Lydia Opilik and Duri Collenberg
The duo Lydia Opilik and Duri Collenberg was formed in 2009 during a masterclass with Daniel Fueter and Hans Adolfsen in Zurich. Since then, they have been playing together, being coached by David Bollen. Recently, they followed a masterclass with Rudolph Jansen and Meinard Kraak.
Lydia Opilik, soprano, studies with Sasja Hunnego at the Conservatory of Amsterdam. Additionally, she studied with Lena Hauser and Lina Akerlund in Zurich. She is a prize winner of both the Friedl-Wald-Stiftung Basel and the Duft-Thorner-Stiftung Schwyz.
Duri Collenberg studied piano with Hans-Jürg Strub at the Conservatory of Zurich, and composition with Mathias Steinauer. Currently, he is a composition student at the Conservatroy of Amsterdam with Willem Jeths and Wim Hendrickx.
In 2011, he was awarded the Kulturförderpreis Graubünden.
As a duo, Opilik and Collenberg are pursuing a creative approach to the traditional Liedrepertoire. With their own projects and compositions, they point out the actuality of songs and Lied, and seek a bridge between tradition and innovation. They already created their own music-theater project, called Distillation, and they have currently been selected to play in the Grachtenfestivalconcours.
Sophie Pullen and Varazdat Khachatryan
The duo Sophie Pullen and Varazdat Khachatryan began working together in 2012 while both postgraduate students at Birmingham Conservatoire. Since forming, they have performed in various recitals and competitions, including the Peter Donohoe Piano Prize for which Varazdat was awarded Joint First Prize. They are currently working on a number of song cycles and preparing for their final recitals later this year.
English soprano Sophie has performed with Glyndebourne Youth Opera, British Youth Opera and at The Royal Opera House. She now studies with Christine Cairns. In addition to oratorio, chamber and recital work, she has taken part in various masterclasses and performed as a finalist in the Ashleyan Opera, Singing and Cecil Drew Oratorio Prizes. Recent operatic roles include Lauretta from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi and Galatea from Handel's Acis and Galatea.
Varazdat is in his third year of postgraduate studies in Birmingham, having previously completed Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in piano and choir conducting, as well as an Advanced Postgraduate degree in piano performance (Aspirantura) at Yerevan State Conservatoire in his home country of Armenia. Varazdat’s recent appearances include solo performances in renowned musical halls throughout Armenia, Russia, Lebanon, Syria and the Czech Republic. He currently studies accompaniment with John Thwaites and Katya Apekisheva.
Sophie and Varazdat study with Robin Bowman, John Thwaites and Simon Nicholls. They have performed in Birmingham, and concerts in the south of England and London are planned for 2013.
Zisser Theresa and Bona Hur
The duo Theresa Zisser and Bona Hur was formed a year ago, when they first performed together in a Lied-concert at the University. Both are currently studying with Joseph Breinl. Since their first concert, they have performed in multiple concerts in Graz. The duo loves the Lied-repertoire, although they are also exploring other directions.
Theresa, soprano, has been studying with Annemarie Zeller at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz since 2009. She concentrates both on Lied and Oratorio, as well as on Opera. She took several classes with Angelika Kirchschlager. She regularly performs in and around Graz.
Pianist Bona Hur has been studying with Joseph Breinl at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Graz since 2012. Before, she studied with Dmitry Kosmachev in Korea, and at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg in Austria.
Georg Klimbacher and Yosuke Osada
Georg Klimbacher and Yosuke Osada started working as a duo during their studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, when they attended the Lied class of Joseph Breinl. Since the beginning of the past year, they have regularly performed in recitals, including one at the St. Pauler Kultursommer in Carinthia, Austria, in August 2013. In their work, they have been focusing on German Lied, and are now widening their range so as include French Lied repertoire as well.
The lyric baritone Georg Klimbacher is currently studying with Robertus Holl and Edith Lienbacher at the University of Performing Arts Vienna. After studying piano and music education, he first started his vocal studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. There, he participated in masterclasses with Charles Spencer and Helena Lazarska. He is passionate about the songs of Robert Schumann and 20th-century repertoire.
Yosuke Osada is currently studying piano vocal accompaniment with Charles Spencer, and singing with Martin Klietmann. After finishing his studies in German philology in Tsukuba, Japan, he started his vocal studies at the University of Music and Peforming Arts Graz. He studied Lied interpretation with Stacey Bartsch, Gerhard Zeller and Joseph Breinl. In Graz, he has performed both as a singer and an accompanist.
Lukas Zeman and Lucie de Saint Vincent
Lukas Zeman, baritone, and Lucie de Saint Vincent, piano, formed a duo in 2009, when they found out they have a common interest in the world of lied and melodies. Lucie is specializing in the accompaniment of singers and took lied classes in the Ecole Normale of Paris and in the Royal Conservatories of The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht. In addition to their regular coachings in the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, their ensemble also took masterclasses with Udo Reineman, Malcom Martineau , Christianne Stotijn, Joseph Breinl and Ami Shamir. They performed recitals, among others, in the festival Heures Romantique in Tours, France, in Haarlem, at the Haagse Kunstring, at the Young Artist Festival in Prague, Czech Republic, and at Château d’Etrechy, France.
Lukas Zeman was born in Prague and studied voice, bassoon and conducting at the Gymnazium Jana Nerudy. Later he moved to Austria to study voice at the Mozarteum Salzburg and Italian Language at the University of Salzburg. Lukas came to Netherlands in 2006 to study with David Wilson-Johnson, Sasja Hunnego and also with Andrew Schroeder.
He completed his Bachelor at the Royal Conservatory in Den Haag spending one year in Italy at Coservatorio di Luigi Cherubini in Florence. He is currently in his last year of the Masters at the Dutch National Opera Academy. He held solo recitals in Yokohama (Japan), Auckland (New Zealand), Geneva (Switzerland), and at the Mumbai Center for Performing Arts in India.
French pianist and fortepianist Lucie de Saint Vincent began to play piano in the conservatory of her hometown Perpignan. After studying in Paris, Lucie came to the Netherlands in 2004 to study with Paolo Giacometti at the Utrecht Conservatorium and graduated in June 2008 her Master of Music with the Honours of the jury. Lucie studied fortepiano at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, and graduated her Performance fortepiano Master in 2012. She regularly performs in concerts through Europe as a soloist, chamber musician, and as an accompanist. Her performances have included recitals as part of the Fringe Festival Oude Muziek of Utrecht, during the Bach Festival of Dordrecht.
Siwoung Song and Lauriane Follonier
The duo Siwoung Song and Lauriane Follonier were both students of Helmut Deutsch at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and got to know each after graduation at a competition. In 2012, they got into the semi-finals at the Schumann Lied competition in Germany. Since then, they have been developing their musical visions. The duo has a preference for romantic music and plans to perform a Lied recital at the Swiss Schubert Festival in 2013.
Siwoung Song, baritone, was born in Seoul, South Korea, and graduated in Opera at the Konservatorium City of Vienna University, and in Lied Interpretation for singers at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich under the supervision of Helmut Deutsch. He is currently studying Lied and Oratorio with Wolfgang Holzmair at the Mozarteum University Salzburg. He has performed many Lied recitals and Cantatas in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and is currently a scholarship holder of Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now in Vienna, Austria.
Pianist Lauriane Follonier was born in Venthône, Valais, Switzerland. She studied Piano in Neuchâtel with Marc Pantillon and in Munich, where she graduated in the Piano Meisterklasse in 2011. In addition to being an active chamber musician, she is currently studying Lied Interpretation with Rudi Spring and Helmut Deutsch, and Cembalo with Christine Schornsheim. Lauriane Follonier regularly performs in concerts in Switzerland and Germany, and since 2010, she has been participating in the
Sebastian Seitz and Tobias Koltun
The duo Sebastian Seitz and Tobias Koltun was formed in 2010 in the Lied class of Jürgen Glauss, when preparing for a concert with Robert Schumann’s Opus 24. Consequently, they were invited to perform songs by Ferruccio Busoni in the Cologne Philharmonic. During the past two years, they have expanded their repertoire with songs from all style periods, however maintaining their focus on Franz Schubert and other composers of the romantic period. In 2012, the duo participated in a master class at the Wiener Meisterkurse led by Graham Johnson, where they found great inspiration for their further musical collaboration.
The German baritone Sebastian Seitz studies with Mario Hoff at the Academy of Music and Dance in Cologne. Moreover, he takes part in master classes with Werner Guera and is a scholar of the Liedakademie at Heidelberger Frühling, in which he was able to work with Thomas Hampson and many others. Besides his interest in Lied, Seitz also appears in operatic roles in the opera houses of Dortmund, Aachen and Münster. He already gathered international concert experience.
After taking his pianist-diploma with Vassily Lobanov and Sheila Arnold, Tobias Koltun began his master course in the Lied class of Jürgen Glauss at the Academy of Music and Dance Cologne. Next to his participation in master classes with Ulrich Eisenlohr, Axel Bauni , Anne Le Bozec and others, he is an accompanist in the vocal classes of Mario Hoff and Claudia Kunz-Eisenlohr in Cologne. The young pianist was an award winner of the Joseph-Suder-Wettbewerb 2012 in Nürnberg.
Alina Rozeboom and Vesna Dimcevska
Alina Rozeboom and Vesna Dimcevska started working together in the autumn of 2012.
Currently, Vesna is a Master student at ArtEZ Conservatorium in the class of Frank van de Laar. In January 2012, she won the Publieksprijs at the Grachtenfestival Conservatorium Concours in Amsterdam, and was invited to give a recital at the Grachtenfestival in August 2012. She graduated at the National Music Academy in Sofia, where she worked with the Bulgarian pianist Dimo Dimov. At the National Conservatory in Toulouse (France) she specialized in piano accompaniment, where she developed a passion for the vocal music, especially the Lied repertoire.
Alina started her vocal education at the choirschool Viva la Musica with Wilma ten Wolde. She currently studies with Marion van den Akker at the Prins Claus Conservatoire in Groningen. During her studies, she gained opera experience as Blanche in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites with stage-director Marc Krone. She took masterclasses with Emma Kirkby, Claron McFadden, Hanneke de Wit, and with breathing specialist Paul Triepels. She participated in Liedclasses by Eelko Moolenaar and Marien van Nieukerken.
Alvaro Vallés and Motoko Harunari
Alvaro Vallés and Motoko Harunari met at the Conservatory of Strasbourg in 2009, since 2011 they work together as “Duo Suertes”.
They are dedicated to French and Spanish art songs and have given numerous concerts in Strasbourg and in Alsace.
They attended several master classes together with François Le Roux, Jeff Cohen, Noël Lee, Annette Kleine and Marien van Nieukerken.
Baritone Vallés studies with Carlos Chausson in Barcelona and Marie Kobayashi at the Conservatory of Strasbourg.
Pianist Harunari is graduated at the same Conservatory where she studied with Laurent Cabasso, and had earlier taken lessons in Japan with Kobiki Massanori.
Michalina Bienkiewicz and Peng Yue
Michalina Bienkiewicz and Pang Yue had gone their long, separate ways before they met in Weimar in September 2012, and started to work together on song interpretation.
Michalina started her adventure with music in Poland, playing the piano and the clarinet. Later, as a member of a chamber choir, Cantus Polonicus, she committed herself to early music performance. She was selected by H. Niquet to participate in L'academie baroque européenne d'Ambronay in France in 2007. In 2009, she finished her studies in Cracow, earning degrees in solo singing and in English philology. Then she moved to Vienna to continue her singing education. During her studies there, she was a member of Arnold Schönberg Choir and worked as a translator and an assistant in a travel agency. In 2011, she became a member of the Thuringian Opera Studio and moved to Weimar.
Peng started playing the piano at the age of 5 in Beijing, China. After 18 years of indefatigable practice, he earned his Bachelor's degree in piano performance. After that, in 2007, he came to Weimar to continue his studies. Soon, he discovered that working with singers gave him immense pleasure; therefore, after accomplishing his MA in piano performance, he decided to pursue his studies in song accompaniment. He did not have to wait long for the fruits of this decision. In July 2010 he was the winner of International Competition of Singing and Piano Duets "Three centuries of classical romance" in St. Petersburg. He also received the audience award.
Marie Perbost and Joséphine Brault
Marie Perbost and Joséphine Brault met at the CNSM in Paris in September 2012. They immediately got along thanks to their common attachment to Poulenc. The chemistry between them is not only musical but also friendly. The duo is currently coached by Anne Le Bozec. They have already been performing together in Paris, as well as in the Festival Voix:là in Dijon. Concerts in the Paris Conservatory have been planned for the coming months.
Marie, soprano, studied at the Maîtrise de Radio France for 6 years and took lessons with Didier Henry and Ana Maria Miranda. She currently studies at the CNSM of Paris in the class of Isabelle Guillaud and Stefan Genz. She will sing the role of Blanche in Poulenc's Le dialogue des Carmélites in Paris in May 2013.
Joséphine received her piano education in Belgium with Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, in Leipzig, Germany, with Markus Tomas, and in Cologne, Germany, with Richard Braun. In 2012, she entered the Paris Conservatory in the Lied class of Anne Le Bozec. She is currently specializing in chamber music, in particular with her viola-piano duo and in Lied with Marie.
David Visser and Mark van Nispen
The duo David Visser and Mark van Nispen was formed in 2012. Since then they have been performing on several occasions, including a festival dedicated to the Dutch composer Alphons Diepenbrock. Currently, they are being coached by Meinard Kraak. Rrecitals have been scheduled for 2013 in the Netherlands and France.
Baritone David Visser studied classical singing with Carolyn Watkinson at Codarts Conservatory Rotterdam. He graduated in 2012. He is now being coached by Meinard Kraak, from whom he received master classes in France. He also took master classes with Wolfgang Holzmair and Peter Kooij.
Pianist Mark van Nispen received his Bachelor degree in 2011 at the Fontys Conservatory Tilburg, where he is currently taking a Master's program, specializing in Lied repertoire with Jelena Bazova. He took master classes with Kelvin Grout and Ronald Brautigam. He is also working as an accompanist at the Young Musicians Academy Tilburg.
Charlotte Houberg and Felix Justin
Charlotte Houberg and Felix Justin met by chance when they prepared for a concert. Ever since, they have continued their duo work in several classes, masterclasses and concerts, with repertoire spanning various periods. The duo is currently coached by Rudolf Jansen, Henny Diemer and Henry Kelder. They are especially interested in the Romantic repertoire.
Charlotte is currently studying with Henny Diemer. She took part in several opera productions at the Conservatorium of Utrecht. Currently, Charlotte is also a member of Studio 32, an opera studio founded by Henny Diemer. Last summer, Studio 32 made a 100 minute long production of the three Da Ponte operas: NozzeDonCosi. It was staged at the Grachtenfestival, Amsterdam, and Charlotte performed the role of Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni. She also gave a lied recital in the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ and in the Concertgebouw. In the competition of the Stichting Jong Muziek Talent, Charlotte won a prize in the final. She toured through the Netherlands with Orchestra Sinfonia Rotterdam.
Felix is currently studying at the Conservatorium of Utrecht with Henry Kelder. In addition to solo piano, he is interested in accompanying singers, and also in chamber music. Felix won several Yamaha competitions in Indonesia. He also took several piano masterclasses with Ana Mirabella Dina, Svetozar Ivanov, and Klara Wurtz. He plays both nationally and internationally as a soloist as well as with singers.
Maximilian Krummen and Katsuhisa Mori
Maximilian Krummen and Katsuhisa Mori have been working together since 2011. In the Lied-Duo Class of Juergen Glauss at the University of Music in Cologne, they worked mainly on Schubert songs. One special project was the cycle Die schoene Muellerin. They performed together in several concerts. The duo's style has been greatly influenced by Graham Johnson, with whom the took a master class in Vienna in 2012.
The baritone Maximilian Krummen received a Bachelor's degree from University of Music Cologne in 2012, after studying with Dieter Schweikard. His final concert was dedicated to Russian romantic song repertoire. As of October 2012, he is continuing his studies in the Master's programme with Lioba Braun. In 2011 and 2012, he participated in the Lied Academy of the "Heidelberger Fruehling" festival. During these classes, he was taught by Thomas Hampson, Brigitte Fassbaender and Wolfram Rieger. During the season 2012/13, he is performing in various operas at the theatre in Aachen.
Pianist Katsuhisa Mori finished his Master's study at University of Music Cologne in the class of Juergen Glauss. He worked with Irwin Gage, Axel Bauni and Graham Johnson. As a solist and accompanist, he performed in several countries. He took a specialization in Lied accompaniment, including chamber music with voice. He won various international competitions.
Ellen Valkenburg and Andrea Vasi
Ellen Valkenburg, soprano, and Andrea Vasi, pianist, started playing together three years ago. They took lessons with various specialists in Lied repertoire, including Meinard Kraak, Rudolf Jansen, Roberta Alexander and Phyllis Ferwerda. The duo won the first edition of the Musico Liedconcours and has been performing throughout the Netherlands.
Ellen received her Bachelor's degree in Music Education from the Conservatory of Tilburg and her Bachelor's degree in Classical Singing from the Conservatory of The Hague. Currently, she is enrolled in the Master's programme in The Hague, where she studies with Maria Acda and Sasja Hunnego. She took part in the course ‘Poetry and performance of the German Lied’ at the Franz Schubert institute in Baden bei Wien in 2011. In 2012, the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds granted her the Margit Widlund Stipendium. She is also a member of the ensemble Coco Collectief.
Andrea earned Bachelor's degree at the Conservatory of The Hague. Currently, thanks to the Carl and Marie Klinkert fund, she is a Master student at the same Conservatory, studying with Ellen Corver. She won prizes at various competitions including the Prinses Christina Competition and the Steinway Competition, and performed in Europe, the USA and Canada, both as a soloist, with as well as without orchestra, and as a chamber musician. Andrea participated in summer courses in Italy and Austria, and took lessons at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Between 2010 and 2012, she worked as a music teacher in Indian orphanages and gave many concerts and workshops throughout India.
Farman Purnama and Eriko Mikami
Both Farman Purnama, tenor from Jakarta, Indonesia, and Eriko Mikami, pianist, from Hiroshima, Japan, are currently bachelor students at the Utrecht Conservatory. They live in the same street in Utrecht and for this competition they formed a duo.
In August 2009, Farman decided to study classical vocal performing art with Henny Diemer. With The Jakarta Concert Orchestra, he had earlier played 3 opera productions. He performed as Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in 2004, as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni in 2005, and as Samson in Samson et Dalila by Camille Saint-Saëns in 2006. Accompanied by Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa from Japan in October 2006, he was a soloist in Mozart's Coronation Mass at the Macau International Music Festival in Macau. In June 2007, he performed the solo part of Carl Maria Von Weber's Mass in E flat major in Kanazawa, Japan. This performance was recorded and published by Warner Classic Japan.
Eriko studied Piano in Tokyo at the Toho High School of Music and the Toho Gakuen College of Music with Mayo Yoshimura and Yuko Ninomiya. After the graduation, she came to the Netherlands. Since then, she has studied with Klara Wurtz. She won the second prize in the Huper Piano Concours. She was awarded a scholarship by the Hiroshima International Culture Foundation. Her experience includes performances with the Janacek Quartet and the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra.
Rosina Fabius and Pauline Stafford
Rosina and Pauline met in 2011 a the Conservatorium of Utrecht when performing in a contemporary opera project. During the past two years, they have worked regularly as a duo. They performed in various concerts and masterclasses including a week-long Strauss course with Charlotte Margiono and Rudolf Jansen. In 2012, they performed together with violist Prunella Pacey at the Geelvinck Museum in Amsterdam. While interested in the broader Lied repertoire, their focus is on developing a flexible partnership that allows them to breath life into their interpretations.
Scottish pianist Pauline Stafford earned her Bachelor's degree at the Birmingham Conservatoire (UK). During this time, she worked as a collaborative pianist, with singers, and on the Pianist for Dance scheme at the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Upon moving to the Netherlands, Pauline has performed extensively. In 2012, she won the Utrecht Conservatorium Chamber Music Prize, with Trio Argemone, which was subsequently performed live on Radio 4. She is currently studying for a Master's degree in accompaniment with Henry Kelder.
Rosina Fabius started taking singing lessons at the age of sixteen, at the Conservatory of Utrecht with Henny Diemer, with whom she continues to study for her Bachelor's degree. She regularly performs in concerts and opera productions initiated by Studio 32 Utrecht, where she also has received coaching from various teachers and musicians such as Rudolf Jansen, Cynthia Hoffman and Ed Spanjaard. Rosina enjoys singing opera repertoire by Monteverdi and Händel, and coming from a musical family she has a strong affinity with the song- and chamber music repertoire.
Artjom Korotkov and Hsin-Pei Liu
The tenor Artjom Korotkov, first prize winner of the international voice competition "The Singing Mask" in St. Petersburg and finalist in the "Hans-Gabor Belvedere Voice competition" in Vienna, studies currently at the Liszt School of Music with Michail Lanskoi in Weimar, Germany. He has been performing in various opera productions in Russia and Germany. Since the season 2011/2012, Artjom has been a member of the ensemble at the Dessau Theatre.
Hsin-Pei Liu, pianist, studied solo piano at the Liszt School of Music in Weimar. In 2012, she received her degree in Lied Accompaniment with excellence from the same school. Her performances have brought her to Taiwan, Canada, and Europe. Hsin-Pei is currently active not only as a solo pianist, but also as a Lied accompanist and chamber musician.
The Duo was formed in 2012 in Weimar, where both musicians study. Since then, they have been working together on different projects. Their repertoire includes works from the classical period to the 20th century.
Jon Stainsby and Seho Lee
Jon Stainsby and Seho Lee met at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where they were regular collaborators and winners of the Margaret Dick Award. They subsequently won the national Delius Prize, representing the RCS. Following this success, they have been invited to give a recital for the Delius Society at Steinway Hall in London. Their repertoire extends from the established classics of the German Lied and French melodie traditions to works by neglected composers and contemporary music.
Jon Stainsby continues his studies at the RCS Opera School, but the song repertoire continues to be central to his musical activities. In recent years, he has participated in masterclasses with Graham Johnson in the Young Songmakers' Programme, Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber in the Britten Pears Programme, and with Wolfgang Holzmair in both the Oxford Lieder Festival Mastercourse and the Elly Ameling Mastercourse at the IVC 's-Hertogenbosch. He performed with Malcolm Martineau. A former student of Rudolf Piernay, he now studies with Scott Johnson.
Seho Lee now studies as a Steinway Piano Scholar at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where he is also the holder of the Junior Piano Fellowship. He has played in masterclasses with Malcolm Martineau, Julius Drake and Roger Vignoles, among others, and has participated in the Oxford Lieder Festival Mastercourse and the North Sea Vocal Academy.
Michael Wilmering and Javier Rameix
Michael Wilmering and Javier Rameix, both with origins in South America, met at the Utrechts Conservatory where they study. Exploring Schumann's Dichterliebe was the start of their collaboration, and remains one of their favorite song cycles to perform. They have been performing in different venues throughout the Netherlands, including the Staetshuys in Amsterdam. They are coached by Klara Würtz, Alan Weiss, Rudolf Jansen and Henny Diemer.
The baritone Michael Wilmering is a vcal student at the Conservatorium of Utrecht with Henny Diemer. Michael was a prizewinner in the national round of the competition of the Stichting Jong Muziektalent Nederlands. He performed the role of Lucase in Gluck's opera L’Ivrogne corrige and the role of Bob in Menotti's The old maid and the thief. With the latter, he won a prize on a festival in Groningen. This year, he sang Figaro in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and Masetto in Don Giovanni with Studio 32 Utrecht at the Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam.
Javier Rameix is a Master's student at the Utrechts Conservatorium with Alan Weiss and Sebastian Colombo. In 2012, he earned his Bachelor's degree degree with a 10 at Utrecht Faculty of Art. Javier won the first and third prize in the VIII National Piano Competition Silvia Eisenstein, the most important Piano Competition in Caracas, Venezuela. He also won the Excellence Award for Young Aragueño in Venezuela as well as a classification among 20 promising young pianists from around the world at the Young Artists Piano Competition at the Eastman College of Music (Rochester University, New York, USA) in 2005.
Megan Kahts and Sally Yen
Megan Kahts (soprano) and Sally Hsin-Chieh Yen (piano) are Master students in Lied-Gestaltung at the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna, in the classes of Robert Holl and David Lutz respectively. In autumn 2012, they collaborated on a programme of twentieth-century Lieder, emphasizing the Austrian composer Felix Petyrek for an event dedicated to his work. Since then, they have studied together and performed for Sally Hsin-Chieh’s Bachelor Lied exam, which she passed with a unanimous distinction.
Megan, born in 1989 in Johannesburg, South Africa, holds a Bachelor's degree in Music Performance (Cum Laude) from the University of Pretoria, and currently studies Voice in Vienna under Claudia Visca. She was awarded a full scholarship by the Schubert Institute, Baden bei Wien, to participate in its prestigious Lied Masterclass Programme. She has sung Lieder recitals in Pretoria for UNISA, and for the Songmaker’s Guild in Cape Town, premiering the work Three Sonnets, written for her performance by Peter Klatzow. As an opera singer, she has sung the roles of Serpina, Susanna, Adele and Norina.
Sally Hsin-Chieh Yen, born in 1985 in Taipei, Taiwan, completed her Magister and Postgraduate Degrees in Piano Performance at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, studying under Martin Hughes. She has worked as an accompanist in the private singing class of Wicus Slabbert, and for a Taiwanese choir based in Vienna. She has performed as both soloist with orchestra and as chamber musician in Vienna, Taiwan, Berlin and Paris.
You Jonghoon and Yuichiro Tanaka
Tenor Jonghoon You and Pianist Yuichiro Tanaka are students at the University of Music, Karlsruhe, Germany. They participate in the Lied class by Markus Hadulla. Upon this experience, they decided to build a repertoire and to give concerts together.
The Korean tenor Jonghoon You was born in 1985 in South Korea. He studied with Sanghoon You, Seunghyuk Park and Youngsoo Jeong at Yonsei University of Music in Seoul. While studying there, he won several competitions in Seoul. In addition, he was awarded a Scholarship by the Rechard-Wagner Foundation in Germany in 2012. Since 2011, he has been studying voice with Donald Litaker at the University of Music, Karlsruhe.
Japanise Pianist Yuichiro Tanaka studied at the Gunma University in Japan. He studied solo piano with Teruji Karashima and Masahiro Saitoh, and piano accompaniment with Yukari Koyasu and Yoshio Tsukada. He won several competitions in Japan. After working as a pianist and piano teacher, he came to Europa, and took lessons with Udo Reinemann and guest teachers at international Lied masterclasses at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel in 2011 and 2012. In April 2012, he started studying accompaniment of German songs with Markus Hadulla at the University of Music, Karlsruhe.
Brigitte van Hagen and Jan van Wijk
Brigitte van Hagen and Jan van Wijk met eight years ago at the ArtEZ Conservatory in Zwolle, and have been performing together ever since. They have built a vast repertoire and particularly enjoy exploring unfamiliar and neglected pieces, for example the songs by Ernst Krenek and György Kurtág. Jan and Brigitte have performed extensively in The Netherlands, and have received coaching by Rudolf Jansen, Marien van Nieukerken, Burkhard Kehring and Julius Drake.
Brigitte van Hagen (1986), soprano, graduated at the Codarts Conservatory Rotterdam in 2013, where she studied with Roberta Alexander. She now studies privately with Jard van Nes. In June 2011, she made her debut in the Kleine Zaal of the Concertgebouw with pianist Jeremy Jordan. In 2012, she started the Vliegwiel ensemble with mezzosoprano Sara Klein Horsman. Their first theatre production, SCHUIM, will be premiered in September 2013, after which a tour in more than twenty theatres will follow.
Pianist Jan van Wijk (1986) has loved playing chamber music from a young age. He studied at the ArtEZ Conservatory Zwolle with Frank van de Laar and received his Bachelor degree with distinction. He now studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg with Burkhard Kehring. Jan received scholarships from the VSB Fonds and the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds. In 2011, he was awarded the EPTA Piano Methodology Prize. In 2012, his article on the use of composition in piano education was published by the Piano Bulletin.
Sayaka Yoshida and Eva-Maria Weinreich
Sayaka Yoshida and Eva-Maria Weinreich met in June 2009 and found out that they enjoyed making music together very much. Thus, they started studying together as a Lied Duo in 2010. Since, they have given many concerts and built up a large repertoire. In the Summer of 2010, they took part in the Berlin Masterclasses. They also received two scholarships for the Weidener Max Reger Tage in 2010 and 2012. In 2011, they passed their first examen with high marks. They also performed in several concerts, including in Eisenach, Stuttgart, in Weimar at the Liszt Soiree, in Augsburg and München.
Their special interest lies in the songs of Hugo Wolf, which they performed on various occasions, for example in the Mörike Liederabend at the Theater Erfurt in 2010. They are also very keen on performing Japanese Artsongs in connection with the German Lied, to bring the European and Asian Music culture more together. Its a future vision of this duo to build a bridge from Germany to Japan through the Artsong.
Marleen Everink and Thijn Vermeulen
Thijn Vermeulen is a much-requested accompanist of singers and instrumentalists, and an ensemble pianist as well. Additionally, he enjoys performing as a solo pianist. In 2010, Thijn earned a Bachelor’s degree at the Conservatory of Utrecht with Katia Veekmans. Currently, he is in the last year of his Master's programme with Henry Kelder in Utrecht. With alto/mezzosoprano Nicky Bouwers, he forms the duo Bouwers Vermeulen. They recently recorded a cd. Thijn also forms a duo with theremin player Thorwald Jørgensen. Recently, he also started a collaboration with soprano Marleen Everink.
The Dutch soprano, Marleen Everink, studied classical solo singing from 2007 to 2011 at the Conservatory of Maastricht. At the same conservatory, she also earned her Bachelor's degree in choral conducting with Ludo Claesen in June 2012. Since September 2011, she has been a Master student in solo singing at the Conservatory of Utrecht with Charlotte Margiono.
In April 2011, Marleen won the Music Award in Maastricht, and in june 2011, she was a laureate in the Dutch Vocal Presentation. Since June 2012, Marleen has been a freelancer at the Dutch Radio Choir. This choir performes with famous orchestras such as the Concertgebouw Orchestra. Marleen took masterclasses with Rudolf Jansen, Turid Karlsson, Ulrich Eisenlohr, Ruth Ziesak, Jard van Nes and Nelly Miriciociu.
Ewelina Koniec and Anna Szalucka
Ewelina Koniec and Anna Szalucka are both students at the Stanislaw Moniuszko Music Academy in Gdansk, Poland. The duo was formed two years ago during the Folkowisko Cultural Festival in Gorajec, Poland. This encounter resulted in the preparation of their first repertoire together, consisting of Ukrainian folk songs by 19th-century and 20th-century composers. Since then, they have been performing together in the Academy as well as on other stages in Gdansk. In 2012, the duo attended and participated in the competition 'In the circle of slavic music' in Katowice, Poland.
Ewelina Koniec is a mezzo soprano lirico. She is currently a final year postgraduate, studying Vocal and Drama with Ewa Marciniec. In 2011 she studied classical singing with Janice Chapman at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama thanks to the Erasmus Programme. She attended masterclasses and performance classes with Rudolf Piernay, Richard Jackson, Emanuele Moris, Marie Vassiliou, Claudio Desderi and Paul Esswood. Last year, Ewelina appeared in the role of Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. From 2010, she has been a member of the Wratislavia Cantans Choir. She performed in The Schlezwig-Holstein Musikfestival, BBC Proms Festival in the Royal Albert Hall, and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany.
Anna Szalucka is a third-year student in the piano class of Waldemar Wojtal in Gdansk. She was awarded the 1st prize at the Young Pianists Forum in 2006, the 2nd Prize and the Jerzy Waldorff Special Prize at the 9th International Competition For Young Pianists “Arthur Rubinstein in Memoriam” in 2011. She was a laureate and the winner of the Jerzy Waldorff Special Prize on the 46th Festival of Polish Pianists, and a finalist of the Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2012. She attended masterclasses with Aleksiej Orlowiecki, Dina Yoffe, Paul Roberts, Alon Goldstein, Lee Kum-Sing, Alberto Nose. She was awarded the Ministry of Science and Higher Education Prize and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Prize.
Emma Moore and Klara Hornig
Emma Moore, soprano, and Klara Hornig, pianist, first met in late 2011 at the University of the Arts, Berlin. Since then, they have performed together on many occasions.
Emma Moore is currently taking Master's degree in opera with Julie Kaufmann. She earned a Bachelor's degree with First Class Honours in her home city of Sydney, Australia. She is a recipient of the DAAD stipendium, and is also a winner of the Australian Singing Competition and the Sydney Eisteddfod Operatic Aria. She has broad experience as a performer, ranging across Lied, Operatic and Oratorio repertoire. Her most recent operatic roles include Konstanze in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Miss Wordsworth from Britten's Albert Herring. Other notable appearances include Grieg's Peer Gynt with Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and Richard Bonynge’s 80th Birthday Concert at the Sydney Recital Hall.
Klara Hornig studied Piano with Konstanze Eickhorst at the School of Music, Lübeck before commencing a Master's programme in Liedgestaltung with Burkhard Kehring at the School of Music and Theatre, Hamburg. She has also studied with Heinrich Schiff, Michael Sanderling, Julie Kaufmann and Eric Schneider, and attended Masterclasses with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Thomas Quasthoff, Justus Zeyen, Irwin Gage and Wolfram Rieger. In February 2012, Klara Hornig was awarded the second prize at the ‘Franz Schubert und die Musik der Moderne’ International Competition. She currently holds teaching positions at both the School of Music, Rostock, and the University of the Arts, Berlin.
Sylvia Rena Ziegler and Friederike Wiesner
Sylvia Rena Ziegler, mezzo-soprano, and Friederike Wiesner, pianist, got to know each other during their education in the class of Karl-Peter Kammerlander in Weimar. While working together, they extended their knowledge during several masterclasses with various musicians, including Graham Johnson, Christoph Prègardien, Olaf Bär, Gabriele Fontana and Axel Bauni. The Duo won the 1st prize and the audience prize at “International-competition-Franz Schubert und die Musik der Moderne" in Graz. Another success during the year 2012 was a scholarship of the Justus-Hermann-Wetzel foundation Berlin, which given to one LiedDuo every year.
Sylvia Rena Ziegler is a member of the international Opera Studio at Staatstheater Stuttgart. This season, she is singing the second lady in Mozart's Zauberflöte, Oberto in Handel's Alcina, Blumenmädchen in Wagner's Parsifal, Kosinska in Janacek's Osud and the main part in Mathias Heep's new opera Momo. She finished her diploma 2011 in the class of Gudrun Fischer and Lani Poulson, Weimar.
Friederike Wiesner just finished her postgraduate studies in the class of Karl-Peter Kammerlander with distinction, after first having finished her education as a pianist with Andreas Meyer-Hermann in Frankfurt Main. She won the Lied pianist prize at the International-Hugo-Wolf-Liedwettbewerb in Stuttgart, the 1st prize at the melodram competition "Zdenek Fibich" in Prague, and a special prize at the Mendelssohn Competition in Berlin with the ensemble Viererlei.
As a duo, Ziegler and Wiesner have performed in concerts in different countries, including Austria, Italy and Poland.
Fang Hao Chao and Irina Rozhneva
Fang Hao Chao, baritone, and Irina Rozhneva, piano, met at The Liszt School of Music in 2012 and have been working together since then. They have been coached by Thomas Steinhoefel and Karl-Peter Kammerlander. They have developed a broad Lied repertoire in various languages. In July 2012, they won the 2nd prize at the "Three Centuries of Classical Romance"-Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Fang Hao is a Konzertexamen Student with Hans-Joachim Beyer. Previously, he earned his Bachelor's degree at the Taiwan Normal University and his music diploma at The Liszt School of Music.
Irina finished her Master's in piano with Michail Markov and Marien van Nieukerken at the ArtEZ School of Music in 2012. Since october 2012, she has been studying opera accompaniment with Hans-Christian Steinhoefel at The Liszt School of Music.
Laura C. Atkinson and Aska Carmen Saito
American mezzosoprano Laura C. Atkinson and Spanish/Japanese pianist Aska Carmen Saito began their work as a duo in 2010, when they met at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig. Their first project together was a recital of the works of Samuel Barber under the guidance of the American pianist Phillip Moll. In 2011, the pair was awarded an Ad Infinitum Stipendium for the academic year, which provided support for their studies at the Hochschule in Leipzig. The duo was also awarded a scholarship to attend masterclasses at both the Academié Villacroze and the Academié d’Heures Romantique in France. The duo has plans to compete in several upcoming competitions, and is also preparing a recital tour to various venues, including the Mendelssohn and Schumann Houses in Leipzig and Zwickau, a recital hall in France, and a brief tour to Japan.
Mezzosoprano Laura C. Atkinson was awarded a Fulbright Grant from the American government in 2010, which supported a year of study in Leipzig, Germany, where she studied with Jeanette Favaro-Reuter. In 2012, she made her European debut with Oper Leipzig, as Franzl/Heuschreck in a new production of Janácek's Das schlaue Füchslein. She received her Master's degree in early music from Yale University. She is a first prize winner of the American Bach Society competition, a finalist of the Greifswald Kirchemusik Competition, and a Carmel Bach Festival Adams Fellow.
Born in Milan, Italy, the half Japanese and half Spanish pianist Aska Carmen Saito entered the Conservatory G. Verdi in Milan under Edda Ponti at the age of six years old. She graduated in 2005 with a prize for the best student of the year. She continued to study under Michele Fedrigotti, Oleg Marshev and Silvia Rumi, and in 2009 she earned a Master's degree in solo piano with top marks. In Leipzig, Germany, she attended the piano class of Markus Tomas, and the classes in chamber music and Lied interpretation by Phillip Moll. She is currently a masters student in Lied interpretation at the Hochschule in Hannover, in the class of Justus Zeyen. She has been awarded prizes from the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe, the Società Umanitaria in Milan, and from Yehudi Menuhin - Live Music Now in Leipzig, 2011.
Jakob Ahles and Heinz Chen
Jakob Ahles was born in Freiburg im Breisgau, where he first started as a violinist, pianist, dancer and actor, before he turned to singing. From 2007 to 2013, he studied with Thomas Quasthoff at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin. He attended masterclasses with Malcolm Martineau, Thomas Quasthoff, Janet Williams, Wolfgang Millgramm, Stephan Mai and Raphael Alpermann. In 2012, he sang at the Staatsoper im Schillertheater Berlin in the Opera Das tapfere Schneiderlein by Wolfgang Mitterer.
Heinz Chen, born in Vienna, studied at the Music University Vienna, at the Sibelius Academy Helsinki and as an exchange student with Anatol Ugorski in Detmold. He was awarded the Bösendorfer Scholarship in 2002, the first prize at the Helmi-Vesa Piano Competition in Helsinki and the Audience Award at the International Piano Competition The Muse in Greece. He was leading the Beigang International Music Festival in Taiwan from 2006 to 2009. Heinz Chen is currently studying Lied with Burkhard Kehring in Hamburg.
The young Duo met 2012 in Berlin to work on cycles by Gottfried von Einem, which were performed at the Noldestiftung Berlin and the Gottfried von Einem Festtage in Oberdürnbach. Since then, they have extended their repertoire to the 19th century and performed in several concerts in Berlin. Under the initiative of the International Gottfried von Einem Society Berlin, they will take part in a recording of the complete Song Oevre of Gottfried von Einem.
Piia Rytkönen and Juuli Vaulasvirta
Piia Rytkönen and Juuli Vaulasvirta have been cooperating since 2007. They started playing together at the High School of Music and Dance in Kuopio, Finland. After graduating, they both got accepted to the Conservatory of Kuopio, pianist Jaakko Untamala being their main Lied and chamber music coach. The duo has taken part in several Lied masterclasses, including with Ilmo Ranta, Heikki Pellinen, Sirkku Wahlroos-Kaitila. Also, they were admitted, with five other Lied duos in Finland, to a one week recording masterclass for lied duos, held by baritone Jorma Hynninen and pianist Ilkka Paananen. The duo has performed in making several concerts in Finland.
Piia studied in Kuopio with soprano Heli Paananen and is currently studying with Claudia Patacca, Annette Kleine and Marien van Nieukerken at the Artez Conservatory, Enschede.
Juuli studied with Saara Kastarinen and Leena Miikkulainen, and has recently commenced the Bachelor's programme at the Artez Conservatory, Enschede, with Marien van Nieukerken.
Arash Roozbehi and Erika Ott
Arash Roozbehi (1983, Teheran, Iran) began his study in Teheran in 2003. After his debut as a soloist in cooperation with the National Radio & TV Youth Orchestra, he took lessons with Susana Martirosian at the Yerevan State Conservatory in Armenia, from 2005 onwards. He interpreted many important roles in operaproductions, e. g. as Silvio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Since moving to the Netherlands in 2011, he has been a student with Marian Kuiper. He has been singing as a soloist in various oratorios, e. g. by Duruflé, Mozart and Puccini. Next year, Arash will take part in the world première of Tsar Peter the Great by Monique Krus, singing the title role. Parts will also be sung at the Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam, the Peter the Great Festival in Groningen and various other locations in the Netherlands and Russia.
Erika Ott, borin in Stawropol, Caucasus, in 1988, and grown up in Espelkamp, Germany, first took piano lessons with Magda Veroszta in Espelkamp. She took part in many national competitions including Jugend Musiziert and the Grotrian-Steinweg Wettbewerb. During her stay at the ArtEZ conservatory, where she has sudied with Michail Markov since 2008, she participated in the International Summer Music University 2009 in Rhodes and the Erasmus Programme "Haydn the Progressive - The Next Generation" in Eisenstadt in 2010. For over four years, she has formed a Lied duo with Tamara Peters, soprano, with whom she regularly takes lessons with Marien van Nieukerken. Erika is active in various chamber music ensembles. She also plays the harpsichord in Baroque ensembles, and took part in the Apollo Summer Academy in Dronten, the Netherlands, in 2012.
Arash and Erika met during consequential Lied projects and masterclasses organized by Marien van Nieukerken. Their interest in working together as a Lied duo is growing!
