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Named “Emerging Opera Singer of the Year” by “Opernwelt” magazine and first-prize winner at the renowned NEUE STIMMEN Competition in 2019, Anna El-Khashem was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and completed her musical studies at the State Conservatory in her native city. She made her international debut at the Bregenz Festival in 2016 as Bastienne in Mozart’s “Bastien und Bastienne” and Soprano Solo in C. M. v. Weber´s “Jubelmesse”.
El-Khashem was subsequently invited to join the Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and in 2017 she became a member of the company. She appeared in many new productions in Munich, singing, among other roles, Barbarina in “Le Nozze di Figaro”, the Mermaid in “Oberon”, Esmeralda in “Die Verkaufte Braut”, Inès in “La Favorite”, Ksenia in “Boris Godunov”, Suor Genovieffa in “Suor Angelica“ and Coryphée in “Alceste”.
She sang under the baton of many of today’s leading conductors, including Kirill Petrenko, Gustavo Dudamel, Constantinos Carydis, Ivor Bolton, Giacomo Sagripanti, Bertrand de Billy, Simone Young, Philippe Jordan and Riccardo Minasi.
In August 2019, Anna El-Khashem sang her first Susanna in “Le Nozze di Figaro” at the New Generation Festival in Florence. She then joined the ensemble of the State Theater in Wiesbaden, where her roles included Pamina in “Die Zauberflöte”, Gretel in “Hänsel und Gretel”, 1st niece in “Peter Grimes”, the soprano in a staged version of “St. Matthew Passion”, Susanna in “Le Nozze di Figaro” and Woglinde in “Das Rheingold” and “Götterdämmerung”. In the season 2021/2022 she sang, among other roles, Sophie in a new production of Massenet’s “Werther”.
Anna El-Khashem made her house and role debut at Opéra de Paris (Opéra Garnier) in June 2021 as Servilia in Mozart‘s opera “La Clemenza di Tito”, returning to Paris as Susanna in a new production of “Le Nozze di Figaro” in January 2022 and made her role debut as Zerlina in “Don Giovanni” on stage of Opéra Bastille in February 2022.
In July 2022 she performed for the first time at the Verbier Festival singing Zerlina in W. A. Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and presenting a solo recital alongside Semion Skigin (piano).
Anna successfully debuted at the Zurich Opera House in a concert under the baton of Maestro Riccardo Minasi in April 2022. In the following season 2022/23 she returned to Zurich and made her role debut as Flavia Gemmira in a new production of Cavalli’s “Eliogabalo” directed by C. Bieito.
In March 2023 she gave her debut with the Vienna State Opera during their guest performance at Opéra de Monte-Carlo singing Susanna in W. A. Mozart‘s “Le Nozze di Figaro” under the baton of Maestro Philippe Jordan. She also performed for the first time at the Tonhalle Zürich with G. F. Händel‘s oratorio “Alexander‘s Feast” (conductor-Riccardo Minasi) and sang at Philharmonie de Paris and Festival de Pâques d‘Aix-en-Provence performing J. S. Bach‘s “Matthäus-Passion” together with Les Talens Lyriques under the baton of Maestro Christophe Rousset.
In the current season 2023/24, among other projects, the soprano is set to return to the Zurich Opera House making her role debut as Clarine/Thalie in a new production of J.-P. Rameau‘s “Platée”, to perform for the first time at the Dutch National Opera as Marzelline in L. van Beethoven‘s “Fidelio” and to give her debut at the Salzburg Festival as Zerlina in W. A. Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”.
In addition to her first-prize award at Neue Stimmen in 2019, Anna El-Khashem won the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg in February of 2018 and received a special prize for the best interpretation of a work by Mozart. In the same year she was awarded the Trude Eipperle-Rieger-Preis. She was also the first-prize winner at the Elena Obraztsova International Competition and the first-prize winner at the Zara Dolukhanova International Art Song Competition in Kaliningrad.
Jędrzej Luciński showed a passion for music from a young age, especially after he began music studies at school. His interest in ear training, harmony and formal analysis resulted in his participation in an ear training competition in Wrocław. It was there that he met a colleague who was studying sound engineering at the Frederic Chopin Music University. Drawing inspiration from this encounter, he applied and was accepted to the same programme. And so began his dream career—one that combines his passion for music, ability to sculpt the subtleties of sound, knowledge of music theory and the desire to connect with musicians.
Johanna Soller, conductor, harpsichordist and organist is one of the most versatile musicians of her generation.
She is chief conductor and artistic director of the baroque ensemble capella sollertia, which has its origin in a highly acclaimed performance of Bachs St. Matthew’s passion in 2019. She is also founder and artistic director of the Bach cantata series Cantate um 1715.
Johanna collaborates with ensembles such as Freiburger Barockorchester, the Nederlandse Bachvereniging, the Zürcher Singakademie, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hofkapelle München, Munich Symphony Orchestra and artists such as Julian Prégardien, Anna Prohaska, Hille Perl and Christine Schornsheim.
Among her chamber music partners are Kristin von der Goltz and Anne Katharina Schreiber. Previous engagements include Theater an der Wien, the International Handel Festival in Goettingen, Thueringer Bachwochen and AUDI summer concerts in Ingolstadt.
An acclaimed choral conductor, Johanna has taken rehearsals for ensembles such as the MDR Radio Choir Leipzig, the Nederlandse Bachvereniging, the Munich Bach Choir and the via nova choir and for conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Ulf Schirmer and Nicholas McGegan. From 2014 to 2020 she served as musical assistant to the Munich Bach Choir, with whom she continues to work. In 2021 she was a chosen finalist of the prestigious Eric Ericson Award in Stockholm and therefore worked with the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir and the St. Jacob’s Chamber Choir. A former fellow in the German Conductors Forum (Forum Dirigieren) of Deutscher Musikrat she also collaborated amongst others with the Bavarian Radio Choir.
Johanna is also in demand as an opera conductor and achieves an excellent reputation as Maestra al cembalo: In 2021 she returned to Theater an der Wien in Vienna as Studienleiter and musical assistant of Christopher Moulds in Claus Guth’s cheered production of Handel’s Saul, playing as well the harpsichord and carillon in the pit with Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. As Laurence Cummings’ musical assistant, she was repeatedly invited to the International Handel Festival in Göttingen. In 2019 she was appointed musical director of the Munich Chamber Opera. She gave her debut as an opera conductor in 2017 with Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto.
Johanna is a lecturer for thorough-bass and score reading at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich and was appointed organist at St. Peter’s church in Munich in 2016. Prizewinner of the prestigious “Prague Spring” International Music Competition she has played recitals in some of the most important venues.
Johanna studied in Munich conducting with Michael Glaeser, harpsichord with Christine Schornsheim, organ and church music with Bernhard Haas and Edgar Krapp. She won a scholarship of the German National Music Competition 2013 and was therefore admitted to the Bundesauswahl Konzerte Junger Kuenstler, a funding programme of Deutscher Musikrat.
In 2020 she was awarded the Bavarian Kunstfoerderpreis.
Philipp Sussmann began playing violin at age three. Nine years later he changed to viola and became a Precollege student at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. He was principal violist of the National Youth Orchestra of Germany under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle and, in 2021, won an audition for a fixed position in the NDR Radio Symphony Orchestra. Philipp studied with Veronika Hagen at Mozarteum Salzburg and Volker Jacobsen at Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover. He has won several First and Special Prizes at international viola competitions, including the Szymon Goldberg and the MingClassics International Competitions. As a soloist he has performed with ensembles including the Berliner Camerata, Philharmonie Bad Reichenhall and Münchner Kammerphilharmonie DaCapo. Last year, he joined the Moritzburg Festival Orchestra as principal violist and received a Villa Musica Rheinland Pfalz scholarship.
Mari Kodama is known for her natural musicality, tonal expressiveness, and as a benchmark Beethoven interpreter. She is one of the few female pianists to record the composer’s complete sonatas. Kodama was born in Osaka and raised in Germany and Paris. At the Conservatoire National in Paris, she studied piano with Germaine Mounier and chamber music with Geneviève Joy-Dutilleux. She also studied with Tatiana Nikolaeva and Alfred Brendel. Since her New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 1995, she has performed with renowned orchestras and conductors in the world’s leading concert halls. Kodama co-founded the Forest Hill Musical Days festival, a chamber music festival in San Francisco, with her husband Kent Nagano, and she has also led the chamber music series at the Orford Music Festival. In 2018 she assumed artistic directorship at the festival Tra Luce e Sogno in Postignano, Italy.
Petra Radulović is a member of the opera studio of the Hanover State Opera, where she has performed the roles of Barbarina, Frasquita, Johanna (Sweeney Todd), Janthe (Vampyr) and Taumännchen (Hänsel und Gretel). Next season she performs Flora (Turn of the Screw), Oberto (Alcina), Madeline (The Fall of the House of Usher) and Elf (Rusalka). Since 2018, Petra has studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, first with Regine Köbler, and then with Rainer Trost. A prizewinner in several competitions, she has also performed in prestigious concert halls including the Schönbrunn Palace Theater and Vienna’s Altes Rathaus. She also performed three tours as Serpina in Giovanni Paisiello’s opera La serva padrona, produced by the Opera Festival Operosa. In masterclasses, Petra has worked with Peter Berne, Barbara Frittoli, Lilia Ilieva, John Norris, Neil Schicoff, Claudia Visca and Edith Wiens.
In 2020, Theresa Pilsl was awarded the prestigious Emmerich Smola Prize of the Südwestrundfunk (SWR) and also received the prize of the orchestra. She was also a prizewinner at the International Singing Competiton for Baroque Opera ‘Pietro Antonio Cesti’ in 2018 and the Bundeswettbewerb Gesang (Berlin) the same year. Her great passion lies in lieder singing. As a fellow of the Liedakademie, she is very connected to the Heidelberger Frühling. Theresa has performed recitals at the Pierre Boulez Saal Berlin, the Konzerthaus Vienna and sang Haydn’s Creation with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. She completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the UdK (Berlin University of the Arts) and the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin. Theresa is also a graduate of the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie 2019. Parallel to singing, she studied medicine at the Charité and is a scholarship holder of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation.
Born in Japan and raised in Canada, soprano Henna Mun is a Second year Master’s student at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London. She studies with Sarah Tynan and Caroline Dowdle. At RCM, Henna has performed the roles of Eurydice in Orpheus in the Underworld, La Principessa in La bella dormente nel bosco, and Adina in Opera Scenes’ production of L’elisir d’amore. She has also covered the roles of Papagena (Die Zauberflöte) and the Dew Fairy (Hänsel und Gretel) and was soprano soloist for Ein Deutsches Requiem, Gloria, Messiah, Mass in C minor, and Dixit Dominus. Currently, Henna has a full scholarship and is a Basil Coleman Opera Award holder, supported by the Midori Nishiura Scholarship. She is also supported by the Josephine Baker Trust and the Drake Calleja Trust.
Korean Soprano Celine Mun is a graduate of Yonsei University and the mdw (University of Music and performing Arts Vienna), where she made her debut as Musetta in La Bohème, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro,and Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos. She pursued her master’s degree in vocal studies with Krassmira Stoyanova and Daniela Fally. Celine has had success in a number of competitions, including Third Prize at the Lyrical Competition Salvatore Licitra (Miilan) and the International Singing Competition IMMLING (Germany). She also trained at the Hannover Staatsoper, where she performed in several opera gala concerts.
Sofie Lund has already taken part in many big productions such as Amadeus, directed by Kasper Holten, and Monteverdi’s Orfeo, both at the Royal Danish Opera. She has a preference for the contemporary repertoire, and has performed music by Hans Werner Henze, Thomas Adès and the Danish composer Ib Nørholm. In 2021, she made her debut at Den Ny Opera (Esbjerg), performing the role of Nanetta in Falstaff. In 2022, she performs Waldvogel in Siegfried at Den Ny Opera, and Death in the world premiere of the Manual composed by Louise Alenius, at The Royal Danish Opera. Sofie received her Artist Diploma from the Opera programme of the Royal College of Music (London).