After a four-year hiatus, the biennial Heidelberger Frühling Wettbewerb “Das Lied” is back from March 1-5, 2023, at the Alter Saal of Theater Heidelberg. Tickets are available now. The Competition will also be livestreamed worldwide.

Founded in 2009 by Thomas Quasthoff, the Competition comes with a sizeable prize of €40, 000, along with concert and festival opportunities and more for the First Prize winner.

“For young musicians, competitions are an important station in their professional careers and can be a springboard. Since the young generation of artists was particularly affected by the pandemic, I am all the more pleased that ‘Das Lied’ can finally take place again after a four-year break,” Quasthoff said in an official statement.

This year’s competition saw applications from 131 countries spanning the globe. Of these, 38 singers and 33 pianists representing 20 countries were accepted. The competition repertoire includes selected Lieder by Aribert Reimann, Franz Schubert, and Viktor Ullmann. Rounds will begin on March 1, culminating with a prize ceremony on March 5.

Comprising the jury are Quasthoff as Chair, and Lied experts John Gilhooly (Artistic and Executive Director of London’s Wigmore Hall), Richard Stokes (Professor of Lieder at the Royal Academy of Music in London), James Taylor (Professor in the Practice of Voice at Yale University, USA), soprano Juliane Banse, mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink. Pianists selected to take part are James Baillieu and Justus Zeyen. Rounding out the panel is artist manager Helga Machreich, and the Competition pianist is Professor Alexander Fleischer.

In a press statement, Thorsten Schmidt, director of Heidelberger Frühling, said, “The Heidelberger Frühling Wettbewerb ‘Das Lied’ presents nothing less than the future of Lied – excellent interpreters who have dedicated themselves to this unique art form. Giving these young artists a stage, awarding and promoting them is one of the most important tasks of Heidelberger Frühling Liedzentrum.”

The Wettbewerb “Das Lied” is a project of Heidelberger Frühling Liedzentrum, which was founded in 2016 to bundle activities around the Lied and to create a center for inventiveness, excellence, and competence in Lied.