11. International Competition for Song Art Stuttgart successfully finished

A proud 26 song duos, born in 21 countries, presented themselves at the usual high level at the Stuttgart Music Academy. They competed for prize money totaling 36,000 euros - with participation in the competition alone being a prominent element of the Vita. In contrast, the special emotionality and gratitude of the young talents could be felt in a significantly different way than usual. Because many of them were on a concert podium for the first time after long months. The audience, which has been greatly reduced, was also privileged to experience the impressive contributions on site. The great consolation for anyone without a concert hall ticket: Thanks to the comprehensive broadcast of the entire program on the Internet, you could and can follow the 12th Lied Art Competition in the IHWA media library.
Fortunately, a special feature of the 2020 competition has absolutely nothing to do with the pandemic. With a focus on Hölderlin, the IHWA congratulated the great poet on his 250th birthday. In addition to eight commissioned compositions by the distinguished song composers Stefan Heucke and Hauke ​​Berheide, which were part of the competition repertoire, an illustrious round table on October 2, 2020 discussed the “Hölderlin reception in music”.
The personal assessment of IHWA director Cornelia Weidner after six eventful days: “The 12th song art competition turned all our expectations upside down. It started with the record number of 101 applications and ended with the happy realization: The song has an artistic power that almost makes us forget the unreasonable demands of the time. "

Congratulations to the 2020 winners:
1st prize of € 15,000: Konstantin Ingenpaß, baritone (Germany, born 1991) and Hyun-hwa Park, piano (South Korea, born 1987)
2nd prize of € 10,000: Małgorzata Rocławska, soprano (Poland, born 1993) and Olga Wien, piano (Ukraine, born 1988)
3rd prize of € 7,000: Ekaterina Chayka-Rubinstein, mezzo-soprano (Germany, born 1998) and Maria Yulin, piano (Israel, born 1988)
Special price for a special pianistic achievement in the amount of € 1,000: Olga Wien
Recognition prizes of € 1,500 each:
Ronan Caillet, tenor (France, born 1994) and Malte Schäfer, piano (Germany, born 1992)
Yuriy Hadzetskyy, baritone (Ukraine, born 1992) and Alina Shevchenko, piano (Ukraine, born 1995)

The competition is supported by the state of Baden-Württemberg, the city of Stuttgart, the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation and the Wüstenrot Foundation. The Hölderlin focus was funded by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation as part of the 2020 Summer of Literature.