Details of participants for the 2013 edition of the International Student Lied Duo Competition will be posted here as soon as the initial selection has been made.
Here below are the participants of the 2011 competition.
Seren Akyoldaş (soprano) & Gülrü Ensari (piano)
Soprano Seren Akyoldaş and pianist Gülrü Ensari went to the same schools and the same conservatory in Istanbul. Akyoldaş now studies at the Frescobaldi Conservatory Ferrara with Tiziana Tramonti, Gianni Fabbrini, Aldo Tarabella and Fabio Lombardo. Before, she studied with Luciana Serra, Ayse Sezerman, Marlen Adamadze and Gabriele Lombardi. She contributed to various recordings, and also recorded two jazz albums. Ensari studies with Vassily Lobanov at the Cologne Adademy of Music and Dance. She earlier studied with Meral Yapali, Leontina Margulis, Sergei Dorensky, Andrey Diev and Hüseyin Sermet.
Meike Albers (soprano) & Katharina Grasser (piano)
Soprano Meike Albers and pianist Katharina Grasser have cooperated as a duo since 2008. Since then, they have performed in various regional concerts. Very recently, they won a third prize at a Lieder competition in Sankt Augustin. Albers studies with Gudrun Pelker, Jagna Sokorska-Kwika at the School of Music, Theatre and Media in Hannover. Earlier, she studied with Sabine Ritterbusch, Rachel Robins and Klesie Kelly-Moog. Grasser studies at the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen. Her teacher is Arnulf von Arnim. Earlier, she studied with Arbo Valdma, Grigory Gruszman, Ian Fountain and Rüdiger Dippold.
Ekaterina Baeva (mezzo-soprano) & Zeynep Özsuca (piano)
Mezzo soprano Ekaterina Baeva studies with Annelise Fried, Semjon Skigin, Julia Varady and Wolfram Rieger at the Music Academy Hanns Eisler in Berlin. She studied with Gerrit Gitterbart before. She followed master classes with Cecilia Bartoli and Dietrich Ficher-Diskau. Pianist Zeynep Özsuca studies at the same institute with Alexander Vitlin, Semjon Skigin and Wolfram Rieger. Before, she studied with Peter Takács, Philip Highfill, James Howsmon, Oya Ünler and Kamuran Gündemir. Baeva and Özsuca met during Lieder classes with Wolfram Rieger in 2010. They have been following interpretation classes together with Varady, as well as accompaniment classes with Skigin. They are preparing several recitals for 2011.
Elsa Benoit (soprano) & Benjamin Spa (piano)
Elsa Benoit, soprano, and Benjamin Spa, pianist, met at the Conservatory of Amsterdam in 2009, and have since then performed as Duo Sotto Voce. The performed in Krommenie, and in an invited concert in Bretagne. Benoit studies in Amsterdam with Valérie Guillorit and David Bollen. Earlier she studied with Dido Keuning. Spa studies with David Kuyken, and was taught earlier by Denis Pascal.
Annika Boos (soprano) & Young-Ah Kim (piano)
Soprano Annika Boos studies with Klesie Kelly-Moog at the Cologne University of Music. She is currently engaged by the Wuppertal Opera House. Pianist Young-Ah Kim is accompanist to the classes of Klesie Kelly-Moog in Cologne. She earlier studied with Jürgen Glauß, Bernd Glemser and Key-Suk Seo in Germany and Korea. She won various national and international prizes. Boos and Kim have cooperated since 2009, when they met during classes with Kelly-Moog. They have performed together in several concerts since then.
Kwan-Yun Chi (baritone) & Hsin-Pei Liu (piano)
Kwan-Yun Chi and Hsin-Pei Liu have been working together since October 2010, their repertoire including works such as Vier ernste Gesänge be Brahms and An die ferne Geliebte by Beethoven. Baritone Chi studies at the Liszt School of Music in Weimar with Michail Lanskoi, and earlier studied with Klaus Bülow. He followed various master classes, and in addition to Lieder, he also performs as soloist in cantatas and operas. Pianist Liu studies in Weimar with Karl-Peter Kammerländer and Thomas Steinhöfel, and was a student to Gerlinde Otto, Eugene Skovorodnikov, Terrence Dawson and Rolf-Peter Wille earlier. She followed various master classes and performed as a soloist in Germani, Spain, Italy, Canada and the United States.
Bárbara de la Garza (soprano) & Évan Métral (piano)
Soprano Bárbara de la Garza studies with Jeanne Roth and Andreas Ortwein at the Geneva University of Music. She earlier studied with Graciele Suárez and Janet Perry. She followed numerous master classes and played various roles in operas and oratorios. Pianist Évan Métral studies with Paul Coker at the Geneva University of Music, after having studied with Nathalie Petit-Rivière, Johanna Male and Patrick Todesco. He also followed many masterclasses and also performed as a soloist in Brazil. Driven by shared interests, De la Garza and Métral paired up in September 2010. They are building a broad Lieder repertoire, and amongst other things contributed to a benefit concert in Lausanne, January 2011.
Terttu Iso-Oja (soprano) & Minttu Siitonen (piano)
Soprano Terttu Iso-Oja and pianist Minttu Siitonen have been cooperating since autumn 2009. They have studied Lieder from various style periods in workshops, master classes and lessons at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki. Ilmo Ranta, pianist, is their most important coach. Iso-Oja studies with Eeva Liisa Saarinen and Ilmo Ranta, and took lessons earlier with Marjatta Airas and Aulikki Eerola. She followed master classes with Dorothy Irving, Tom Krause, Monica Groop and Hartmut Höll. Siitonen studies with Heini Kärkkäinen, Margit Rahkonen and Ilmo Ranta. She was taught earlier by Liisa Pohjola, Teppo Koivisto and Maria Bogányi. She followed master classes with Bruno Rigutto, Gergely Bogányi and Antti Siirala.
Charlotte Janssen (soprano) & Mark van Nispen (piano)
Soprano Charlotte Janssen has been studying with Xenia Meijer at the Fontys School of Fine and Performing Arts since 2008. She followed masterclasses with Harry Peeters and Nelly Miricioiu. In addition to Lieder, she also sings oratorium and opera. Pianist Mark van Nispen has been studying with Jelena Bazova since 2007, also at the Fontys School of Fine and Performing Arts. He followed master classes with Bart van Oort, Kelvin Grout, Ralph van Raat, Michael Davidson and Kathryn Scott. He also studies organ with Ad van Sleuwen. Janssen and Van Nispen have been working together since 2008. They do not only perform in recitals, but also in other concert forms. For example, Van Nispen occasionally plays the organ, and together with mezzo soprano Florieke Beelen, they form an opera ensemble.
Sara Klein Horsman (mezzo-soprano) & Anouk de Jong (piano)
Mezzo soprano Sara Klein Horsman and pianist Anouk de Jong have been cooperating since 2006. They perform in concerts throughout the country with a broad repertoire. The duo is coached by Rudolf Jansen and Marien van Nieukerken. Klein Horsman studies with Harry van Berne at the ArtEZ Conservatory in Zwolle, after having studied with Riekje Bakker earlier. She took master classes with Barbara Hannigan, Rudolf Jansen, Charles van Tassel and Alison Pearce. De Jong studies with Frank van de Laar at the ArtEZ Conservatory in Zwolle. Earlier, she had lessons with Sepp Grotenhuis. She took masterclasses with Katariina Liimatianen, Anna Wesolowska and Ralph van Raat.
Astrid Krause (alto / mezzo-soprano) & Irina Rozhneva (piano)
Astrid Krause and Irina Rozhneva have performed as a duo since 2009, and are being coached by Marien van Nieukerken and Harry van Berne. In addition to the mainstream Western European repertoire, they increasingly aim at building an Eastern European repertoire and a repertoire of twentieth-century compositions. Alto / mezzo soprano Krause studies with Harry van Berne at the ArtEZ Conservatory Enschede, after having studied with Annette Kleine. Pianist Rozhneva studies with Marien van Nieukerken and Michail Markov, also at the ArtEZ Conservatory Enschede.
Narumi Kuroda (soprano) & Rino Ishii (piano)
Narumi Kuroda and Rino Ishii have already built a portfolio as a duo. They won a prize at the first Japanese Lied Duo Competition, performed in a recital in The Hague, and received a scholarship from the Art Foundation Baden Württemberg. Soprano Kuroda studies with Udo Reinemann, Anne Le Bozec and Malcolm Walker at the University of Music Karlsruhe. Before, she studied with Miya Marjima and Mineko Sato. Pianist Ishii studies with Hartmut Höll at the University of Music Karlsruhe. She earlier studied with Mikio Ikazawa and Ichiro Kato. Both Ishii and Kuroda received a scholarship from the Japanese Ministry of Culture.
Simone van Lieshout (soprano) & Thijn Vermeulen (piano)
Soprano Simone van Lieshout and pianist Thijn Vermeulen met during their studies at the Conservatory of the Utrecht School of Arts. During group lessons and Lieder classes, they decided to build a repertoire together and give concerts. In addition, they took lessons together. Van Lieshout studies with Charlotte Margiono and Jón Thorsteinsson. Before, she studied with Frans Huyts and Lara Diamand. Vermeulen studies with Henry Kelder and was coached earlier by Mila Baslawskaja and Katia Veekmans.
Aarne Pelkonen (baritone) & Juho Alakärppä (piano)
Aarne Pelkonen and Juho Alakärppä have been cooperating for two years. They are dedicated to both West-European and Finnish repertoire. The duo was taught by Gerold Huber, Helmut Deutsch and Thomas Quasthoff. In Februari 2011, they won a special prize for Lied-Duo in “Das Lied -International Song Competition” in Berlin. Baritone Pelkonen studies with Thomas Quasthoff and Wolfram Rieger at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler in Berlin. Earlier he studied with Pirkko Törnqvist-Paakkanen at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Pianist Alakärppä studies with Friedemann Berger, Gerold Huber and Donald Sulzen in Munich, after having studied with Liisa Pohjola at the Sibelius-Academy in Helsinki and Ulrich Rademacher at the Cologne University of Music.
Tatiana Probst (soprano) & Jonas Atlan (piano)
Soprano Tatiana Probst and Pianist Jonas Atlan have worked together since 2009 under supervision of Jeff Cohen. They have given recitals together in Paris, Morocco and Tours. They work on chamber music together at the Paris Conservatoire, and participated together in the Tours Académie. Probst studies with Mireille Alcantara, Itamar Golan, Michelle Voisinet and Anne-Marie Fontaine. Before, she studied with Jeff Cohen, François Le Roux and Michel Merlet. Pianist Jonas Atlan also studies at the Paris Conservatoire with David Kuyken, Thierry Escaich and Itamar Golan. His earlier teachers include Edson Elias, Gilles Bérard, Jeff Cohen, Fabien Waksman, Pierre Pincemaille and Michel Merlet.
Hiltrud Rau (soprano) & Katsuhisa Mori (piano)
Lyrical soprano Hiltrud Rau and pianist Katsuhisa Mori have been working together since August 2008. They took several master classes together. Both currently study at the University of Music Cologne. Rau studies with Klesie Kelly-Moog and studied with Cheryl Studer before. She took master classes with Margreet Honig, Ruth Ziesak, Irwin Gage, Axel Brauni and Brigitte Fassbaender. Mori studies with Jürgen Glauß and earlier studied with Susan Bradshow, Michal Wladkowski, Andras Hamary and Ulrich Eisenlohr. He followed master classes with many teachers, including Irwin Gage and Axel Bauni. In 2009, Rau and Mori together won the second prize at the International Paula Salomon Lindberg Lieder Competition.
Barbara Ruzsics (soprano) & Dorottya Lokos (piano)
The soprano Barbara Ruzsics studied with Katalin Halmai, Denes Gulyas and Laury Christie at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. At the same Academy, Dorottya Lokos studies with Imola Pogany, after having studied with Mihaly Duffek. The duo met during chamber music classes. Since then, they have performed in various Lieder recitals. In the near future, concerts in Liverpool and Budapest are scheduled.
Guja Sandholt (mezzo-soprano) & Duan Holý (piano)
Mezzo-soprano Guja Sandholt and pianist Dušan Holý have paired up especially for this competition. Coming from Iceland, Sandholt studied in Iceland, London and Austria, and now studies with Jon Thorsteinsson at the Conservatory Utrecht. Earlier, she was taught by Will Hancox and Rut Magnusson. She followed master classes with Sarah Walker, Roger Vignoles, Angelika Kirschlager and Donald Kaasch. Coming from Czech Republic, studies with Martijn van den Hoek, and earlier studied with Jaroslava Kotmelová and František Maxián. He is fascinated by electronic and contemporary music, and is also active as a composer.
Gulnara Shafigullina (soprano) & María L. Belarte (piano)
Soprano Gulnara Shafigullina and pianist María L. Belarte both study at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Shafigullina is taught by Sasja Hunnego and Mirsa Adami. Before, she studied with Rimma Volkova in St. Petersburg. She participated in master classes with Aleksandrina Milcheva and conductor Dragomir Nenov in Sofia, Bulgaria. Her chamber music repertoire includes many Lieder, and in 2010 she presented a CD. Belarte studies with David Kuyken, and took lessons earlier with Bartomeu Jaume Bauze. She followed master classes with Graham Jackson, Joaquín Soriano, Guillermo González, Aquiles delle Vigne and Jorge Luis Prats. She performs chamber music in various settings.
Agnes Steidl (soprano) & Barbara Melion (piano)
Agnes Steidl and Barbara Melion have been cooperating since April 2010. They perform regularly in concerts at the University of Music Freiburg and other concerts in the region. Soprano Steidl studies at the University of Music Freiburg with Bernd Göpfert, and earlier studied with Anne Pellekoorne. Pianist Melion studies at the University of Music Freiburg with Hans-Peter Müller, and was taught earlier by Andreas Immer, Ludmila Kasjanenko and Witalis Raczkiewicz.
Margarita Swarczewskaja (mezzo-soprano) & Nicola Colocci (piano)
The Swarczewskaja-Colocci duo was established in 2008, and has given several concerts since then in the Venice-Trieste region. Their repertoire ranges from the 18th century to contemporary music. Mezzo-soprano Margarita Swarczewskaja studies with Rita Susovsky at the Tartini Conservatory of Trieste. Earlier, she studied with Mati Palm, Rostislav Gurjev and Yulianna Lapinsh. She followed several master classes, and moreover studied choral conduction before. Pianist Nicola Colocci studies at the same conservatory with Roberto Turrin, and earlier studied with Giuliana Poropat and Giorgio Cerasoli. In addition, he is active as a soloist on both piano and harpsichord in various chamber-music ensembles.
Alvaro Vallés (baritone) & Motoko Harunari (piano)
Alvaro Vallés and Motoko Harunari are dedicated to French, Spanish and German art songs. They have been working together since 2009 and gave a recital with Dichterliebe in Strasbourg. They attended a master classes with Annette Kleine and Marien van Nieukerken. Baritone Vallés studies with Marie Kobayashi at the Conservatory of Strasbourg. Earlier, he studied with Amelia Veiga. Pianist Harunari studies at the same Conservatory with Laurent Cabasso and André Arbet, and had earlier taken lessons with Jeff Cohen and Kobiki Massanori.
Elli Vallinoja (soprano) & Victoria Vatanskaja (piano)
The duo Elli Vallinoja – soprano – and Victoria Vatanskaja – pianist – have been working together since 2008. As a duo, they study with pianist Ilmo Ranta. They gave numerous concerts and in 2010 received the first prize of the Lieder section at the national Chamber Music Competition in Savonlinna, Finland. Vallinoja studies with Outi Kähkönen at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki. Before, she studied with Marja Ratia. She played various opera roles, and in 2010 made her film debut in the Finnish musical film ‘Jos rakastat – If you love’. Vatanskaja also studies at the Sibelius academy with Teppo Koivisto and Erik T. Tawaststjerna. She earlier studied with Margit Rahkonen and Leena Nikula, and followed master classes with Matti Raekallio, Konstantin Boginon and Avedis Kouyoumdjian.
Jongmin Yoon (bass-baritone) & Ayako Saito (piano)
Bass-baritone Jongmin Yoon studies with Rudolf Piernay at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts. Before, he studied with Soo-kil Park and Soyoung lee. He followed master classes with teachers including Jan Philip Schulze, Burkhard Kehring and Peter Nelson. He sung various roles in oratorios and operas. Pianist Ayako Saito studies in Mannheim with Ulrich Eisenlohr, after being coached by Yuriko Hanyo, Yuko Umenura, Satoko Tokumaru and Andreas Pistorius. As a duo, Yoon and Saito have been working since one year.
Sayaka Yoshida (soprano) & Eva-Maria Weinreich (piano)
Sayaka Yoshida, soprano, and Eva-Maria Weinrich, pianist, have been working together for one year. During this period, they performed in various concerts, and also contributed to literary soirees on Mörike and Goethe. Yoshida studies at the Academy of Music Franz Liszt Weimar with Karl-Peter Kammerlander and David Santos. Before, she studied with Mitsuko Shirai, Helmut Deutsch and Fritz Schwinghammer. Eva-Maria Weinreich studies Lieder interpretation at the Academy of Music Franz Liszt Weimar with Karl-Peter Kammerlander, David Santos and Christoph Ritter. Before, she studied with Jakob Leuschner, Malcolm Wilson and Rolf-Dieter Arens.
Evelyn Zieger (soprano) & Roele Kok (piano)
Soprano Evelyn Zieger and pianist Roele Kok have been performing together since one year, mostly in concerts the ArtEZ Conservatory where both study. Ziegler studies at the ArtEZ Conservatory Enschede with Annette Kleine and Marien van Nieukerken. In 2006, she won the German national prize Jugend Musiziert. Kok studies at the ArtEZ conservatory Zwolle with Marien van Nieukerken, and was taught earlier by Paul Koomen.
