The second edition of the Heidelberger Frühling Liedfestival will showcase the Lied in all its diversity from June 14 to 18. With 23 events and 53 artists at 5 concert venues, it dives into this special genre that captures the whole world in miniature and speaks to us at the core.

Guests include artists such as Ilker Arcayürek, André Baleiro, Wallis Bird, Markus Hadulla, Thomas Hampson, Samuel Hasselhorn, Gerold Huber, Julia Kleiter, Susan Manoff, Spark - the classical band, Mikhail Timoshenko, Carolin Widmann and Jörg Widmann. In addition, the Liedfestival stage belongs above all to young up-and-coming voices such as Bella Adamova, Sophia Burgos, Kieran Carrel, Äneas Humm or Laurence Kilsby, as well as this year's cohort of the Lied Academy.

In a total of 6 concerts the current scholarship holders of the Liedakademie with 12 young singers and pianists will present themselves to the festival audience: In two public master classes with Thomas Hampson, a workshop with Jörg Widmann and in three concerts.

Thomas Hampson can also be experienced in his three-part lecture series "Songs as a Mirror of the World" at Neuburg Abbey, located above the Neckar River. This continues his highly acclaimed series for SWR2 on the history of the Lied and deals with "Vienna around 1800", "Wagner and the consequences" and "Songs of the Fin de Siècle". The lecture series is part of Thomas Hampson's honorary professorship at Heidelberg University.

On the occasion of the 50th birthday of the clarinettist, conductor and composer Jörg Widmann on June 19, the Liedfestival dedicates a special focus to him: The scholarship holders of the Liedakademie will work on his song cycle "Das heiße Herz" in a workshop with Thomas Hampson and Jörg Widmann in front of an audience and perform it afterwards. And for the festival's finale, longtime friends and companions of Jörg Widmann and surprise guests will come together for a birthday concert. He will be joined by his sister Carolin Widmann (violin) and soprano Olga Pasichnyk.

This year's Lied.LAB was awarded to pianist and curator Toni Ming Geiger and focuses on the cultural exchange between Europe and China via the Silk Road. Together with soprano Katrīna Paula Felsberga and instrumentalists, he locates his programme "Ten Thousand Kilometers" in the Josefine and Eduard von Portheim Foundation's Ethnological Museum, which is showing the exhibition "Dust & Silk". The musical walk through the rooms and gardens of the museum is guided by songs and instrumental music from East and West, soundscapes, exhibition objects and associative texts and will be performed a total of four times.

The Liedfestival has also invited two singer-songwriters to Heidelberg: Berlin-based Irish artist Wallis Bird, who will bring with her the classical band Spark and her programme "Visions of Venus" songs and tunes from Hildegard von Bingen to Clara Schumann, Joni Mitchell to Kate Bush and Björk. And the Italian singer-songwriter or "Cantautore" Manuel Apice from La Spezia, who combines selected classics of the repertoire with his own songs. Both concerts will take place at the Karlstorbahnhof.

The University of Heidelberg as an important partner opens the Aula of Alte Universität as the main venue of the Liedfestival. In addition, the festival finds a home in the Ethnological Museum, at Neuburg Abbey, in the Eugen Biser Saal and in the Karlstorbahnhof.

The Liedfestival is sponsored by the City of Heidelberg and the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne. As an artists' hotel, the Europäischer Hof Heidelberg becomes a central meeting place for artists from Germany and abroad.

The presale will start on Monday, March 13, 2023 at 10 am.