Event info

Soprano singer Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir and pianist Kunal Lahiry perform lieder by Nordic composers, Apparition by George Crumb and a new composition by Þuríður Jónsdóttir.

The young Icelandic soprano, Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir is studying towards her master’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin; after completing her Bachelor studies with highest distinction from the same school in 2018.

Álfheiður has worked with conductors such as Alondra de la Parra, Daníel Bjarnason and Fabio Biondi. Álfheiður made her debut at Staatsoper Berlin in the title role of Wolfgang Mitterer’s ‘Snow White‘ in March 2019, followed with her ‘Papagena‘ debut in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte September 2019. Álfheiður also performed the ‘Echo‘ in Scarlatti’s La Vergine Addolorata with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin during Staatsoper Berlin’s Barocktage in November 2019.

Her recent operatic roles include Louise in the premiere of the short opera Tolleranzia by Alex Chorny (Deutsche Oper Tischlerei), ‘Poppea’ in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea (Freiraum Berlin), ‘Hannchen‘ in Edvard Künneke’s Vetter aus Dingsda (Theater Altenburg Gera), ‘Susanna’ in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (Uferstudios Berlin), ‘Marzelline’ in Beethoven’s Fidelio (Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest), ‘Flaminia’ in Haydn’s Il mondo della luna (HfM Berlin) and ‘Poppea’ in Händel’s Agrippina (Radialsystem Berlin).

The young American pianist Kunal Lahiry is currently on the way to becoming one of the most promising and sought after lied pianists. Known for his “outstanding pianism”, Lahiry made his orchestral debut at the age of 17 with the Gainesville Symphony Orchestra as the first prize winner of the Kiwanis Society scholarship. Since then, he has been successful at multiple international competitions, winning top prizes at the Atlanta Music Club, New Orleans Piano Institute, Brevard Music Center Piano Competition, and the XXVI Concours de Flame in Paris. He has been invited to perform in masterclasses with renowned artists such as Graham Johnson, Sir Thomas Allen, Malcolm Martineau, Murray Perahia, Brian Zeger, Anne le Bozec, and François Le Roux.

Kunal Lahiry’s special affinity towards song interpretation has led to concerts at the Britten Studio, l’Église de Noisay, “Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach” Konzerthalle (Frankfurt am Oder), Teatr Wielki (Warsaw), Salon Razumovsky (Vienna), l’Église américaine de Paris, Stift Altenburg, Schloss Kirchberg, Lutherkirche (Bonn), Manhattan School of Music, Konzerthaus ‘Neue Welt’ (Zwickau), the Mendelssohn Remise, and in the Lunchkonzert series of the Berliner Philharmonie.

Regarded as a “sensitive and inspiring” collaborator, Lahiry was featured in Clemens Goldberg’s lecture-performance series ‘Slow Listening’, on the radio program ‘Kulturradio RBB’ in Berlin, and has appeared multiple times in concert for the Daniel Barenboim Excellence Foundation.