The Franz Schubert Association has selected five duos to take part in the 2026 edition of the Lied the Future program, an initiative dedicated to boosting emerging talent in the field of Lied. The selected duos come from Spain, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, and Italy: Katharina Bierweiler (Germany) and Jyri Mishukov (Finland); Alba Valdivieso and Carlos Bujosa (Spain); Bruno Meichsner (Germany) and George Needham (United Kingdom); Marta Esteban and Adrià Crespo (Spain); and Klara Brockhaus (Germany) and Rodolfo Focarelli (Italy).
The scholarship recipients stand out for their high artistic level, interpretive maturity, and solid musical connection between singer and pianist. Throughout the program, they will receive top-tier artistic and professional mentorship and will join the program's network of paid concerts, allowing them to present their work on various stages and expand their professional experience.
For the first time, Lied the Future launched an international call for applications, receiving a fantastic response: 146 artists from 31 countries submitted applications, confirming the growing interest and prestige of this initiative on an international scale. The selection committee—composed of the mentors from the 2026 Schubertíada Academy (Wolfram Rieger, Wolfgang Holzmair, and Olaf Bär), along with the artistic director of the Schubertíada, Sílvia Pujalte, and pianist Francisco Poyato—placed particular value on the interpretive quality, the artistic coherence of the duos, and their potential for development within the program.
