Liedakademie

Katharina Bierweiler received the first national prize at "Jugend musiziert" in 2023 and was awarded special prizes, including a concert tour to China. In 2022, she won a sponsorship prize at the 51st National Singing Competition in Berlin. Since 2023 she has been studying at the Karlsruhe University of Music and Performing Arts in the class of Prof. Libor and is deepening her skills in various master classes. She gained stage experience as Yniold ("Pelléas et Mélisande"/Debussy) at Theater Freiburg, as Flora ("The Turn of the Screw"/Britten) at Theater Freiburg and at Théâtre La Monnaie, Brussels, in a production by Andrea Breth. Katharina also appeared as a slave in "Salome"/Strauss at the Aix-en-Provence Opera Festival.

The German-French soprano Neima Fischer is the winner of the Cesti Competition of the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music 2023. She is studying for her Bachelor's degree in singing with Prof. Sabine Ritterbusch and Prof. Jan-Phillip Schulze at the Hanover University of Music, as well as with Prof. Anne Le Bozec at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris.
She began her studies in Hanover in 2020 and was able to gain experience on the opera stage in the title role of "Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern" (Lachenmann), as Amor in "Orfeo, L'inferno dentro me" under the direction of Roman Hovenbitzer, as Columbine in "Pierrot Lunaire - Mondsüchtig" under the direction of Mascha Poerzgen, as Sandrina in "La finta giardiniera" under the direction of Christian Carsten and as Zaïde in Mozart's Singspiel of the same name.
She made her opera debut in August 2024 at the Innsbruck Festival as Arianna in the opera "Arianna in Creta" by G. F. Handel. In November 2023, Neima went on a concert tour to Turkmenistan as part of the cultural exchange between Europe and Central Asia. There she sang the world premiere of the concerto "Murmures Célestes et Marins" by the French composer Pierre Thilloy with the Turkmen National Orchestra. Neima Fischer established herself early on as a soloist in the concert/oratorio field through her busy concert schedule.

Dutch mezzo-soprano Roza Herwig studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. In addition to her work in opera productions and as a soloist with orchestra, this winner of the Lotte Lenya Competition, among others, frequently appears in concerts and recitals. She has sung under the direction of Antonio Pappano with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Center and gave a recital at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. In addition to classical singing, Roza has also studied jazz singing. She is also active as an actress and presenter and develops musical theater performances. She will be touring the Netherlands next year with her new production JULIET. Roza has already appeared on stage in several opera roles, including Hänsel (Humperdinck), Cherubino (Mozart), Pierrot Lunaire (Schönberg), Anna (Weill) and various roles in contemporary operas, such as Bluebeard (Meijering) and Penelope (Frances-Hoad). Together with pianist Julius Backer, she performs internationally in song duo recitals in which they explore the boundaries of the song genre.

The mezzo-soprano Verena Kronbichler was born in Bruneck in South Tyrol. She studied singing and vocal pedagogy with Prof. Karlheinz Hanser and KS Prof. Krassimira Stoyanova at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, as well as concert singing in the class of KS Prof. Christiane Iven and Lied with Prof. Christian Gerhaher at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich.
For the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons, she was a member of the opera studio of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf/Duisburg.
Verena Kronbichler is also active as a concert and lieder singer; for example, she has sung at the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Düsseldorf Tonhalle, the Herkulessaal in Munich and the Liedforum Köln. She was a finalist at the international Hans-Gabor-Belvedere Singing Competition 2024 in Jurmala and at the international Osaka Music Competition 2020 in Japan. Verena Kronbichler is a graduate of the Georg Solti Accademia for Bel Canto, where she was able to gain important impulses for her artistic development with Leo Nucci and Richard Bonynge, among others. In addition, numerous master classes with Edith Wiens, Linda Watson, Konrad Junghänel, Barbara Frittoli and Francois Le Roux, among others, rounded off her musical training.

The mezzo-soprano Wilma Kvamme comes from Stockholm, where she received her first musical training. She was involved in choral singing and opera at a young age, but songs have been very close to her heart since the beginning of her university studies. In the fall, she will begin her master's degree in song composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Wilma Kvamme frequently performs at concerts and recitals in Vienna as well as in Sweden and Norway. Her repertoire includes many operatic roles such as Hansel (Humperdinck: "Hansel and Gretel"), Cherubino (Mozart: "Le nozze di Figaro") and Rosina (Rossini: "Il barbiere di Siviglia") as well as numerous songs and song cycles.

Since 2019, at the age of 15, Zhengyu Li has been trained as a professional opera singer by Hongyu Chen. He was in the first year of his bachelor studies at the University of Szeged, Béla Bartók Faculty of Arts. He is now continuing his studies at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts with Prof. Stefanie Krahnenfeld.
He is the winner of several regional singing competitions. These include the Czech Republic, France, Serbia, Belgium and Poland. In September 2023, Zhengyu Li made his stage debut at the age of 19 as Don Basilio and Fiorello in "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" at the Teatro Savoia Campobasso in Italy.

Aksel Rykkvin is an award-winning Norwegian baritone who lives in London. He studies singing at the Royal Academy of Music with Prof. Mark Wildman and receives a prestigious ABRSM scholarship. In 2023 and 2024 he received several awards, including third place in the Joan Chissell/Rex Stephens Schumann Lieder Prize, second prize and song prize in the Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary for Young Singers and Most Promising Young Singer in the Somerset Song Prize. Aksel and pianist Zany Denyer were "Leeds Lieder Young Artists" in 2024.
At the age of twelve, Aksel's debut album in treble with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment received rave reviews. His two solo albums reached the top 10 of the British classical music charts. He made an international career as a boy soprano and appeared as an alto soloist in concerts, operas, festivals, on radio and television in Norway, Sweden, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. He was seen as Yniold in "Pelléas et Mélisande" in Oslo and later at the Opéra Comique in Paris as Anthony in "Miranda".
Aksel has performed as a baritone soloist at festivals, concerts and operas in Norway, Sweden, Great Britain, Austria and Germany.

The baritone Clemens Seewald was born in Vienna in 1999. Since October 2023 he has been studying at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) in the master's program "Lied-Oratorio-Concert" in the Lied class of KS Angelika Kirchschlager and singing with Laura Aikin. His first opera productions were Schaunard in "La Bohème" at the Schlosstheater Vienna, Marco in "Gianni Schicchi", and Valerio in Erich Zeisl's opera "Leonce und Lena". In March 2024, he won second prize and the Dame Felicity Lott Special Prize at the International Charles Wood Song Competition in Northern Ireland and was a finalist in Elina Garanca's "Future Voices" competition.

From 2018 to 2023, Bo Wang studied singing at the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music with Prof. Dr. Weilong Tao. Since 2024 he has been studying at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin with Kammersänger Prof. Roman Trekel.
In 2021, he won the "Golden Bell Award" singing competition, the highest Chinese music award.
He sings Mozart's "Magic Flute" as Sarastro, "Così Fan tutte" as Don Alfonso and Puccini's "La Boheme" as Colline.
During his studies, he gave several concerts of German art songs.

Julius is an up-and-coming young pianist from the Netherlands. In addition to solo performances, he specializes in song duos and chamber music. A former pupil of the Yehudi Menuhin School in London, he now studies with Claudio Martinez-Mehner and Nina Tichman at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne.
In addition to the piano, he is very interested in historical instruments, singing and conducting.
Roza Herwig and Julius met nine years ago at a music course and immediately felt a musical connection. Three years ago, they met again in London and have been performing as a song duo with great joy ever since. Together they explore the boundaries of the song genre. Her performances range from intimate songs and expressive arias to musical and cabaret songs. They have performed at various concert venues and festivals, including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Tivoli Vredenburg. As semi-finalists in the International Singing Competition, they have appeared several times on national television and radio.

Mariia, born in the Ukraine, began playing the piano at the age of 5. She graduated from the Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music in Kiev with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in piano and is currently studying song composition at the Freiburg University of Music. She took part in competitions from an early age, as a soloist, accompanist, chamber musician and composer. She has achieved outstanding results in her training and artistic work. In 2024, she qualified for the final of the "Bolko von Hochberg" song competition in Görlitz and took part in the 14th German Liedakademie in Trossingen.

Lal Karaalioğlu, born in Istanbul, completed her musical education at the Istanbul University State Conservatory at the same time as her school education at the German School Istanbul. She made her orchestral debut in 2016 with the Eskisehir State Symphony Orchestra. In 2017, she was accepted into Prof. Ewa Kupiec's class at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, where she completed her Bachelor's and Master's degrees. Lal has won prizes at numerous international competitions, including the Cesar Franck International Piano Competition, the Adana Rhapsody International Piano Competition and the 13th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition Mariánské Lázně. She has performed at the Istanbul Music Festival with her "Trio Hera" and received scholarships from the "Fondation Clavarte" and the "Deutschlandstipendium". In 2022 she was accepted into the TONALi Stage Academy. In 2023 she was awarded the DAAD Prize. Lal released her first album "Timeless" in 2024 and graduated from college in Hanover. She is now continuing her studies as a graduate student in the class of Schaghajegh Nosrati at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin and continues to give concerts as part of "World Classical Music at the Piano", primarily in Germany and Turkey.

George Needham is praised for his imagination in timbre and the depth of his musical understanding. He received prizes at the international competition "Verfemte Musik" and the AESS Courtney Kenny Song Competition. He was a finalist in the 2nd Song Competition "Bolko von Hochberg", and was named Young Artist of the Leeds Lieder Festival and Britten-Pears Young Artist. After graduating from Oxford University, he studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and with Matthias Kirschnereit at the HMT Rostock. Since 2024 he has been in Wolfram Rieger's Lied class at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music Berlin. He received important impulses at the Franz Schubert Institute.

Bulgarian pianist Elitsa Desseva specializes in collaborations with singers and is considered one of the leading song pianists of her generation. As head of the Heidelberger Frühling Liedakademie she shapes the year-round funding program by providing individual support to the scholarship holders and coordinating the artistic content of the modules. Under their guidance, there is a particular focus on innovative teamwork and creative development. In discussions about song art and networking, the young artists can further develop and elaborate their artistic vision.

The American baritone Thomas Hampson is undoubtedly one of the most innovative and multifaceted musicians of our time. He can look back on a unique international career as an opera, concert and lieder singer, recording artist and "ambassador of song". As a celebrated baritone, passionate pedagogue and pioneer in digital music education, he has been committed to the education and further development of art song for decades.
Since 2011 he has directed the Heidelberger Frühling Liedakademie where he accompanies young song singers and pianists from all over the world on their way. He is dedicated to educating and artistically shaping the next generation - with the aim of imparting not only technical and interpretative skills, but also a deep understanding of the cultural and social significance of song. Questions of artistic identity and self-image also play a central role - especially in that sensitive phase between graduation and the start of a career.
This commitment is complemented by the Hampsong Foundation, which he founded in 2003 and which is dedicated to promoting classical song in all its facets. With projects such as Song of America and an extensive digital education platform, it creates access to historical contexts, cultural narratives and artistic practice - always with a view to a globally networked song culture.
Thomas Hampson was awarded the Heidelberger Frühling Music Prize in 2021 for his decades-long commitment to the art song.

Pianist Susan Manoff studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the University of Oregon. She performs regularly at festivals and concert halls such as the Wigmore Hall, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Oji Hall in Tokyo, the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Musikverein in Vienna. Her love of theater inspired her to participate in a wide variety of programmes combining text and music.
Susan Manoff was assistant choir director at the Paris Opéra and currently teaches at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris. She was appointed Chevalier de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2011.
She gives master classes all over the world and is dedicated to exploring the relationships between singers, pianists, composers and lyricists.