Copenhagen Lied-Duo Competition 2023

COPENHAGEN LIED-DUO COMPETITION 27th - 29th october, 2023

THE ROYAL DANISH ACADEMY OF MUSIC Preliminary Rounds — ­­ Friday & Saturday, 12 AM - 7 PM Finale — Sunday, 3 PM - 5.30 PM

The Soloist Association of 1921

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Det Danske Sangselskab

The Royal Danish Academy of Music

Programme FIRST ROUND, Friday, October 27, The Studio Hall — ­­ 11 duos 12.00 AM — 2.30 PM: First round 2.30 PM — 3.30 PM: Intermission 3.30 PM — 6.00 PM: First round 7.00 PM: Announcement of the result of the first round SECOND ROUND, Saturday, October 28, The Studio Hall — ­ 8 duos 12.00 AM — 2.15 PM: Second round 2.15 PM — 3.15 PM: Intermission 3.15 PM — 5.30 PM: Second round 6.30 PM: Announcement of the result of the second round FINALE, Sunday, October 29, The Concert Hall - 4 duos Conferencier: Poul Elming 3.00 PM ­— 4.40 PM: Final round 4.40 PM — 5.00 PM: Intermission 5.00 PM — 5.20 PM: Performance by Absalon String Quartet: Thera Ortved (violin), Andreas Lienhøft Larsen (violin), Alva ­Rasmussen (viola), Olga Chwaszczewska (cello) 5.20 PM: Announcement of the winners 5.30 PM — 7.00 PM: Reception in The Carl Nielsen Foyer for all participants and their guests.

The Studio Hall, Rosenørns Allé 22, 1970 Frederiksberg C The Concert Hall, Julius Thomsens Gade 1, 1974 Frederiksberg — 2

Prices First prize: dkk 50.000 | Second prize: dkk 30.000 Third prize: dkk 20.000 | Forth prize: dkk 10.000 Special prizes: Best performance of a song by Carl Nielsen: dkk 15.000 Best performance of a song in the Danish language: dkk 10.000 The special prizes can be awarded to duos from all rounds of the competition (A price is one amount for each duo)

@cphliedduocompetition

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Winners of the first prize in 2021: Megan Moore & Francesco Barfoed — 3

Velkommen Vi byder publikum og konkurrencedeltagerne velkommen til den 5. afholdte Lied Duo Competition i København. Over tre dage vil 11 udvalgte duoer, repræsentanter fra en lang række lande, konkurrere i et bredt Lied-repertoire, og ikke mindst sætte fokus på selve Lied-kunsten.

Konkurrencen er åben for alle stemmetyper, men er netop en Duo-konkurrence: Det vokale og det pianistiske bliver vurderet på lige fod. Det er med andre ord den samlede musikalske fremførelse, dommerpanelet tager stilling til. Vi kommer til at o­ pleve, at den kunstneriske intimitet og det fælles udtryk forvandler konkurrence­situationen til en serie af indholdsrige koncerter.

Det kan næppe anfægtes, at især operakunsten har en bred f­olkelig appel, men i musikkens forunderlige verden er der visse særligt følsomme områder, som synes at kalde på komponistens inderste følelser. Man kan fremhæve strygekvartetten i lige så høj grad som Lied-kunsten. Her har igennem århundreder de største komponister ladet sig inspirere maksimalt og ofte sat i gang af tilsvarende beåndede digtere.

Ved Copenhagen Lied Duo Competition er der også sat s­ ærligt fokus på dansksproget Lied-kunst, og det bliver s­ pændende at registrere, hvordan den danske ”tone” blander sig med den centraleuropæiske tradition og tilmed yderligere med en række nyere Lieder.

De to første konkurrencerunder bliver afholdt på DKDMs Studiescene, kendt for sin fremragende akustik, og selve finale­koncerten kan høres i DKDM-koncertsalen, et rum som har lagt akustik til de største sangere og pianister gennem mange årtier.

Velkommen til publikum og ikke mindst velkommen til de dygtige og udvalgte konkurrencedeltagere.

På hele juryens vegne

Toke Lund Christiansen Formand for Solistforeningen af 1921 Juryformand, Copenhagen Lied-Duo Competition — 4

Welcome We welcome the audience and our competition participants to the fifth international Copenhagen Lied Duo C ­ ompetition. Across three e­ xciting days, 11 selected duos representing many different countries will ­compete in a broad Lied repertoire, focusing on the specific art of Lied.

The competition is a duo contest where the vocalist and the pianist are assessed on equal terms as an ensemble. In other words, the jury will evaluate the musical performance as a whole. The audience will ­experience the artistic intimacy and musical expression, which in return will turn the competition into a series of content-rich concerts.

Opera has had a broad and popular appeal for hundreds of years. In the world of music, however, there are certain particularly sensitive areas, which seem to stir the composer’s innermost emotions. One emphasis can be placed on the string quartet, and another on the art of Lied. Over centuries, the greatest composers in music history have been inspired to write Lieder, often ignited by brilliant poems.

In the Copenhagen Lied Duo Competition special atten­tion will be paid to the Danish Lied, and it will be exciting to explore how the “Danish light” blends with the central European tradition and even further with a number of ­contemporary Lieder.

The first two rounds will take place at the Royal Danish ­Academy of Music’s Studio Hall, known for its excellent acoustics. The final concert takes place in the Concert Hall, which has lent its acoustics to both some of the greatest s­ ingers and pianists over many decades.

Welcome to the audience and to the talented and selected competition artists.

Toke Lund Christiansen Chairman of Solistforeningen af 1921 Chairman of the Jury, Copenhagen Lied-Duo Competition — 5

Contestants ▪ Anna Bæk Christensen (S) & Octavian Leyva Dragomir (P) ▪ Birita Poulsen (S) & Mattias Kapnas (P) ▪ Domas Saulevičius (S) & Lina Žutautaitė (P) ▪ Helen Lacey (S) & Stella Lorenz (P) ▪ Helena Donie (S) & Yeon Seo Ra (P) ▪ Johannes Moore (S) & Ilan Kurtser (P) ▪ Katrin Helena Kuslap (S) & Hazel Friedman (P) ▪ Louise McClelland Jacobsen (S) & Laurits Dragsted (P) ▪ Lyla Levy-Jordan (S) & Yuriko Watanabe (P) ▪ Mira Alkhovik (S) & Alla Belova (P) ▪ Veikko Vallinoja (S) & Jussi Littunen (P)

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Anna Bæk Christensen & Octavian Leyva Dragomir ANNA BÆK CHRISTENSEN: Singer Anna Bæk Christensen has a passion for singing, conducting and piano.

During her studies at Malko Academy for Young Conductors, she had the opportunity to conduct DR’s orchestra & vocal ensemble. She also studied piano at MGK before moving to Stockholm to study choral conducting at the Royal College of Music, but she decided to change and finished a bachelor in singing instead. Since 2018 she’s been in The Tolkien Ensemble with actor Billy Boyd and for the past year she has studied singing with T. Semmingsen at The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. Anna and Octavian have recently won the Dorothy Irving Scholarship.

OCTAVIAN LEYVA DRAGOMIR: Pianist Octavian Leyva Dragomir developed early a passion for art songs which continued at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm with M. Widlund and later at both the ESMUC in Barcelona and the Vadstena Singing & Piano Academy. He is currently studying at Mälardalen Musikhögskola with S. Sandström and has received guidance in vocal chamber music from M. Svensson, Anne Sofie v. Otter and M. Jansson.

He has participated in The N. and L. Boulanger Int. Voice-Piano Competition, won a prize at the Gothenburg Int. Piano Competition and has recently played on SVT for a million people on Allsång på Skansen.

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Birita Poulsen & Mattias Kapnas BIRITA POULSEN: Singer The faroese soprano Birita Poulsen was a participant of Thomas Hampson’s Heidelberger Frühling Liedakademie 2022/23. She has taken part in masterclasses led by Brigitte Fassbaender, Graham Johnson, Susan Manoff, Hartmut Höll and Wolfram Rieger. Birita was a soloist at Händel-Festspiele Karlsruhe and Händel-Festspiele Halle and has sung with the DSO-Berlin with Robin Ticciati and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin with Christoph Eschenbach. She was awarded "faroese young artist of the year 2021" and is an alumna of the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, Berlin in the class of Christine Schäfer.

MATTIAS KAPNAS: Pianist Mattias Kapnas is a pianist from the Faroe Islands. He holds a Master’s degree from the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where he studied with Bohumila Jedlickova and Amalie Malling. Mattias plays a wide range of music as well as arranging and composing for acoustic and electronic instruments. Mattias performs regularly as a soloist and with a variety of Faroese artists such the Faroese chamber ensemble "Aldubáran" and folk/rock vocalist Eivør. In addition to his work as a freelance musician, he works as an accompanist for the conservatory preparatory course at the Music School in Tórshavn.

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Domas Saulevičius & Lina Žutautaitė DOMAS SAULEVIČIUS: Singer Domas Saulevičius, a 2nd-year MA student of singing at Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, embarked on his musical journey through childhood by playing piano, singing in choir, and studying jazz singing. Inspired by an opera recording, his passion for performing ignited. He joined Vilnius City Opera in 2020, performing in Gounod's “Faust”.

His love for chamber music blossomed during studies at Klaipėda Stasys Šimkus Conservatory. He is now an active member of 'Gijos' ensemble, passionately interpreting both Lithuanian and foreign chamber music pieces and arias.

LINA ŽUTAUTAITĖ: Pianist Lina Žutautaitė is a versatile musician, who performs as a soloist, accompanist and chamber musician. In the 2022-2023 season, she excelled in international projects as “Crossing Keyboards”, Nord Opera, Chamber music Festival "Les Clés du Classique", European Opera Academy, and Riga’s International Chamber Music Festival. Lina holds a Master‘s degree in Music Performance from the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. Additionally, she pursued further studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as an Erasmus student.

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Helen Lacey & Stella Lorenz HELEN LACEY: Singer Helen Lacey is a lyric soprano with a particular interest in the art song repertoire and working with current composers.

Helen has recently performed the role of 1st Bridesmaid in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with Glyndebourne. She is a SongEasel Young Artist for 2023 and previously, was a Young Artist for Leeds Lieder festival.

Helen is recent graduate from the Royal Academy of Music in London where she was a member of the prestigious Academy Song Circle. She is a featured soloist on Will Todd’s Passion Music recorded for Signum Classics and a BBC Introducing Artist for Radio 3's in-tune.

STELLA LORENZ: Pianist Pianist Stella Marie Lorenz’s performed recently at Wigmore Hall, Leeds Lieder Festival and Musikverein Wien. She is a prizewinner of the Help Musicians UK Postgraduate Award, the Historical Female Composer Award and the Elena Gerhard Lieder Prize.

She studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Malcolm Martineau, Michael Dussek and James Baillieu, and where she regularly coached singers. Before, she studied with Markus Hadulla at Mdw Vienna, and with Gerold Huber and Roger Vignoles. This year, Stella performs at La Monnaie/Brussels, Staatstheater Saarbrücken and Royal Opera House London.

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Helena Donie & Yeon Seo Ra HELENA DONIE: Singer Helena Donie first studied her Bachelor's and Master’s degree with Prof. Ingrid Haubold at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe University.

In October 2021 she joined the Liedklasse with Prof. Mitsuko Shirai/ Hartmut Höll.

She received important impulses from masterclasses such as the Zeist Lieder Festival 2021, the Leeds Lieder Festival 2022 and the Udo Reinemann Academy 2021/2022. She was greatly influenced by Julia Varady, Barbara Frittoli, Elly Ameling, Stefan Herheim and Prof. h. c.

Daniel Fueter. Her repertoire is very versatile and stretches from oratorio to opera, chanson and further.

YEON SEO RA: Pianist Yeon Seo Ra first studied her Bachelor's with Prof. Oliver Kern and Prof. Bernhard Wetz at the MfDK Frankfurt am Main and Master’s degree in Collaborative Piano at the MfDK Mannheim. Her second Master’s degree in Liedgestaltung she obtained at HfM Karlsruhe with Prof. Hartmut Höll/ Mitsuko Shirai in April 2021 She is currently continuing her studies as part of a Konzertexamen at the same School and same Professors. She won won first prize in the International Music Competition “Brussels” Grand Prize Virtuoso 2019, first Prize by Wolfgang Rihm 2022.

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Johannes Moore & Ilan Kurtser JOHANNES MOORE: Singer Johannes Moore is a Baritone from Herefordshire, studying with Mark Wildman at the Royal Academy Opera Studio in London. He was a 2022 Young Artist with Grange Festival Chorus and studied on the prestigious Solti Accademia in 2023. Future roles include Sid in Albert Herring with RAO, and Mephistopheles in Boulanger’s Faust.

On the concert platform, Johannes has sung across the UK performing Oratorio and Song. He has won multiple competitions, and performed at Ludlow Song Weekend. He is a member of Royal Academy’s Song Circle, performing at Leeds International Song Festival and the Wigmore Hall in 2024.

ILAN KURTSER: Pianist Ilan Kurtser is a Royal Academy of Music alumnus. At the Academy, he was a Bicentenary Scholar and studied with Michael Dussek, James Baillieu and Malcolm Martineau. He is a Leeds Lieder Young Artist, a Samling Artist and won numerous prizes including the Kathleen Ferrier and Bampton Competition Accompanist Prizes. As a Bicentenary Scholar, he is recording his debut CD of the complete Goethe-Lieder by Wolf. Concert highlights include Wigmore Hall, Leeds Lieder and International Lied Festival Zeist. Ilan is a Fellow at the Academy. He curates concerts for the Academy Song Circle and coaches Song duos.

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Katrin Helena Kuslap & Hazel Friedman KATRIN HELENA KUSLAP: Singer Estonian soprano Katrin Helena Kuslap is currently enrolled in the soloist program at The Royal Danish Academy of Music (Prof. Helene Gjerris).

She has taken part in masterclasses led by Linda Watson, Malcolm Martineau, Audrey Hyland, Anne Sofie von Otter and Bo Skovhus, to name a few. As of recently, Katrin Helena has performed with Concerto Copenhagen, and sang the role of Suor Osmina at the Copenhagen Opera Festival.

She was a semi-finalist at the 13th Klaudia Taev Competition in 2023, and together with Hazel Friedman, she won 2nd Prize at the 2022 Rued Langgaard Competition.

HAZEL FRIEDMAN: Pianist Born in California, USA, pianist Hazel Friedman made her orchestral debut at age 17 with the San Diego Symphony. Hazel has won first prize in numerous competitions, including the 2020 Frank Huntington Beebe Fund to pursue graduate studies in Denmark.

In 2023, she completed her master’s degree at The Royal Danish Academy of Music (DKDM). Now residing in Copenhagen, Hazel is an accompanist for DKDM and a freelance pianist. She also teaches privately and for Byens Musikskole.

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Louise ­McClelland ­Jacobsen & ­Laurits Dragsted LOUISE MCCLELLAND JACOBSEN: Singer Louise finished her Master’s degree with honors in summer 2023 from The Royal Danish Opera Academy. She made her stage debut at the Royal Danish Opera as 5. Magd in Strauss’ Elektra in March 2023. In the 2023/2024 season she joins The Royal Danish Opera as a member of the Young Artist Ensemble. Louise's artistic work already embraces an enormous range. She has had huge successes in oratorios, operas, Lieder – including contemporary vocal repertoire. Louise was awarded the "Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen's talent prize" in 2022 and the “Léonie Sonnings Talent prize” in 2023.

LAURITS DRAGSTED: Pianist Laurits is a Copenhagen based pianist and repetiteur who holds a Master’s degree in repetiteurship from The Royal Danish Academy of Music and just finished 2 years of advanced postgraduate studies in the Young Artist Programme at the Royal Danish Theatre playing Verdi’s Aida as his final production. Laurits has played for many esteemed conductors, such as Paolo Carignani, Julia Jones and Fabio Luisi. He has worked freelance in the Copenhagen Opera House, The Danish Radio Broadcast and the Royal Danish Academy of Music. He is the primary pianist for the Malko Academy for Young Conductors and thus enjoys working on symphonic repertoire as well as Lied and Opera.

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Lyla Levy-Jordan & Yuriko Watanabe LYLA LEVY-JORDAN: Singer Australian-French Mezzo-Soprano Lyla Levy-Jordan is undertaking her final year of a Master’s degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Currently, Lyla is a member of the 2022/2023 Lied Akademie des Internationalen Liedzentrums Heidelberg under the artistic direction of Thomas Hampson.

Operatic roles include Annio in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito with Pacific Opera, Marcellina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra and the World Premiere as Fairy (cover) in Simon Bruckard’s The Selfish Giant with Victorian Opera.

YURIKO WATANABE: Pianist Yuriko Watanabe had her musical education at the Purcell School of Music in London, the Tokyo Gakugei University, and Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar. She currently studies Liedgestaltung in HfM Karlsruhe in the class of Mitsuko Shirai and Hartmut Höll.

Her achievements include prizes at the International Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau and at 13th International Art Song Competition Stuttgart. Yuriko is scholarship holder of the Liedakademie 2022/23 in Heidelberg and SongStudio in Carnegie Hall in 2023. She is currently working at the HfM Franz Liszt Weimar and in HfM Freiburg.

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Mira Alkhovik & Alla Belova MIRA ALKHOVIK: Singer Mira was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, and played violin for 12 years before she began her studies in vocal performance at St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory. She spent a year at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (Prof. Elena Pankratova).

In September 2021 she began her MA Opera performance studies at the Bern Academy of Arts (Swiss Opera Studio, Prof. Malin Hartelius).

Mira is a prize winner of numerous vocal competitions. In 2022 she won second prize of the Student LiedDuo Competition in Groningen (NL) and the 4th International Haydn Competition (Rohrau).

ALLA BELOVA: Pianist Alla Belova was born in Saint-Petersburg and had studied at Saint-Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory. Now she continues developing artistically with Prof. Benjamin Moser in Hochschule Luzern.

She is taking part in festivals: Schubert-Woche Festival (Berlin, 2023), Schaffhausen Klassik (Switzerland, 2022), Pulsion Winter Festival (Switzerland, 2022), Talent Music Summer Festival (Italy, 2021), Oltmar Schoeck Festival (Switzerland, 2021), Holland Music Sessions (Netherlands, 2017, 2018, 2019) and others.

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Veikko Vallinoja & Jussi Littunen VEIKKO VALLINOJA: Singer A versatile singer with a broad interest in different aspects of classical song, Veikko Vallinoja is known mainly as a Lied singer, especially through his long collaboration with pianist Jussi Littunen. A childhood in a Boys' choir introduced him to baroque oratorio, which is his other focus as a singer. He is currently studying vocal arts at the Sibelius Academy under Hannu Niemelä.

He has been praised for his versatile and expressive voice and exceptional clarity of diction. In January 2023 he was the best of the male singer category in the Lappeenranta song competition, receiving 2nd prize.

JUSSI LITTUNEN: Pianist Jussi Littunen began his musical journey at the Turku conservatory, and his passion for Lied was born during vocational studies at the Helsinki conservatory of Music. Currently, Littunen is finishing his Master’s degree at the Sibelius Academy, where he majored in piano performance under Ilmo Ranta and gave his Master’s recital in April 2023.

Littunen collaborates actively with singers, playing both Lied and opera repertoire, and his duo history with Veikko Vallinoja dates back to year 2014. Besides vocal music, he enjoys ensemble playing and is fascinated by music of the early 20th century.

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@cphliedduocompetition

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The jury TOKE LUND CHRISTIANSEN ­(Chairman of the Jury) was educated with Professor Poul Birkelund at the Royal Danish Academy of Music (RDAM) and had further studies with Marcel Moyse and William Bennett.

TLC made his debut as a soloist in Mozart ­Concerto in G, K-313 with Marcel Moyse conducting.

From 1968 until 2013 he held the position as a solo flautist in DR-Symfoniorkester, Danish National Symphony Orchestra. He is associate professor (docent) at RDAM. TLC has recorded a great part of the chamber music repertoire for flute: J.S. Bach, Händel, Leclair, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Fauré, Roussel (complete music with flute), Ibert (complete chamber music with flute), Saint-Saëns (complete chamber music with flute) with pianist Elisabeth Westenholz, The Kuhlau Quartet a.o. .

As a writer TLC has published a number of books including novels, essays and “Flute Playing in Denmark”. Look up: kenderdupan.dk to read (in Danish only!) the story of playing the flute in Denmark ­(Fløjtespil i Danmark efter 1800).

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The German baritone, ANDREAS SCHMIDT, studied singing with Ingeborg Reichelt and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and made his opera debut in 1984 with the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Subsequently he became a member of that company. As a guest, he has appeared with the Hamburg State Opera, German State Opera of Berlin, Bavarian State Opera, Bayreuther Festspiele, Vienna State Opera, Grand Theátre Genève, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Opera de Paris, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, La Scala Milan, and the Metropolitan Opera.

In concert, he has performed with such North American orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and Cleveland Orchestra; in Europe he has appeared with nearly all the leading orchestras. He is a saught after teacher and is currently professor and head of the voice department at Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich as well as a guest professor at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Andreas Schmidt has given masterclasses all over the world.

For many years TOVE LØNSKOV was a member of the piano faculty at the Royal ­Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen and at the North Jutland Academy of Music.

She has a wide-ranging career as a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist in Denmark and abroad. She has been a soloist with most of the Danish symphony orchestras and has worked with such conductors as Uri Segal, Thomas Briccetti, Jorma Panula, Zdenek Macal, and Avi Ostrowsky. As a chamber musician she has played with such famous names as the flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal and the Russian violinist Leonid Kogan, and for many years she has been a regular duo partner with the flautist András Adorján.

With the pianist Rodolfo Llambias she forms a much-appreciated p ­ iano duo which has received several prizes. The duo has ­recorded many CDs, including the collected piano works of Debussy and ­Schubert, and it has given concerts all over the world.

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The jury ROGER VIGNOLES is one of the most distinguished piano accompanists of our time. In a career spanning five decades he has become recognized throughout the world as a leading exponent of the art of song.

He has appeared at all the world’s principal venues and festivals, from the Concertgebouw to Carnegie Hall, and with many of the world’s foremost artists, such as Sir Thomas Allen, Barbara Bonney, Christine Brewer, Florian Boesch, Bernarda Fink, Elina Garanca, Susan Graham, Dame Kiri te Kanawa, Angelika Kirchschlager, Dame Felicity Lott, Mark Padmore, Christoph Prégardien and Sarah Walker.

EVA HESS THAYSEN has been a member of the voice faculty at The Royal Danish ­Academy of Music since 2008. Since 2006 she has also been teaching voice at The Bel Canto Institute in Florence, Italy as well as giving masterclasses at conservatoires in Europe and Asia. As an opera singer, Eva has sung more than 40 roles on stage, mainly as a principal soloist with The Danish National Opera. She has performed with all Danish Symphony Orchestras and has also appeared with The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Malmo Symphony Orchestra. She has performed at festivals all over Europe and has recorded extensively.

Eva Hess Thaysen has been president of the Board of The Danish Lied Society since 2000, and through The Danish Diction in Art Song project she works passionately for the global dissemination of Danish Art Song.

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KIRSTEN BUHL MØLLER first studied at the R ­ oyal Danish Academy of Music and at the Opera Academy in Copenhagen and then later pursued further studies in London with Thomas Hemsley and in New York with Oren Brown. After graduating from the Academy she sang many different roles at the Danish National Opera. Her performances as Cherubino, Dorabella, Cenerentola, Orlovsky and Nicklaus are especially renowned. She has also had an extensive career on the Danish and international concert stage, including recitals and oratorios. Throughout her singing career, she has often appeared on radio and television, and she has made several recordings.

All along Kirsten has been teaching at the same time as pursuing her singing career, and she was for several years a member of the voice faculty at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, before she was appointed as a Professor and Head of the Voice Department from 1996 – 2017. She has given many Masterclasses and courses, and she has taught a great number of Scandinavia’s professional singers.

NIKLAS SIVELÖV demonstrates an impressive a­ rtistic range as a pianist, composer and piano professor at The Royal Danish Academy of Music. Sivelöv is known for his extensive repertoire and creative approach combined with a deep knowledge and sense of style and tradition which one can only develop through vast experience and a long outstanding career.

Sivelöv is also an artist who likes to move outside the classical genre, and he is especially fond of working with improvisational arts. His concert career spans four continents, including venues such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Barbican, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Tivoli Copenhagen and the Atheneum in Bucharest. Niklas Sivelöv has taken his career to new international heights with an extensive catalogue of recordings for such labels as BIS, Caprice, Dacapo, Naxos, Toccata Classics and AMC Classical.

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Competition rules The age limit for each of the performers in the duo is on the first ­competition day 35 years.

A pre-jury will select 10-12 duos from the s­ ubmitted sound recordings.

These duos qualify to enter the competition. The pre-jury will also have the o­ pportunity to select 3 duos who are invited to the competition in the case of a c­ ancellation from the preliminarily selected.

The repertoire for the competition shall consist of 60 minutes of music of which at least 15 minutes must be in the Danish language.

12 duos perform in the first round: each duo with a programme of 20 minutes (repertoire A), of which at least 5 minutes must be in the ­Danish language.

8 duos perform in the second round: each duo with a programme of 30 minutes (­repertoire B), of which at least 5 minutes must be in the ­Danish language.

4 duos perform in the final round: each duo with a programme of 20 minutes (repertoire C), of which at least 5 m ­ inutes must be in the Danish ­language. In this round 10 minutes of music can be from ­repertoire A.

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WWW.LIEDCOMPETITION.DK — 22

ABOUT ORGANIZERS: Solistforeningen af 1921, Det Danske Sangselskab & The Royal Danish Academy of Music.

PRODUCTION MANAGER: Birgitte Schmølker DESIGN & LAYOUT: Maj Munk Media

SPONSORS

Den Bøhmske Fond

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WWW.LIEDCOMPETITION.DK The Soloist Association of 1921

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Det Danske Sangselskab

The Royal Danish Academy of Music