The International Pharos Chamber Music Festival begins

The 17th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival opens next Friday at The Shoe Factory in Nicosia with a voice and piano recital by the renowned Danish coloratura soprano Susanne Elmark and international repetiteur Christian Westergaard.

In great demand around the world for the last 20 years, for her recital in Cyprus Elmark will join forces with Westergaard, winner of the 2015 International Lied Duo Competition, in a programme of songs by Claude Debussy, Alban Berg, Richard Strauss, Sergei Prokofiev and Edvard Grieg.

With the roles of Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Queen of the Night (Zauberflote), Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Lulu (Lulu), Fiakermilli (Arabella) and Marie (Die Soldaten) the Danish native, Copenhagen-educated coloratura soprano Elmark has been engaged in houses like Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, Opera Oslo, Oper Frankfurt, Oper Cologne, Opernhaus Zürich, and Royal Opera Copenhagen under the baton of such conductors as Gary Bertini, Sir Colin Davis, Marcello Viotti, Peter Schneider. Also, an advocate of contemporary music, the singer has given numerous first performances and several pieces are dedicated to her.

She has appeared in major festivals all over Europe and has collaborated with ensembles such as Ensemble Modern in alte Oper Frankfurt and Ensemble Intercontemporain of Pierre Boulez at The Lucerne Festival. Recent highlights include the leading part of Claudia (a role written for her) in the world premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s opera Stilles Meer at Staatsoper Hamburg under the baton of Kent Nagano, concerts at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, the Suntory Hall in Tokyo and the Luxembourg Philharmonie with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Kazushi Ono, her debut in South America at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires as Marie in a new production of Zimmermann’s opera Die Soldaten.

Westergaard is a Copenhagen-based collaborative pianist who works with leading Danish and Scandinavian singers including Mari Eriksmoen, Inger Dam Jensen, Bo Skovhus and many more. He has performed in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Musikhalle, Hamborg and is a recording artist for Dacapo Records. His upcoming projects include recording series The Danish Art Song Edition for Dacapo Records, recitals with Inger Dam Jensen and Bo Skovhus and the publication of the collected songs of Herman D Koppel on Edition S. In 2015, Westergaard was the winner of the International Lied Duo Competition together with Dutch mezzo soprano Francine Vis.

He also has a keen interest in the Danish piano repertoire and has released the critically acclaimed CD Tangos, Waltzes and Cinema Music with piano music by Jacob Gade (Dacapo Records). He currently holds teaching positions at The Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen, The Royal Danish Opera Academy, Copenhagen and The Danish National Academy of Music, Odense.

Susanne Elmark and Christian Westergaard
Performance as part of the 17th International Pharos Chamber Music Festival. June 2. The Shoe Factory, Nicosia. 8.30pm. € 10. Tel: 22-663871

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