sToa

ethereal

sToa was founded in 1991 in Germany. Olaf Parusel (composition/arrangement) looked at this time for a new way to connect his musical and philosophical thoughts. He found a voice in Conny Levrow. In the same year the first song Stoa was released on the compilation From Hypnotic ... to Hypersonic (Hyperium). The album Urthona (Hyperium) followed in 1992, and sold ten thousand copies worldwide. Both members worked a lot in other projects in the years before. Conny played the violin for more than ten years and performed in many orchestras. She also sang in some classical choruses and as a soloist, and is familiar with baroque and romantic compositions like G.F. Handel, E. Grieg or Pergolesi. Olaf was in his childhood a member of the Stadtsingechor Halle, the oldest chorus of the world. Later, he played in many musical projects and bands, and also composed for TV. He studied musicology and philosophy. In 1994 the second album, Porta VIII (Hyperium), was released. It has a concept based on the fairy tale Ariadne et Barbe Bleue by Maurice Maeterlinck, but Porta VIII is a continuation of the original fairy tale. This album too was selling more than 10 000 copies worldwide and climbed the Mexican charts. Since 1997 there was a new line-up. Conny left sToa to follow her classical career, and the new singer was Antje Buchheiser. Buchheiser had been playing violin for more than eleven years, and had been singing in the classical chorus Hallenser Madrigalisten. She performed a lot in ...