French Song Exchange
Tickets can be purchased from Eventbrite here
Interval
At the Salle Cortot in Paris
The French Song Exchange returns with three recitals: two Wigmore Hall lunchtimes and a performance at the iconic Salle Cortot in Paris. Devised by François Le Roux and Dame Felicity Lott, two great exponents of the mélodie, in collaboration with John Gilhooly, the French Song Exchange offers eight gifted singers a year of coaching from their mentors, culminating in showcase performances.
This showcase recital at the Salle Cortot in Paris, a French cultural landmark and renowned recital hall similar to Wigmore Hall in its intimacy and charm, includes thoughtful interpretations of solo French song, with works by Lalo, Falla and Viardot as well as favourites by Debussy and Duparc, and – for the first time – ensemble songs, including duets by Chausson and Chaminade. We also discover lesser-known composers such as Elsa Barraine and Jean Cras.
Salle Cortot tickets can be purchased from Eventbrite here
Sofia Kirwan Baez
Anglo-Venezuelan soprano Sofia Kirwan-Baez is a Kathleen Ferrier semi-finalist, a Josephine Baker Trust artist and a recipient of a Sybil Tutton Award and a Musicians’ Company Award. Operatic roles include Elle in La voix humaine and Adina in L'elisir d’amore, while her concert work ranges from Monteverdi’s Vespers to Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire. A Royal College of Music Concerto Competition winner, Sofia was a Huffner Scholar in the RCM Opera Studio, supported by the Sir Gordon Palmer Scholarship.
Camille Bauer
Belgian mezzo-soprano Camille Bauer studied in Brussels and Antwerp before graduating from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris in June 2023. Laureate of the 2022 Concours International de Chant Lyrique de Mâcon, she will sing in the Opera Studio of the Opéra National du Rhin during the 2023/24 season. Camille studied Lieder and French mélodie with Inge Spinette, Jeff Cohen and Anne Le Bozec and participated in the Académie Francis Poulenc in 2021.
Matthias Dähling
German countertenor Matthias Dähling recently graduated with distinction from his Masters degree at the Royal College of Music with Sally Burgess. He is generously supported in the UK as an RCM award holder and DAAD scholar. Recent highlights include CD recordings of Telemann cantatas with both the Neumeyer Consort and Barockwerk Hamburg as well as various solo performances in Germany and the UK. Matthias is passionate about song repertoire and increasing the recognition for the countertenor voice in this medium.
Dafydd Jones
Welsh tenor Dafydd Jones made his international debut as Clotarco in Haydn’s Armida for the Bregenz Festival, Austria. Currently studying for his Masters degree at the Royal College of Music under the tutelage of Nicky Spence and Caroline Dowdle, Dafydd’s studies are generously supported as an Ivor Llewellyn Foster Scholar, supported by the Leverhuhulme Arts Scholarship, Munster Trust and the Ryan Davies Memorial Trust.
Georgie Malcolm
Soprano Georgie Malcolm has recently completed her postgraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music. She has sung both as a Young Artist at Buxton International Festival and with the chorus of Opera North, and has performed widely as a soloist in concert and oratorio, including her Royal Albert Hall debut as soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah with The Really Big Chorus. Georgie won second prize and the Schubert prize at the National Mozart Singing Competition 2022.
Michael Bell
Northern Irish Tenor Michael Bell is a recent graduate of the Royal College of Music and the University of Cambridge. Michael has already appeared with major companies in the UK and Ireland, including Irish National Opera, Garsington Opera and Wexford Festival Opera. Highlights this year include the role of St John in Elgar's The Apostles for the last night of the Three Choirs Festival and joining Waterperry Festival Opera in the summer. He is a Samling Artist and Musicians' Company Young Artist.
Florian Störtz
German bass Florian Störtz started his career around Trier Cathedral, a stone's throw from France, and has nourished his passion for vocal music as a member of the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, as well as at the Royal Academy of Music where he received the Marjorie Thomas Art of Song Prize. Recent ventures include Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen alongside Orchestra VOX and a recital of Kindertotenlieder with pianist Dominika Mak.