Bjørn Tomren
Bjørn Tomren, born 1981, is a Norwegian musician, singer, composer and adventurer, known for his great vocal range and his vide variety of vocal techniques such as yodelling, overtone singing, throat singing and Norwegian folk singing (kveding).
Before becoming a full time musician he worked in a mental hospital and as a clown in a small circus.
For the past decade he has worked as a musician, performing around the globe either by himself or as one half of the Andy Kaufmane-sqe comical duo, Polkabjørn & Kleine Heine. The duo rose to fame in their home country through the documentary The art of yodelling (2012), which followed them from being A-ha’s opening act back in 2010, to them traveling and performing around the world, exploring the phenomena of yodelling.
In August 2017 Tomren participated in the international throat singing championship in Tuva, but was refused to receive any prizes or honours by the Russian Security Service (FSB) due to only having tourist visa and not the invitational visa.
The last couple of years Tomren has turned his attention to song writing and his debut album, along with girlfriend Åse Britt Reme Jakobsen, is due to be released in September 2019, on Propeller Records.
Bjørn Tomren is also famous for his long expeditions, and in particular for being the only person to have kayaked, walked, skied and rowed Norway lengthwise, thereby holding the world record for traversing Norway.
Tomren resides both in Tomrefjord and Bergen, and attained his degree in philosophy in the latter.