From October 7 to 13, four up-and-coming singers will work under the direction of singer Angelika Kirchschlager and pianist Manuel Lange to improve their musical and lyrical interpretation, vocal technique and stage presence. In addition, they will prepare a concert of songs titled "Vienna, Love and Lied" that they will perform twice: in the Gütersloh Theater’s Großer Saal on October 11 at 7:30 pm, and in the Konzerthaus Berlin on October 13 at 8 pm.
The participants in this year's lied master class are Barbara Kinga Majewska (mezzo-soprano/Poland), Catalina Bertucci (soprano/Chile), Maximilian Krummen (baritone/Germany) and Michael Mogl (tenor/Germany).
The lied master class was established by Liz Mohn, president of the NEUE STIMMEN competition and vice-chair of the Bertelsmann Stiftung Executive Board, in 2012. It is initially scheduled to run for three years and is being carried out in cooperation with the Konzerthaus Berlin.
This year, Mohn was fortunate enough to engage mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager, 47, to direct the lied master class. Following Edda Moser last year, Kirchschlager is the second internationally renowned artist to lead the class. A regular performer at all of the world's major opera houses, she is also a noted interpreter of lieder and oratorios. A native of Salzburg, the ECHO Klassik and Grammy Award winner lives in Vienna and is a guest professor at the University of Graz. Prof. Manuel Lange has participated in NEUE STIMMEN events for a number of years. He has served as accompanist for the competition and the international master classes, as well as last year's lied master class. He has been a professor of lied accompaniment /lied performance at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold since 2010.
Classes will be held on the Gütersloh Theater's Studio stage on Thursday, October 8, from 10 to 11 am, and on Wednesday, October 9, from 3 to 4 pm. Both are open to the public, offering audience members the opportunity to learn more about the master classes and their methods of instruction.
NEUE STIMMEN promotes young opera singers through its international singing competition, international master class, lied master class and concerts.
Tickets for the recital at the Gütersloh Theater (October 11, 7:30 pm, €22/€18, or €11/€9 reduced) are available through Gütersloh Marketing GmbH (telephone +49 5241 211 3636) or online at www.eventim.de. Tickets for the recital at the Konzerthaus Berlin are available through the ticket hotline (+49 30 2030 9 2101) or online at: www.konzerthaus.de/programm/ein-abend-mit-neue-stimmen/1032.