Teaching

For 30 years I have been dealing with questions of vocal pedagogy and teaching and it always amazes me how diverse the words and images can be that describe the phenomenon of "singing". In my student days, influenced by my professors Ingeborg Most (Freiburg), Rudolf Piernay (Mannheim/London) and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Berlin), I was privileged to meet outstanding colleagues on international stages, with whom I often exchanged views on vocal issues. Working with important musical personalities at the piano or on the podium has also significantly broadened my musical horizon. Even today, I am a curious listener when my highly esteemed colleagues at the Karlsruhe University of Music teach our students in "open lessons" or when renowned singers such as KS Brigitte Fassbaender, KS Dorothea Röschmann, Thomas Hampson, Margreet Honig or Ann Murray give a master class at our university.

For me, singing means combining emotion and ratio, psyche and physique of the human being. Word and sound, communication at the highest level. This, in combination with the five to six most important stage languages and different musical styles makes the subject complex. But above all it makes happy!

I consider it a privilege to be able to accompany young people on their way to the stage, which is usually first of all a path to themselves. At the Hochschule für Musik in sunny Karlsruhe, the conditions for this are excellent with an excellent team of colleagues and the structural conditions. Sometimes I also give master classes, like at the Wolfgang Sawallisch Foundation in September 2023 or at the Chamber Opera Rheinsberg Castle in July 2024.

I am very pleased when former students report their successes, such as the mezzo-soprano Vero Miller (Staatstheater Kassel), the bass Seong Weon Lee (Landestheater Detmold) or the baritone Bernhard Hansky (Hamburg State Opera).

And again and again I am curious about young people who strive to make their soul sound.....

Students‘ Competition Successes

2010 The baritone Bernhard Hansky (22) qualifies among 600 international applicants for the Belcanto Opera Festival Bad Wildbad as "Dandini" in "Cenerentola".
2012 The mezzo-soprano Jessica Veronique Miller receives the Rainer Koch Memorial Prize of the Baden Cultural Fund e.V. for her interpretation of works by Wolfgang Rihm.
2014 At the international competition Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg, the mezzo-soprano Jéssica Veronique Miller (21), the bass Florian Hartmann (22) and the tenor Florin Emilian Calita (27) qualified to sing in Mozart's "The Magic Flute". The former student Bernhard Hansky sings Papageno.
  At the National Singing Competition (Junior), the mezzo-soprano Jéssica Veronique Miller (21) reaches the finals and receives the 3rd prize.
2015 At the Lions International Competition at Gut Immling, the mezzo-soprano Jéssica Veronique Miller (21) receives the Young Talent Award.
  At the International Bach Competition in Greifswald, the baritone Leonhard Geiger (29) receives the 2nd prize.
  The soprano Sophie Louise Stengel receives the 2nd prize at the Heinz Kunle Competition for Chanson.
  The bass-baritone Seung Weon Lee receives the DAAD Prize of the Karlsruhe University of Music.
2016 The soprano Carlotta Lipski, 21, wins the 2nd prize in her 2nd semester bachelor's degree at the Rainer Koch Memorial Prize for the best interpretation of a work by Wolfgang Rihm.
2019 The mezzo-soprano Yingyan Guo qualifies to take part in the world premiere of the opera "Clara" by Victoria Bond at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival in collaboration with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
The baritone Lorenzo de Cunzo becomes scholarship holder of the Brahms Society Baden-Baden.
2020 Lorenzo de Cunzo receives the Bayreuth Scholarship of the Richard Wagner Association and qualifies to perform in the opera "Simplicius Simplicissimus" by K.A. Hartmann at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival in cooperation with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
2021 The mezzo-soprano Louise Lotte Edler receives the Bayreuth Scholarship of the Richard Wagner Association.
The soprano Franziska Fait wins the 1nd prize at the 9th International Singing Competition “Lav Mirski“
The bass-baritone Ang Du (soloist exam) wins 3rd prize in the opera category at the 33rd international singing competition “Nuits lyriques de Marmande”.
The Japanese soprano Maine Takeda receives 1st prize at the Rainer Koch Memorial Prize 2021 of the Baden Cultural Fund. The repertoire consisted exclusively of works by the composer Wolfgang Rihm, who was also the chairman of the jury.
The French-Japanese soprano Mariko Lepage, Franziska Fait and Maine Takeda receive a scholarship from founded by Yehudi Menuhin from the Live Music Now Foundation.
At the Heinz Kunle Competition (in 2021 for vocal ensemble), soprano Franziska Fait and Portuguese mezzo-soprano Claudia Pereira (19) won second prize from the class of Prof. Hanno Müller-Brachmann.
The soprano Maine Takeda (class of Prof. Müller-Brachmann) and the mezzo-soprano Marie Gerhardine Iguchi (class of Prof. Christian Elsner) won the 1st prize.
2022 Soprano Franziska Fait received second prize at the Lions Music Prize in Karlsruhe. The mezzo-soprano Louise Lotte Edler receives the 1st prize. At federal level, she received second prize.
At the same competition in Portugal, the Portuguese mezzo-soprano Claudia Pereira (20) also received second prize.
2023 The Japanese soprano Maine Takeda receives the 2nd prize at the competition "Bella Voce" of the Kulturfond Baden e.V. in April 2023.
The Portuguese mezzo-soprano Claudia Pereira receives the Young Artist Award at the same competition. She also won the 1st prize at the "Concurso Cidade de Gaia" 2023 in Portugal.
In February 2023, at the 15th International Mozart Competition Salzburg, Japanese soprano Yukari Fukui received the special prize of the Mozarteum Foundation for the best interpretation of a vocal work by W.A. Mozart for her interpretation of "Konstanze" from the opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail".
In March 2023 she received the "Silver Medal" at the 4th "Vienna International Music Competition".
In April 2023 she received the 1st prize at the competition "Bella Voce" of the Kulturfond Baden e.v..
In May 2023 she won the Semi Grand Prix at the "Basel International Vocal Competition".