14th International Art Song Competition Stuttgart
From 24 to 29 September 2024, the best young song talents from all over the world once again answered the call of the Stuttgart International Competition for Lied Art at the Stuttgart State University of Music and Performing Arts. However, the competition between the 26 nominated duos was not the only focus of interest. The director of the International Hugo Wolf Academy (IHWA), Dr Cornelia Weidner, attached great importance to the close thematic link between the competition and the supporting programme. Once again, her lever was the competition repertoire. And it worked! In addition to the fixed stars Hugo Wolf and Franz Schubert as well as two contemporary works, the 14th Lied Art Competition prescribed works from the Second Viennese School, supplemented by works by the British and American composers Maude Valérie White, Liza Lehmann, Ethel Smyth, Rebecca Clarke, Margaret Bonds and Florence Price, who were artistically active in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
There was much praise for this selection on the workshop day on 27 September 2024, which posed the question of the future and sustainability of song under the motto ‘Beyond Lied’. Answers were provided by the lecture Lied in the 21st Century (can be seen here on youtube) by British-Indian pianist Keval Shah, who won first prize in the last Lied Art Competition in 2022 together with his singing partner Theodore Platt, as well as the panel on Lied 4.0. Shah was joined on the panel by Annett Baumeister (cultural manager of the city of Staufen), Kian Jazdi, artistic co-director and co-founder of the Liedstadt festival, and singer Henk Neven, Lied competition jury member and co-director of the Internationaal Liedfestival Zeist. The fact that the discussion was not limited to the panel, but rather took place with the extremely active participation of the many trade visitors in the audience, is certainly one of the best results of the 14th Lied Competition. Probably the most important finding was that the diversification of the programme can only succeed with a great deal of creativity, persuasion and a ‘welcoming culture’ in which the organisers take on the role of hosts rather than gatekeepers representing pure doctrine. A journey that has long since begun for the IHWA.
The International Hugo Wolf Academy for Song, Poetry and Lied Art (IHWA) is one of the world's oldest and most traditional institutions for the promotion and preservation of a unique art form - the art song. Its beginnings date back to the lifetime of its namesake at the end of the 19th century. The IHWA continues this tradition of cultivating Wolf's oeuvre to this day and is always on the lookout for contemporary forms of song presentation. The biennial International Competition for Lied Art Stuttgart is one of the world's leading platforms for the Lied - also because it explicitly recognises it as a duo and not just as a vocal art form. Since 2008, the awarding of the Hugo Wolf Medal has also been one of the highlights of the IHWA's work. Previous medallists are: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (2008), Christa Ludwig (2010), Peter Schreier (2011), Brigitte Fassbaender (2013), Graham Johnson (2014), Elly Ameling (2015), Thomas Hampson & Wolfram Rieger (2017), Gundula Janowitz (2019) and Christian Gerhaher & Gerold Huber (2024).
Source: Press release of the IHWA
Press contact 14th International Competition for Lied Art Stuttgart:
Nicola Steller, steller@freie-pr.de, Tel. 07156-350616
IHWA press contact:
Dr Cornelia Weidner, presse@ihwa.de, Tel. 0711-221177
