Juliana Venter

Born 08.10.1970 in Pretoria in South Africa. 

Born and raised in an Afrikaans family in South Africa and Namibia, where she studied opera and piano. 
Lived and worked in Johannesburg, Cape Town, London, Scotland, Cologne, and Berlin. 
In 2016, she moved to Norway. 
Speaks  Afrikaans, English, German and Norwegian. 

Introduction: 
Juliana Venter is a multidisciplinary artist and primarily a vocalist who works with notated and free-improvised music, classical and extended vocal techniques, contemporary music, noise, jazz,free jazz,folk music expressions from Norway, Southern Africa, West Africa, Central Asia, and Arabic music. She has a very distinctive expression and is also an actress who works in both film and theatre. She also composes music for solo voice, and various ensembles and is permanent member of Paal Nilssen Love circus, “ It was her idea” and " Metatarsis and duo Nystrøm/Venter. As composer she writes traditional singer/songwriter style as well as modernist and conceptual contemporary music and avant garde. In addition, she has done countless cross-genre performance concerts and music/theatre performances. 
 Operatically trained from 1985-98. She is known for her heartfelt voice, wide palette and her groundbreaking and at times extreme expression. She has been called by the press,“the queen of South African avant-garde“ She was lead singer in the music and performance band The Mud Ensemble from Johannesburg, which achieved cult status as pioneers in avant-garde music theatre in South Africa in the 1990s. The Mud Ensemble was also known for its expression against apartheid.

Several documentaries has been made about this ensembles work as well as a cd released 2011.   
 
 

Recent albums released.

New releases coming up. 

Kassandra: Oktober 1. 

It was her idea : Dec 2025/ jan 2026

Home Galactic: November 2025. 

2025 “Let thy loose ” live album. Paal Nilssen Love circus

2023 “ If you find yourself falling dive” with Janne Eraker. 

2022 “ Pairs of three” Paal Nilssen-Love circus. 

2019; released the noise album W / V Concave together with James Welburn, an album that has received many praises in the international music press.  
2021; appearance on the album “sleeper in the void“ by James Welburn.  
International and Norwegian collaborations in music: 

Spooky attraction from a distance was also released in 2011 with German label Staubgold. Based on Einstein's theory of "Spooky action at a distance" (quantum entanglement) by the music press mentioned in the same breath as Anthony Hegarty and Joanna Newsom, as an important contribution to the avant-folk style.  

Collaborations. 
Josef Suchy, Carlo Mombelli, Poing, Oslo Sinfonietta, Paal Nilssen-Love,Signe Emmeluth, Maja SK Ratkje, Rolf-Erik Nystrøm, Knut Reiersrud, Oscar Grönberg,Ole Morten Vågan,Nils Økland,Jai Shankar, Ramsay Mackay, Ümit Urgen, Håkon Thelin, Per Oddvar Johansen, Kouame Sereba, Becaye Aw, KORK, Frikar, Munor Ensemble, Eivind Lønning, Harald Hårfagres Kammerorkester, Eirik Raude and Mats Eilertsen. Thomas Mahmoud, Håkon Mjåset Johansen, James Welburn,  Mouvoir tanz Kompanie , Jo Strømgren, Øyvind Berg, Frøde Haltli, George Lewis, Tuva Syvertsen, Rolf Wallin, Brydon Bolton, Ronan Skillen, DNA, Jonno Sweetman, Jim Neversink, Lesego Rampolokeng, Janne Eraker, Cara Stacey, Lungiswa Plaatjies, Garth Erasmus, Vigdis Hjort, Elinor Speirs, Keenan Ahrends, Kesivan Naidoo, Ingebrigt Håkon Flaten. Niel Soloman. 

Producer.

She also Produced the song grey on debut album of South African singer Alice Phoebe Lou.

   
Appeared on albums by Andy Toma ( mouse on mars) and Andreas Dorau. And Peter Licht. Live Jimmi Presley.   
Notable collaborations in film and theatre:  
Guy DeLancy, Gavin Hood, Etienne Kallos ( cannes) Aletta Bezuidenhout, Jerry Mofokeng, Isle Van Hemert.  
Amanda Donohue, Gary Busy, Marcel Van Heerden. Det Utvalgte. ( several awards including Gold)  
   
Education:  
 When she was 9 years old, she won national talent competitions (called Eisteddfod) in the class best Singer.  
As a 13-year-old, she was selected as the one who represented her junior high school as a singing soloist in Namibia's national revue group. They toured along the Caprivi Strip during the Angolan War, traveling in convoys through war zones filled with landmines to perform and sing for the soldiers stationed at the border.  
14 years old, she was admitted to Johannesburg Music, Ballet and Art School. There she studied under the highly respected and internationally renowned bass baritone Dawie Couzyn, who has performed at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Vienna State Opera and the Covent Garden. He remained her teacher for 13 years and helped her achieve an international level in classical vocal use, studies in classical music and lead singing.  
At the age of 17 she became the youngest member of South Africa's opera choir, and the same year she debuted as an actress and singer with the award-winning theater director Ilse van Hemert together with some of South Africa's leading actors.  
Furthermore, she continued to tour around schools in South Africa through the organization PACT (Performing Arts Council of Transvaal).  
She studied acting,theater and film privately with Aletta Bezuidenhout in South Africa and with Susan Batson, coach to Nicole Kidman and Juliette Binoche.   

Awards / nominations 

2024:Won Gold for a short film at Grimstad film festival for the collaboration Homage aupair with Det Utvalgte.

2023:Nominated for best interpretation at world music days of composer Cecilie Ores Katsu!

2019:Received the Hedda Award (Norways prestigious theatre awards) for special artistic effort with Norwegian theatre group Det Utvalgte for the performance The Ship vol 5. 

2018:The Harvesters a South African feature film was selected for the Cannes International film festival competing in the Un Certain Regard section.  
She was nominated Best Supporting Actress at the Silver screen film festival in South Africa.For her role in this film. 

Scholarships / residences 

2024. Norwegian states stipend (three years)

2023. Support for project “soul of the white ant" composition of music from composers fund.  
2021. Norwegian states artistic working stipend.   
2020. Recipient of the Rauschenberg Foundation's travel grant and scholarship stay for 5 weeks on Captiva Island in Florida to develop their own projects.  
2019. Travel support from Music Norway for W / V album tour.  
2018. FFUK travel support for preliminary project and development of «Bird Project» / Bokmakierie with Cara Stacey in Swaziland and Johannesburg.   
2017. received support for an album with Nystrøm / Venter from FFUK  
2013. Support from the National Arts Council of South Africa for preliminary project for the opera Soul of the White Ant in Namibia.  
1998. Support from the National Arts Council of South Africa for a project with The Mud Ensemble.  

 Excerpt actor performances in recent years :  

• She has played Goneril in King Lear, and played the part of Yvette Pottier in Brecht's Mother Courage which toured in South Africa.  
• In 2018 and 2025,leading roles as an actor and singer and co-composer in 7 productions by the internationally renowned Norwegian theater group De Utvalgte. One of these productions was performed as part of the Ultima Festival, and together with the rest of the company she received the Hedda Prize for special artistic effort.  In 2024 they received the Gold award for the short film Homage aupair which they collaborated on.