Wettbewerb "Das Lied"

Winners

From the competition to the big stages

Since it was founded in 2009, the Heidelberger Frühling Wettbewerb "Das Lied" has discovered a multitude of talents and, through its support in the form of prize money, concert appearances, media presence and networking in the international Lied scene, has given the starting signal for promising careers.

Many of the former participants are now established singers of their generation and can be seen regularly on the world's major stages. These include soprano Nikola Hillebrand, baritones Jóhann Kristinsson, Manuel Walser, Martin Häßler, Benjamin Appl, Samuel Hasselhorn and pianist Ammiel Bushakevitz. Many of the former participants are still closely associated with the Heidelberger Frühling and its Liedzentrum and perform as part of the Liedfestival and Lied.LABs, develop joint song projects or pass on their knowledge in masterclasses.

Competition 2023

After the pandemic-related break in 2021, the competition was held regularly again in 2023. The final was held on March 5 at the Heidelberg Theater.

The first prize (€15,000) went to Laurence Kilsby (England) and Tae Hwan Yun (South Korea). The second prize was not awarded. The third prize (€ 7,500) went to Alexandra Flood from Australia. Yuhao Guo (Germany) was awarded the prize for Lied Pianist (€5,000). The Audience Award (€ 2,500) went to Lars Conrad (Germany).
Online voting was possible for the first time this year. Music prizes were provided by the publisher Schott Music.

The jury was chaired by Thomas Quasthoff. Other members were James Baillieu, Juliane Banse, Bernarda Fink, John Gilhooly, Helga Machreich-Unterzaucher, Richard Stokes, James Taylor and Justus Zeyen.

The repertoire included works by Aribert Reimann, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and Viktor Ullmann.

The competition pianist was Alexander Fleischer.
All competition rounds are available on YouTube.

Competition 2019

The final of the 2019 competition took place at the Heidelberg Theater.

The first prize (€15,000) was won by German soprano Nikola Hillebrand. The second prize (€10,000 each) went to the mezzo-soprano Yajie Zhang from China and the German baritone Konstantin Krimmel, who also received the Audience Award (€2,000).
The third prize (€5,000) was awarded to baritone Michael Rakotoarivony from Madagascar. The sponsorship prize (€2,500) went to the South Korean bass-baritone Jeeyoung Lim.

Matthew Fletcher from Great Britain was honored with the Pianist Prize (€5,000).

The jury was chaired by Thomas Quasthoff. Other members included Juliane Banse and John Gilhooly.

The repertoire included works by Johannes Brahms, Hugo Wolf, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Charles Ives and Wilhelm Killmayer.

All competition rounds are available on YouTube.

Competition 2017

The final of the 2017 competition took place in the Stadthalle Heidelberg.

The first prize (€15,000) went to the German baritone Samuel Hasselhorn. The second prize (€7,500) went to the US mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski. The third prize (€5,000) went to the Icelandic baritone Jóhann Kristinsson, who was also awarded the Audience Prize (€5,000). The baritones André Baleiro (Portugal) and Modestas Sedlevicius (Lithuania) received sponsorship prizes (€2,500 each).

The Pianist Prize was awarded to Victoria Guerrero (Spain) and Anna Anstett (Ukraine) with € 2,500 each.

Thomas Quasthoff again chaired the jury. Other jury members were Brigitte Fassbaender, Bernarda Fink, John Gilhooly, Charlotte Lehmann, Felicity Lott, Helga Machreich, Dominique Meyer and Richard Stokes.

The repertoire included works by Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and Wolfgang Rihm.

All competition rounds are available on YouTube.

Competition 2015

The final took place on February 22, 2015 at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin.

First prize and a scholarship worth a total of 30,000 euros went to Israeli mezzo-soprano Hagar Sharvit, who also received the Audience Award. The second prize (€15,000) went to the Australian soprano Emma Moore. The third prize (€7,500) was won by Welsh contralto Angharad Lyddon.

The pianist prize (€10,000) was shared by Ammiel Bushakevitz and James Sherlock. Soprano Suzanne Fischer (born 1987) received the sponsorship prize (€5,000).

The jury, chaired by Thomas Quasthoff, also consisted of Brigitte Fassbaender, John Gilhooly, Helga Machreich-Unterzaucher, Dominique Meyer, Charles Spencer and Richard Stokes.

The repertoire included songs by Franz Schubert, Benjamin Britten and Robert Franz.

Competition 2013

The final took place on February 24, 2013 at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin.

First prize and a scholarship worth a total of 30,000 euros went to 23-year-old baritone Manuel Walser from Switzerland. He also received the Audience Award. The second prize (€15,000) went to mezzo-soprano Annelie Sophie Müller from Berlin. The third prize (€7,500) was shared by mezzo-soprano Nathalie Mittelbach (Switzerland) and soprano Sunyoung Seo (South Korea).

The pianist prize (€10,000) was awarded to Jonathan Ware from the USA. The sponsorship prize (€5,000) went to soprano Annika Gerhards (born 1988).

The jury, chaired by Thomas Quasthoff, consisted of Brigitte Fassbaender, John Gilhooly, Helga Machreich-Unterzaucher, Dominique Meyer, Charles Spencer and Richard Stokes.

A total of 30 songs had to be prepared for the 2013 competition, including at least three songs each by Claude Debussy, Gustav Mahler, Maurice Ravel and Richard Strauss.

Competition 2011

The first prize of 30,000 euros went to the German mezzo-soprano Amira Elmadfa. The second prize (€15,000) went to the German baritone Martin Häßler. The third prize was shared: 3,750 euros each went to the English mezzo-soprano Anna Huntley and the German baritone David Pichlmaier.

The pianist prize (€10,000) was awarded to James Baillieu from South Africa. The Finnish song duo consisting of baritone Aarne Pelkonen (born 1986) and pianist Juho Alakärppä (born 1983) received the sponsorship prize (€5,000). Benjamin Appl won the audience award.

The jury was chaired by Thomas Quasthoff and comprised Annette Dasch, Brigitte Fassbaender, Robert Gambill, John Gilhooly, Charles Spencer and Eva Wagner-Pasquier.

For the 2011 competition, 15 songs each by Johannes Brahms and Hugo Wolf had to be prepared.

Competition 2009

The first prize was not awarded this year. The second prize (€15,000) was awarded to the German baritone Tobias Berndt. The third prize was shared: €5,000 each went to the South Korean tenor Seil Kim and the Austrian baritone Daniel Schmutzhard.

The pianist prize was also shared and went to Alexander Fleischer (Germany) and Gary Matthewman (England), who each received 5,000 euros. The sponsorship prize was also shared: 2,500 euros each went to the South African pianist James Baillieu (born in 1982) and the Czech bass Jan Martinik (born in 1983).

The jury, chaired by Thomas Quasthoff, was made up of Pieter G. Alferink, Annette Dasch, Helmut Deutsch, Martin Engstroem, Brigitte Fassbaender and Charles Spencer.

For the 2009 competition, 15 songs each by Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann had to be prepared.