Wigmore French Song Exchange

The fifth year of the Wigmore French Song Exchange returns with three recitals: two Wigmore Hall lunchtimes and a performance in Paris. Devised by Dame Felicity Lott and François Le Roux, two great champions of the mélodie, alongside Sebastian Wybrew, the programme offers gifted singers and pianists a year of coaching from their mentors, culminating in showcase performances.

'We wanted to share our love of French song with a new generation of singers. Come and hear beautiful young voices in this rich and varied repertoire, with well-known and lesser-known songs. I hope that – like me – you will make some great discoveries!'.

Bizet & Ravel 1875 – A Cornerstone for French Music

In 1875, Bizet died, a few weeks after his operatic masterpiece Carmen was premièred at the Paris Opéra-Comique, and Ravel was born at the border of Spain in the French Basque country. The Wigmore French Song Exchange celebrates this 150th anniversary with young singers and pianists exploring Bizet’s and Ravel’s musical worlds through their songs.

The second lunchtime concert in the series continues our inquest into Bizet and Ravel, featuring unknown gems – some receiving their first performance at Wigmore Hall. The scheme, which now includes both singers and pianists, aims to explore every layer of French song – from the enchanting voice to the mystifying accompaniment. The concert includes solo mélodies, duets and even ensemble works.

INTRODUCING THE ARTSTS...

Ellen Pearson (mezzo-soprano)

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Ellen Pearson is a Mezzo-Soprano from Kent. She recently graduated with a Master’s of Music degree with distinction from the Royal College of Music, under the tutelage of Alison Wells. Ellen is currently a Jette Parker Artist with the Royal Ballet and Opera (2025-2027), an Opera Prelude Artist, an artist on the Wigmore Hall French Song Exchange programme, an Oxford International Song Young Artist (2024-2026), a Samling Artist, a Shipston Song Rising Star as well as a Britten Pears Young Artist. Ellen was recently awarded the Ferrier Loveday Song Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards. Other recent awards include the Nigel Beale First Prize and the Anthony Lowrey Audience Prize at the Hurn Court Opera Singer of the Year, as well as both the First Prize and Best Duo Prize at the Ashburnham English Song Competition with one of her duo partners, Archie Bonham.

Harun Tekin (tenor)

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Harun Tekin is an English/Turkish tenor, raised around a family-owned restaurant in rural Lincolnshire. His love for music began through film, TV and folk traditions, nurtured by a primary school teacher (the composer Peter Seaborne) who imbued him with a sense of wonder for the subject, eventually introducing him to singing. A scholar at the Guildhall School, Harun completes his studies this year and will begin studying opera at the Curtis Institute of Music come September. His roles encompass works by Rossini, Donizetti, Mozart, Bizet, and more. In May/June, he performed Bénédict in Le Timbre d’argent (NSO), and this summer joins Buxton Festival for Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti (trio) and Ambroise Thomas’ Hamlet (chorus).

Anton Kirchhoff (baritone)

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Anton Kirchhoff is a lyrical baritone from Germany with extensive experience in art song, opera, and contemporary music. In November 2020, he embarked on a collaborative venture with pianist Jou-an Chen. Together, they have performed on stages in Germany, France, Switzerland, the USA and the United Kingdom. Most recently, they were heard as Young Artists at the Song Studio of Carnegie Hall in New York. Furthermore, this season, Anton made his debut at the Wigmore Hall in London and gave his first performances with Concerto Köln at the St. Maria Maggiore in Rome as well as in the Cologne Cathedral. Anton is currently studying on the MA programme at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Francesca Lauri (piano)

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Francesca Lauri is a collaborative pianist specialising in the vocal repertoire of song and opera. She won the Help Musicians Accompanist’s Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and the collaborative piano prizes at the Royal Over-Seas League, AESS Dorothy Richardson English Song Prize, John Kerr, and the Somerset Song Prize. She has been a Britten Pears, Oxford Song, Samling, Shipston Song and Leeds Song Young Artist. Francesca studied a collaborative piano masters at RCM with Simon Lepper, Roger Vignoles and Kathron Sturrock where she won the Lieder, Lies Askonas and Joan Chissell Schumann prizes, and graduated with honours. She is the current Lord and Lady Lurgan piano fellow for the RCM vocal department.

Anna Giorgi (piano)

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Anna Giorgi performs regularly as soloist or chamber musician in prestigious venues and collaborate with numerous singers. Aware of the links between music and poetry, she studied vocal accompaniment in Paris with Anne le Bozec and in Vienna with Charles Spencer, and had numerous master class coaching with Susan Manoff, Jeff Cohen, Hartmut Höll and Mathieu Pordoy. For the 2024-2025 season, Anna Giorgi took part of the Jaroussky Academy in order to work with the pianist Cédric Tiberghien and has recorded a disc of French melodies with soprano Parveen Savart on the Initiale label, and will be released in September.

Jia Ning Ng (piano)

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Singaporean pianist Jia Ning Ng is a concert and collaborative pianist based in Glasgow, where she is Staff Accompanist at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. A first-class honours graduate of the conservatoire, she has performed across the UK, in Europe, and with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra as both soloist as well as orchestral pianist. She is a recipient of the Global Talent Visa endorsed by Arts Council England and have won numerous competition prizes. An avid collaborative pianist, she is part of the Wigmore Hall French Song Exchange, an alumni of Oxford Song Festival and Leeds Song Festival. She performs regularly with soprano Karla Grant, and some upcoming appearances include Wigmore Hall and Paris Salle Cortot in June. She also enjoys making bubble tea in her free time!