Karin Hougaard, the person, the artist, the musician - defies being categorized. Her music transcends borders and reaches out to anyone who listens with their heart. Born in South Africa and currently residing in the USA - she has released 10 award winning albums up to date. She is regarded as one of the trendsetters on the South African Afrikaans music- and theatre scene. As a child singing sensation she won one of the most important South African talent competitions, Crescendo when she was merely 16 - the youngest winner yet! Not very involved in the production side of her first album EERSTE AFSPRAAK in 1983, she wrote music for Arts council productions, but only started off co-writing for her second album HERONTMOETING (1988). During this period Karin established herself as the first youngster to push the boundaries of the Afrikaans language coined as the language's first pop artist recording original material! This era spans from 1980 to 1994 during which innumerable television performances and concert tours backed up her stature as professional artist and made her a household name. Believing that the song should transcend language that the voice and melody should be heard and experienced, believing that even though lyrics are important - to Karin what matters more is how you sing not necessarily only what you sing. Still, though performing and also composing in her mother tongue - Karin decided to produce her own album, where she could create without the restrictions of a recording company. This album called BLY (meaning stay or happiness) was launched in 1994 and again set the pace for other Afrikaans artists who felt the restrictions of the recording establishment. But this album meant much more to Karin, it broadened her support base - now reaching an audience who in the past still saw her as a child prodigy - showcasing her versatility, professionalism, maturity and above all: integrity. In 1997 she released THIS IS AS LOVE AS LOVE IS GONNA GET the first CD single with 6 variations of the same song to be recorded by a South African artist. The CD single called THIS IS AS LOVE AS LOVE IS GONNA GET (June 1997) immediately moved to the CD single bestseller list in South Africa, also charting on various radio stations. An event, which rarely happens since Karin as an established Afrikaans language singer, now moved into the English market, a transition that as a rule is not met with huge success. Furthermore THIS IS AS LOVE AS LOVE IS GONNA GET was placed first of all English speaking nations and twelfth over-all in the 12th OGAE Song Contest held in Spain. The album MUSE followed in 1998. Karin composed most of the repertoire and again involved other South African composers and for the first time she combined both the Afrikaans and English languages on one disc. This albums was nominated for various music awards. METAMORPH (released in Oct 1999) consists of the music of European icons Jacques Brel and Edith Piaf in new jacket. Launching the CD with a stage show with the same name it received the only official award at the 1999 Aardklop Arts Festival in October 1999. Cited the most innovative production / performance at the festival and receiving the Beeld Plus Aartvark Award - Hougaard again set new standards for both South African cabaret and theatre. The album was also nominated for an FNB/SAMA Award as the BEST ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM IN ENGLISH. At The Klein Karoo National Arts Festival 2000 Hougaard again presented her production METAMORPH and received the renowned De Kat Herrie Award for the Best Individual production at the festival. The production furthermore received a VITA award for costume design. In 2002 an invitation by Herman van Veen, Dutch cabaret maestro, filmmaker, composer, director - to collaborate with him and Laurie Spee (American-Dutch singer/songwriter/playwright) on a project called THE FIRST LADY - sparked a new phase in Karin's career. The play co-written by Spee and van Veen and directed by Herman van Veen, loosely based on the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onnasis - toured in the Netherla
