wik, with a voice that makes you melt away. (de Volkskrant, Netherlands, September 2004)
Tone Wik is also an active teacher and choir conductor, and is a founding member of the vocal ensemble Oslo Baroque Soloists, which consists of well-established singers from both Norway and Scandinavia. She has also given regular master-classes and has taught baroque singing at both the Norwegian Academy of Music and ensemble didactics at the Barratt Due Institute of Music and has given master-classes abroad such as at the Scandinavian Bach Academy in Örebro, Sweden. In 2008 her new CD "Bellezza Crudel" with the orchestra "Barokkanerne" was released. |
