Compétition > Jury

Bernarda Fink

mezzo
Argentina

Born in Buenos Aires to Slovenian parents, Bernada Fink received her vocal and musical education at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón where she later performed frequently.

One of the most sought-after singers of her time in concert and recital, she has been acclaimed for her musical versatility and invited by the leading orchestras and conductors in Europe and America. Her repertoire ranges from ancient music up to music of the 20th century. She frequently appeared with such well-known orchestras as the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin and Dresden, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as with the best-known Baroque orchestras under such famous conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Herbert Blomstedt, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, René Jacobs, Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Muti, Sir Roger Norrington, Trevor Pinnock, Georges Prêtre, Sir Simon Rattle and Franz Welser-Möst. The mezzo-soprano’s close artistic cooperation with Nikolaus Harnoncourt can be seen in the numerous TV and CD recordings they made together.

Bernarda Fink has appeared to widespread critical acclaim, both in her birth country Argentina and on the stages of Europe’s most prominent opera houses. Her latest operatic roles were Cecilio in Mozart’s Lucio Silla led by Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the Theater an der Wien, Idamante (Idomeneo) in a production of Luc Bondy and Jesus Lopez Cobos at the Teatro Real in Madrid, and Irene (Theodora) under Ivor Bolton at the Salzburg Festival. She also sang Sesto (La clemenza di Tito) and Idamante in concert versions under the baton of René Jacobs, both of which were recorded and received critical acclaim. In June 2017, Bernarda Fink made her debut in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande at the Vienna State Opera.

She regularly appeared in recital at the Wiener Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Berlin Philharmonie, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, Edinburgh Festival, Carnegie and Alice Tully Halls in New York. Furthermore, Bernarda Fink performed Dvořák and Janacek songs together with the Pavel Haas Quartett at London’s Wigmore Hall, at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, in The Hague and in Madrid.

Highlights of the pervious seasons were recitals in Cologne, Vienna, Madrid and Paris, Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with Mariss Jansons in Copenhagen and with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons in Boston, Mahler's  Symphony No. 3 with Jakub Hrůša in Bamberg and Paris, a tour across South America with the Camerata Salzburg as well as Dvořáks Biblical Songs with Manfred Honeck in Prague and Dresden and Mahler's Lied von der Erde with the South Netherlands Philharmonic and Hans Graf in the Netherlands.

Bernarda Fink regularly holds master classes at the Wiener Meisterkurse, the Young Singers Project (YSP) in Salzburg, the Academy of the Festival in Aix-en-Provence, the Schubert-Institute in Baden (near Vienna), at the Aldeburgh Festival and the Fondation Royaumont. She was also on the jury of the International Song Competition of London’s Wigmore Hall, the Bach Wettbewerb Leipzig, BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, DAS LIED International Song Competition as well as the ARD Music Competition. In autumn 2019 Bernarda Fink taught at the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music.

The mezzo-soprano has made numerous highly acclaimed recordings, with her discography comprising more than 50 releases, ranging from Monteverdi and Rameau to Schubert, Bruckner and Schumann. Many have been awarded coveted prizes such as the Diapason d’Or and Grammy. Bernarda Fink maintains a close collaboration with Harmonia Mundi, recent recordings including Bach Cantatas with the Freiburger Barockorchester and Lieder by Schumann with accompanist Anthony Spiri, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and programmes of Lieder by Slovenian and Argentinian composers together with her brother, the baritone Marcos Fink (for which they received a Grammy nomination). In 2012 she released albums of Dvořák lieder (together with Genia Kühmeier), and Spanish songs (de Falla, Granados, Rodrigo and others) once again with Anthony Spiri at the piano. Her latest album included Mahler lieder accompanied by the Tonkunstler Orchestra in Austria and Andrés Orozco-Estrada, and Anthony Spiri.

In February 2006, Bernarda Fink was awarded the Austrian Honorary Medal for Art and Science by the Austrian Chancellor and in February 2013, together with her brother Marcos Fink, she received the most prestigious cultural award of Slovenia, sponsored by the Prešeren-foundation, for their recording Slovenija! and the series of concerts. In September 2014 she received the title of Austrian Kammersängerin.

Crédit photo Shirley Suarez

Dietrich Henschel

baritone
Germany

The baritone Dietrich Henschel is known as a regular guest at major opera houses, as a valued interpreter of song and oratorio, as the inventor and protagonist of a wide range of multimedia projects. His repertoire ranges from Monteverdi to the avant-garde.

Henschel began his international career with a co-production between Opéra de Lyon and Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris in the title role of Busoni's opera Doktor Faust, for which he won a Grammy Award.

The singer's leading roles include Rossini's Figaro, Wolfram in Wagner's Tannhäuser, Monteverdi's Ulisse and Orfeo, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Alban Berg's Wozzek and Dr. Schön in Lulu, Golaud in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande and Nick Shadow in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress. Contemporary opera also has an important part in Henschel's repertoire; many great composers such as Pèter Éötvös, Detlev Glanert, Manfred Trojahn, Peter Ruzicka or Chaja Czernowin entrusted him with important roles in the premieres of their works.

In orchestral concerts, Henschel regularly works with conductors such as Sylvain Cambreling, Kazushi Ono, Cornelius Meister and Vladimir Jurowski. Recordings with John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Sir Colin Davis document his oratorio work. He has performed scenic versions of Schubert song cycles in La Monnaie, Theater an der Wien, Norske Opera Oslo and the Komische Oper Berlin, among others.

In the project IRRSAL – a triptych of forbidden love, conceived together with the director Clara Pons, orchestral songs by Hugo Wolf were combined with a feature film shot especially for their live performance; the great success of this project led to the follow-up project Wunderhorn, an international co-production involving 8 partner institutions, including La Monnaie, Bruxelles, BBC Symphony Orchestra London and De Doelen, Rotterdam.

Photo credit Susanne Diesner

Mark Padmore

tenor
United Kingdom

This season Mark sings Evangelist in the St Matthew Passion with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Simon Rattle and with the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra; gives recitals with guitar and the Britten Nocturne at Le Pont International Music Festival Japan; sings Britten Nocturne with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Ryan Wigglesworth and also with the Freiburg Chamber Ochestra; and sings Schubert Winterreise with Julius Drake for Temple Music as well as with Till Fellner at the Innsbrucker Festwochen.

Recent highlights included Judith Weir’s In the Land of Uz at the Worcester Three Choirs Festival; recitals, including performances in Barcelona and Madrid with Julius Drake; Alicante with the Elias String Quartet; the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam with Till Fellner; the Théâtre de l’Athénée Paris with Julius Drake and Schubert Winterreise with Mitsuko Uchida at Carnegie Hall New York, the Kimmel Center Philadelphia and the University of California at Berkeley.

Following a residency at Wigmore Hall in the 2021/22 season where he celebrated his relationship with pianists Till Fellner, Imogen Cooper, Mitsuko Uchida and Paul Lewis he recently returned to sing Vaughan Williams and Fauré with the Elias Quartet and James Baillieu.

Mark’s most recent opera appearance was at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, singing the title role in a new production of Monteverdi Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria conducted by Fabio Biondi. Another highlight was a new production of Britten’s Death in Venice at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden where his performance was described as a “tour de force” and “exquisite of voice, [presenting] Aschenbach’s physical and spiritual breakdown with extraordinary detail and insight”. Previous roles have included Captain Vere in Britten Billy Budd and Evangelist in a staging of St Matthew Passion for the Glyndebourne Festival, and leading roles in Harrison Birtwistle The Corridor and The Cure at the Aldeburgh Festival.

In concert Mark performs with the world’s leading orchestras. He was Artist in Residence for the 2017/18 season with the Berlin Philharmonic and held a similar position with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2016/17. His work with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment has involved projects exploring both the Bach St John and St Matthew Passion without conductor which attracted worldwide acclaim.

His extensive and award-winning discography includes Schumann Dichterliebe with Kristian Bezuidenhout and Schubert song cycles with Paul Lewis, both for Harmonia Mundi. Described by the New York Times as “Schubert Masters” Mark Padmore and Mitsuko Uchida recently embarked on a series of highly acclaimed, worldwide recitals and this partnership has culminated in a recording on Decca Classics of Schubert Schwanengesang and Beethoven An die ferne Geliebte.

Mark was Artistic Director of the St. Endellion Summer Music Festival in Cornwall from 2012-2022, voted 2016 Vocalist of the Year by Musical America and appointed CBE in the 2019 Queens’ Birthday Honours List.

Crédit photo Marco Borggreve

Markus Hadulla

piano
Germany

Born in Cologne, Germany, Markus Hadulla studied in Karlsruhe with Hartmut Höll, at the Paris Conservatoire National de musique and at Yale University/ School of Music with the Hungarian pianist Peter Frankl. In 1994, he won the prize of best pianist during the 7th International Hugo Wolf Competition in Stuttgart, which immediately drew the attention of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who invited Hadulla to his Lied Class in Berlin.

A passionate Liedpianist, Hadulla’s many artistic partners to date include singers Sandrine Piau, Janina Baechle, Stella Doufexis, Christianne Stotijn, Rainer Trost, Markus Schäfer, Angelika Kirchschlager, Peter Edelmann and the late Udo Reinemann as well Liedsingers of the younger generation like Marie Seidler, Ilker Arcayürek, Samuel Hasselhorn, Patrick Grahl and David Steffens. 

Being chosen by the series “Rising Stars” (ECHO) together with violist Antoine Tamestit he has appeared in prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Vienna, the Philharmonie in Cologne and the Lucerne Festival. His successful career took him to perform at Music Festivals such as Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Rheingau Musikfestival, La Roque d’Antheron and the festival for music and dance Granada. He also performed in the world’s leading concert halls such as London’s Wigmore Hall, l’Auditorium du Louvre Paris, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, the Philharmonie in Berlin, Lincoln Center in New York and Toppan Hall Tokyo.

Hadulla has served over 20 years as artistic director of a performance series “wort+ ton” in Winnenden (Germany), close to Stuttgart, which associated literature and music, and he has been artistic advisor for the Académie des Heures Romantiques, an annual series of masterclasses and concerts in Touraine, France.

After teaching positions at the Hochschule Hanns Eisler in Berlin and Karlsruhe Markus Hadulla is currently University-Professor for Lied and vocal accompaniment at the piano department of the University for music and performing arts Vienna (mdw).

In addition to numerous live recordings for radio and television, Markus Hadulla has recorded a number of CDs for the labels Claves, Bayer Records, Naxos, Audite, Marsyas and Naïve, which have won major Awards like Diapason d'or, Choc de Classica, Orphée d'or Prix Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and the Annual Award of the German Record Critics' Award. His latest release includes Lieder of Robert Schumann with the south-korean tenor Seil Kim for Sony Classical.

A current project “NACHTHELLE!” initiated by Markus Hadulla brings together tenors Ilker Arcayürek, Jan Petryka and Patrick Grahl as well as baritone Samuel Hasselhorn and bass David Steffens performing ensembles and solo lieder of Franz Schubert in an exquisite program being performed at the International Hugo-Wolf Academy, at Konzerthaus Wien and Festival Heidelberger Frühling. The newest program includes also repertoire for female and men voices and will be performed in January 2024. More informations at: www.nachthelle.com

Photo by Nancy Horowitz

Susan Manoff

piano
France - USA

Pianist Susan Manoff was born in New York of Latvian and German descent. She studied at the Manhattan School of Music and at the University of Oregon. Intensive studies with Gwendolyn Koldofsky in the art song repertoire led her to become one of the most sought-after pianists of her generation. In addition to her interest in the vocal repertoire, Susan Manoff is a passionate advocate of chamber music and the creation of original programs blending music and  text.   She performs regularly at major international festivals and concert halls such as Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Théâtre du Châtelet, Salle Gaveau, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, Musikverein, Oji Hall... Susan Manoff is a regular guest of France Musique.

Susan Manoff has recorded for the labels Alpha Classics, Sony, Naïve, Decca, Virgin, Arion, Valois, Aparte.  In 2007 she recorded her first CD with Sandrine Piau, entitled ‘Evocation’, and a second recording, « Après un Rêve », was released in March 2011 (Naïve.)  Her recording with long term musical partner Nemanja Radulovic is dedicated to the violin and piano sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven (Decca, 2010).  The album, "La Belle Excentrique", with soprano Patricia Petibon, was released in autumn of 2014 (Deutsche Grammophon). Other recent recordings include « Néère » (winner of the prestigious Gramophone Award 2016) with partner Véronique Gens (Alpha Classics) , « Chimère » (Diapason D’Or and Choc Classica 2018) with partner Sandrine Piau (Alpha Classics 2018),  “Long Time Ago” (Alpha Classics 2019) with Adèle Charvet, and “L’Amour, La Mort, La Mer” (Sony 2020) with  Patricia Petibon.   Susan Manoff was assistant chorus director at the Bastille Opera and is presently a professor at the Conservatoire National de Musique et de Danse de Paris. 

She teaches master classes around the world.  In 2011, she was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the Cultural Ministry of France.

Credit photo Bernard Martinez

Véronique Gens

soprano
France

After leading the field of Baroque music for many years, Véronique Gens is now one of the world’s most renowned performers of Mozart. The role of Donna Elvira at the Aix-en Provence Festival in a production conducted by Claudio Abbado and directed by Peter Brook opened the doors to all the major European opera houses. She has worked with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Charles Dutoit, Louis Langrée, William Christie, Marc Minkowski, Myung-Whun Chung, Ivor Bolton, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Daniel Harding, Christophe Rousset, Sir Neville Marriner, Marek Janowski, Thomas Hengelbrock etc. She has performed in Don Giovanni at the Liceu in Barcelone, at the Teatro Real in Madrid, at the Munich Bayerische Staatsoper, at the Glyndebourne Festival, at the Paris Opera, at the Vienna Staatsoper and at Covent Garden in London; La Clemenza di Tito (Vitellia) at the Dresden Semperoper, at the Liceu in Barcelone, at La Monnaie in Brussels, at the Teatro Real in Madrid and at the Vienna Staatsoper; Così fan tutte (Fiordiligi) in Tokyo and Baden-Baden, The Marriage of Figaro (La Comtesse) in Aix-en-Provence, at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich; La Calisto (Giunone) in Munich, Paris and London, Pelléas et Mélisande (Mélisande) with Deutsche Oper in Berlin, Alceste at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and at the Vienna Staatsoper, La Finta Giardiniera at the Salzburg Festival, Iphigénie en Aulide in Brussels and Amsterdam, Iphigénie en Tauride at the Theater an der Wien, Niobe at Covent Garden, The Merry Widow with Lyon Opera (available on DVD), Falstaff (Alice) at the Bayerische Staatsoper, at the Baden-Baden Festival and in Nantes, The Mastersingers of Nuremberg (Eva) in Barcelona, Dialogues des carmélites (Madame Lidoine) at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées; Der Freischütz (Agathe) at the Berlin Staatsoper and at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the title role in Alceste at the Paris Opera, the title role in La Belle Hélène at the Grand Theatre in Geneva, Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira) at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, the Countess (The Marriage of Figaro) at the Vienna Staatsoper etc. This season she is performing in Alceste and La Clemenza de Tito (Vitellia) at the Vienna Staatsoper and Dialogues des carmélites at La Monnaie in Brussels. She has also performed in numerous concerts and recitals in Amsterdam, Dresden, Munich, Copenhagen, Paris, Luxembourg, Lille, Versailles, Salzburg, Vienna, Lisbon, New York, at the Wigmore Hall in London, at the Tanglewood Festival etc. She has just recorded an album of music by Duparc, Chausson and Hahn entitled Néère.

Photo credit : Jean-Baptiste Millot