LAURIKA RAUCH
BIOGRAPHY
2005

Laurika matriculated at the Jan van Riebeeck High School in Cape Town and studied drama at the University of Stellenbosch. She became a household name in the late seventies with the hit "Kinders van die Wind". Laurika was one of the most prominent singers involved in the resurgence of popular Afrikaans music in the early eighties.

After a two year stint as an actress for PACT Playwork in the late seventies, she also obtained prominence for her performances in Taubie Kushlick’s Jacques Brel productions of the early eighties at the Chelsea Theatre in Hillbrow.

In August 1996 the honour befell Laurika to perform with the Transvaal Philharmonic Orchestra (renamed NAPOP - now disbanded) in a programme consisting entirely of her own repertoire. She gave two sold out performances at the State Theatre in Pretoria.

Laurika has performed in Belgium, the Netherlands, London, the Czech Republic and Frankfurt am Main. In December 1993 she sang to an audience of 13 000 in Utrecht, accompanied by the well-known Metropole Orchestra. In March 1997 the Charles University in Prague invited her to perform with her pianist before an audience of academics from the deutsch language groups from all over Europe and Eastern Europe. The occasion was a Jubilee Celebration of the Department of Netherlandistics at the Charles University.

Laurika is married to Christopher Torr, composer of many of her greatest and most recent hits such as Stuur Groete aan Mannetjies Roux, Op Blouberg se Strand, Hot gates, Die Gang, Die mense op die Bus and My ou Tante Koba. They have two children, Simon and Nina.

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