Announcing the University Lieder Scheme members for 2023 – 2024
The University Lieder Scheme has awarded five talented singer-piano duos places to participate in the 2023-24 programme. This year’s selection process was marked by a remarkable number of applicants and an outstanding level of preparation by candidates.
The duos selected for the University Lieder Scheme this year are:
Hugo Williamson, tenor (Robinson College) and Daniel Blaze, piano (Clare College)
James Gant, tenor (St John’s College) and Edd Campbell-Rowntree, piano (Girton College)
Henry Montgomery, bass (Magdalene College) and Alex Trigg, piano (St John’s College)
Alexander Semple, bass (St John’s College) and Kyoko Canaway, piano (alumna Gonville & Caius College)
Sumei Bao-Smith, soprano (Trinity College) and Calvin Leung, piano (Trinity College)
The University Lieder Scheme is a prestigious programme that offers exceptional singers and pianists from the University opportunities to hone their talents in the realm of Lieder, a German art song tradition. This year’s duos will develop their skills, performing and working with the Scheme’s world-class director, pianist Joseph Middleton, and with visiting coaches including Sir Thomas Allen and James Gilchrist. Joseph Middleton said,
“The University Lieder Scheme provides a small number of the finest singers and pianists in Cambridge with intensive study opportunities across the year, in all aspects of duo performance and art song interpretation. Designed as a space for thoughtful learning, the year will afford duos time for concentrated study. Technical, interpretive, linguistic and communicative skills will be explored. Regular coaching sessions with me will be supplemented with public masterclasses, performance opportunities, as well as the chance to learn from the recitals that run alongside the scheme and which attract the finest vocalists of our time. This year’s recitalists include Sir Simon Keenlyside, Dame Sarah Connolly, Christoph Prégardien and Konstantin Krimmel.”
The Scheme has a history of producing outstanding musicians who go on to achieve successful careers in music performance. Recent alumni include Hugh Cutting (winner of the 2021 Kathleen Ferrier Award and a current BBC New Generation Artist), Gramophone Award-winning mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston, and this year’s Helmut Deutsch Lied Competition winner Florian Störtz.
The Scheme is run as a collaboration between Pembroke College, Trinity College and the Centre for Music Performance.
