A duo competition at the Royal Danish Academy of Music

The competition is open to all voice categories. All artsongs are welcome, including contemporary pieces

The competition is a duo competition, and voice and piano are judged as an artistic entity. The competition takes place at the Royal Danish Academy of Music October 29th- 31th, 2021.

The competition is founded by The Soloist Association of 1921 in collaboration with The Danish Song Society and The Royal Danish Academy of Music..

Please note that the preliminary rounds take place at Studio Hall, where admission is limited.

Prices 2021

1. price: dkk 50.000 (6.700 euro)

2. price: dkk 30.000 (4.020 euro)

3. price: dkk 20.000 (2.680 euro)

4. price: dkk. 10.000 (1.340 euro)

Extra price: Best performance of lied in Danish languish:
dkk. 10.000

(A price is one amount for each duo)

The jury

Andreas Schmidt

Andreas Schmidt, Singer/Professor München & Salzburg

Helmut Deutsch

Helmut Deutsch, Pianist/Professor Wien, München & Frankfurt

Niklas Siveløv

Pianist, professor at the Royal Danish Music Academy

Toke Lund Christiansen

Chairman of the jury / Solistforeningen af 1921

Tove Lønskov

Pianist / Det Danske Sangselskab

Danish repertoire suggestions for The Copenhagen Lied Duo Competition

Competition rules

OVERVIEW

The competition takes place at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. In the first round every Lied-Duo will appear with a 20-minute program (repertory A). This round must include at least five minutes with a Lied in Danish.

In the second round, the semifinals, there is a maximum of eight performing duos, and the program (repertoire B) has for each Duo a length of 30 minutes. This round must also contain a minimum of five minutes with Danish language Lied.

In the final, it is expected that there are four participating duos, all of which will receive an award. The program here has a length of 20 minutes. This program may contain up to 10 minutes of music from the first round (repertory A) supplemented by an additional 10 minutes of new repertoire. And in the finale it is required a minimum of five minutes performance of a Lied in Danish.

All contest participants disclaims copyright to their action. Parts of the competition will therefore be transmitted on radio and television, posted on the web or added to (not commercial) recording.

RULES 1

The age limit for each of the performers in the duo is 35 years on the first competition day. It costs no fee to sign up for the competition. However, the selected duos must pay a fee of DKK 800 when they are invited to participate. This amount will not be refunded.

A pre-jury will select 12 duos from the submitted sound recordings. These 12 duos are then invited to enter the competition.

The pre-jury also has the opportunity to select additionally 3 duos who are invited to the competition – in the case of withdrawal from the preliminarily selected.

The recording submitted must include one to four Lieder and last max. 20 minutes. In case you do not have a recording as a duo, each of you can upload a recording. However, these individual recordings must also be of Lied repertoire.

RULES 2

The programme 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, of which at least 5 minutes must be in the Danish language. In this round 10 minutes of music can be from repertoire A.

Organizers

(The Soloist Association of 1921)

2019

Duo Holm/Haagen

FIRST PRIZE

Singer: Sophie Haagen

Pianist: Elias Holm

Theo Platt & Keval Shah

SECOND PRIZE

Pianist: Keval Shah

Singer: Theodore Platt

Duo NewBrook

THIRD PRIZE

Pianist: Johannes Stenberg Brooks

Singer: Johanna Nylund

Joakim Larsson & Markus Kvint

FOURTH PRIZE

Singer: Joakim Larsson

Pianist: Markus Kvint

Behiel/Williams

SPECIAL PRIZE: Best performance of a song by Carl Nielsen

Singer: James Williams

Pianist: Meghan Behiel

Theo Platt & Keval Shah

SINGER: British-Russian baritone Theodore Platt has received several prices: He was the winner of the 3rd Prize at the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition, 2nd Prize at the 2019 Kathleen Ferrier Award, and 1st Prize at the 2018 Lies Askonas Competition.

Platt studies at the RCM Opera Studio with Russell Smythe, supported by: The Marc Feigen, Sybil Tutton Trust, Countess of Munster Musical Trust, and the Josephine Baker Trust.
Theodore Platt recent engagements includes the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro, Internationale Meistersinger Akademie, Verbier Festival Academy, and the first Wigmore Hall French Song Exchange.

PIANIST: Keval Shah is a sought-after accompanist and chamber musician, appearing at venues including Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall. He has been engaged at the Aldeburgh festival, Oxford Lieder festival, and Heidelberger Frühling Festival.

Shahs upcoming engagements include recitals at the Buxton and Edinburgh Festivals, a debut album with Linn Records, and the continuation of a project to perform the complete songs of Wolf. Keval Shah studied at Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music, graduating from both institutions with distinction. In 2019, he was appointed Edison Fellow of the British Library, London.

Duo NewBrook

SINGER: Johanna Nylund is a Finnish soprano located in Copenhagen. She finished her master in voice at The Royal Danish Academy of Music in 2019, and is now enrolled in the soloist class there. Nylund has studied with Eva Hess Thaysen, Helene Gjerris, Annastiina Tahkola and Rita Susovsky.

Johanna Nylund has performed in many stage productions and performed soloist parts with repertoire such as Messiah by G.F.Händel and The Christmas Oratorio by J.S.Bach. Nylund was a soloist in two Opera Gala-concerts with Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra after receiving The Bel Canto Institute Orchestral Award 2018. In June 2019 she performed opera arias with Plenum Symphony Orchestra.

PIANIST: Johannes Stenberg Brooks is a young Danish pianist studying at The Royal Danish Academy of Music with Professor Jens Elvekjær. He has recently done an exchange program at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München with Prof. Markus Bellheim. Brooks has also studied composition, conducting and French Lied repertoire with Prof. Céline Dutilly.
Brooks has participated in master classes with pianists such as Paul Roberts, Mikhail Voskresensky and Boris Berman.
Brooks has received prizes at several piano competitions, in 2015 he received the Danish Musicians' Association's talent prize.

Joakim Larsson & Markus Kvint

SINGER: Joakim Larsson studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, and The Manhattan School of Music. In 2018 Larsson graduated from The Royal Opera Academy in Copenhagen. Larsson debuted at the Copenhagen Opera in 2017 and has performed the roles of Larkens (La Fanciulla del West) and Frank (Flagermusen). Joakim Larsson has performed several roles: The Count and Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), Dancaire (Carmen), Collatinus (The Rape of Lucretia), Umberto (La Serva Padrona). Larsson is also a passionate recitalist, having performed in Sweden, Denmark, and the United States.

PIANIST:

Markus Kvint graduated from The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen in 2017. Kvint also studied at Hochschule für Musik in Weimar and Royal College of Music in Stockholm.

With support from the Idella Foundation Kvint has developed his concert program with the pianist Konstantin Bogino in Bergamo, Italy.

Markus Kvint toured in USA, Canada and Sweden with the soprano Sara Swietlicki. And performed at several festivals in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany and Austria. In 2020 Kvint will perform a series of family concerts on Beethoven with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

Markus Kvint is also a part of the production group at Opera Warberg.

Behiel/ Williams

SINGER: James Williams is a British baritone, who appears frequently across Europe and Asia, both on stage and in recital. His performances have been noted for their "considerable musical integrity" and "honey-toned" delivery (Christopher Field). Having studied in London with Eugene Asti and Joan Rodgers, Williams holds a strong passion for the songs of Franz Schubert and Hugo Wolf, while advocating the works of lesser-known English composers.

Papageno, Don Giovanni and Schaunard fall within Williams's operatic repertory, while his recent portrayal of Don Alfonso was deemed "suavely resonant" (Stage).

PIANIST: Appearing regularly in concert throughout Europe and North America, Canadian pianist, Meghan Behiel, has recently performed as a soloist with the Orchestre de Chambre de Saint-Paul and the Bern Symphony Orchestra, appearing live on Radio Swiss Classic. As a Lied pianist, Meghan studied with Rudolf Jansen and Elly Ameling at the Mountain View International Festival of Song and Chamber Music in Canada. Concert highlights include Lieder-Abende at the Tonhalle Zürich, Yehudi Menuhin Forum, Casino Bern and the Théâtre Granit de Belfort.