SONG DUO

“One word to sum up their musical partnership: perfection.”
Westfälische Rundschau, 14.09.2020

The award-winning song duo with Swiss soprano Franziska Heinzen and the British-Polish-German pianist Benjamin Mead inspires audiences throughout Europe with their carefully curated Lieder programmes and discography. Their vision of revitalising the standard repertoire through discovering unknown gems has become their trademark: highly praised by critics both for its interpretation and its conception, their debut album celebrating LES SIX (SoloMusica) was released in early 2021; their second album WOMEN COMPOSERS (SoloMusica) celebrating the diverse works of composers from Romanticism to Contemporary Music with 24 songs by 24 female composers was nominated for an Opus Klassik in 2022. In February 2023, their third album LIEDER US UM TAL, a declaration of love to Franziska’s home canton Valais and an homage to Swiss Art Song, will be released on Prospero Classical. 

The past years have seen them give their debut recital at the new song series dedicated to Schubert in Barcelona initiated by the Schubertíada de Vilabertran with settings of Goethe and the poets of sensibility. Their recital dedicated to the poet Rainer Maria Rilke was recorded and broadcast by Swiss radio station SRF2 Kultur and rebroadcast by BBC Radio 3. Sharing their passion for showcasing less well-known compositions the Swiss radio station SRF2 also recorded their recital at the Rhonefestival dedicated to women composers from the romantic to the contemporary periods.

The song duo met at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf and can now look back on more than 15 concert programmes with international performances. In 2017, the song duo won first prize at the 2nd International Rhein-Ruhr Song Competition in Ratingen and second prize at the Sieghardt-Rometsch Chamber Music Competition. Together they received the music endowment award of the state capital of Düsseldorf in 2017 and founded the Lied festival „Rhonefestival für Liedkunst“ in the canton of Valais/Switzerland.

Franziska Heinzen grew up in the canton of Valais in Switzerland, studied singing in Zurich and Düsseldorf and works internationally as a concert, opera and Lieder singer. Benjamin Mead studied piano in Düsseldorf and specialised in Lieder and chamber music at the Royal Academy of Music in London.