Who are the people behind ASOT?
Canadian soprano Siphiwe McKenzie, has had an international operatic carreer spanning over more than 3 decades. After completing her Masters degree at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music she started her European career at the invitation of the Nürnberg State Opera company where she performed over 21 roles receiving various nominations from esteemed critics and magazine’s such as “Opernwelt” and also “Opera News” for “young singer of the year”. Since then, she has extended her repertoire and added 20 additional roles (totalling of 41 roles to date) performing internationally to great acclaim around the world at the following theatres, opera houses and festivals: the Volksoper of Vienna (Austria), Teatro Colón of Buenos Aires (Argentina), Teatro Reggio in Parma( Italy), National Opera of Finland, Staatstheater in Basel (Switzerland), San Diego Opera (USA), St.Gallen Opera Theatre (Switzerland), Hessische State Opera in Wiesbaden(Germany), Leipzig State Opera (Germany) ),Baden State Opera (Austria), Ronacher Theatre of Vienna (Austria), National Opera of Bucharest (Romania), Rheingau Opera Festival (Germany), Haydn Festival of Eisenstadt (Austria), Beijing Wagner Festival( China), Singapore Arts Festival, Hong Kong Art Festival (China), Opera Festival of St. Margerethen (Austria), Opera Festival of Belles-Îles en Mer (France), Chamber Music Festival of Vancouver (Canada), Mozart Chamber Music Festival of Mexico City (Mexico) and the Nuremberg International Music Festival (Germany).
Possessing a wide repertoire of chamber music and orchestral concert music, Siphiwe McKenzie has performed, recorded and been featured frequently with the National Radio Orchestra of Poland, the National Radio Orchestra of Budapest, the CBC Radio Orchestra of Canada and the Cologne WDR Orchestra of Germany. She has also recorded many live concert tours and concerts with the Vienna Volksoper Symphony Orchestra (Austria) in Japan and Korea. Subsequently, she has also recorded a solo album with Italian guitarist Adriano Sebastiani.
A passionate teacher and educator, Siphiwe McKenzie is currently a voice teacher on the Faculty of Music at the Escola Superior de Música in Lisbon, Portugal. She has given masterclasses at the prestigious Aims Institute in Graz (as a faculty member) as well as at the esteemed Escuela Superior de Canto de Madrid in Spain (the national conservatory for singing in Madrid) and the National Conservatory of Music in Lisbon, Portugal.
Carsten Süss has spent his life surrounded by music. HIs first musical education began when he was just five years old: this was followed by violin and piano lessons. Carsten discovered his fascination with vocal music when he visited a performance of “The Magic Flute” in Mainz, Germany; the city where he was born. Intensive voice lessons with his father as his teacher paved his way to the operatic stage and led ultimately to engagements over the last 30 years throughout Europe, Asia and the United States. A deciding factor in his development as a singer was the artistic collaboration and help that he received from leading figures in the performing arts, both musically as well as on the stage. Especially significant in his development as an artist were Giuseppe Sinopoli, Sir Colin Davis, Simeon Bychkov, Lothar Zagrosek, and Bruno Weil, as well as the stage directors Peter Konwitschny, Dietrich Hilsdorf and Hugo de Ana.
The tenor began his career as a guest artist at small regional theaters, which soon led to an engagement at the Semperoper in Dresden. Engagements at many leading theatres in Germany followed, such as in Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe and Wiesbaden. Süss’s international career began at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, followed by engagements in Milan, Rome, Berlin, Vienna, Madrid, Tel Aviv, Riga, Vilnius, Helsinki, Prague and Budapest. Engagements in Asia include Tokyo, Seoul, Peking, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
With time, the singer’s repertoire and vocal abilities grew, and he evolved from a lyric Mozart singer to a young heldentenor, with roles in the operas of Wagner and Richard Strauss.
Carsten Süss is also at home on the concert stage, with many concerts in various genres, including German Art Songs/ Liederabende.
In addition to his work as a performer, author and stage director the artist has made it his mission to mentor younger singers, sharing his knowledge gained over the last thirty years. Carsten’s desire to help young Portuguese artists achieve their dream of an international career has led to the creation of ASOT.
Rui Mercadal Vieira
Aspiring Singers of Tomorrow (ASOT) is an educational program for young Portuguese classical singers between the ages of 22 and 32, to be held annually in July. Internationally known and established artists help the young artists refine and develop their repertoire and interpretation, thereby establishing and refining their artistic identity. Experienced artists guiding Portugal’s best young talent will help the country’s artists gain recognition at an international level, regardless of their financial background. At the same time, Aspiring Singers of Tomorrow (ASOT) wants to show the people of Portugal the young talent in their country and its enormous potential. We will be initially based in Lisbon for rehearsals and performances. In the future our concerts will be presented in venues throughout Portugal, so that as many cities and communities as possible can benefit. This is ASOT on Tour.
The founders of ASOT, Siphiwe McKenzie and Carsten Süss, have over 25 years of experience as singers, stage directors, authors and teachers. Through their many years of working with talented young artists they realised how important it is to discover and encourage young artists in Portugal through a program such as ASOT, to offer undiscovered talent the best opportunity to develop into artistic excellence. ASOT offers young Portuguese singers the chance to expand their repertoire and increase their professionalism through appearances at open-air concerts for large audiences.
ASOT on Tour provides additional opportunity for the young artists by offering appearances in various cities and towns, thus strengthening the artists’ connection to their country. This makes ASOT especially new and unique: developing the professionality of the artist while reaching out to the community in his or her homeland. ASOT’s concerts will increase the amount of cultural offerings available to both the local population of Portugal as well as tourists in July.
Presentation is one of the “building blocks” in the maturation of an artist. It increases both the security and clarity of the personality. The more often an artist performs, the stronger their self-confidence and routine become both are vital on the stage. This makes having a larger repertoire a necessity to distinguish oneself from international competition. Young artists must often apply to Artist Programs around the world to further their artistic growth, and the cost for travel to Europe or the USA is often prohibitive. ASOT want to combat this by our focus on supporting repertoire growth and development of presentation in Lisbon, to keep the money in the country.
The soprano Siphiwe McKenzie, born in Canada, and the German tenor Carsten Süss have both been active in the classical music field for more than 25 years. They are well known on both the operatic and concert stage, with appearances throughout Europe as well as in Japan, China, Canada, Great Britain and more. Their collaborations over the past 30 years with artists such as Guiseppe Sinopoli, Sir Colin Davis, Elena Garanca und Jonas Kaufmann attest both to the quality of their work as well as their connections to important figures in classical music.
They are devoted to the education and support of talented young singers: Siphiwe McKenzie has been a professor at the Escola Superior de Musica de Lisboa since 2018, while Carsten Süss is a guest vocal instructor at Universities in Europe such as Essen, Leipzig, Dresden and Vilnius. ASOT is therefore the logical result of their years of devotion to vocal pedagogy and their desire to help young singers in their development.
Eligibility for ASOT is restricted to young Portuguese singers between the ages of 22 and 32 years old. An international jury will choose from the applicants. Portuguese artists who are studying or living outside of Portugal may also apply to participate in ASOT.
ASOT on Tour will provide cultural events that will be attractive for both residents of Lisbon as well as those of other cities and will also appeal to tourists. The number of classical events that are offered at present, especially outside of Lisbon, can definitely be increased. We are convinced that our concept will be appealing from Olhão to Bragança, as well as to visitors of Portugal.
Social media will be the basis for our ASOT campaign and for our young artists individually. They will present themselves on various popular platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Support for our artists’ publicity campaigns forms the basis of our publicity concept. Information will be available on our homepage, as well as the application form for participation. Traditional forms of publicity, such as posters and announcements through local media will inform and attract our audience. One of our goals is a partnership with a media source, either public or private.
There is simply nothing comparable to ASOT in Portugal. ASOT will use developing talent, who, through their work with mature and experienced professional artists, will be given the tools to find and advance their own excellence while receiving fair monetary compensation.
Our program is not only for classical experts, but rather will appeal to a broad variety of individuals who simply want to spend a summer evening enjoying music. The growing number of people on summer holiday should provide us with a large amount of audience members.
The Founding Team of ASOT and ASOT on Tour consists of three departments:
- LAMMERMOORARTS Lda: Siphiwe McKenzie, Carsten Süss and Rui Mercadal Viera form the artistic and operational centre.
- ACT SOLUTIONS: our partner for financing.
- ESCOLA SUPERIOR DE MÚSICA DE LISBOA: our partner for the chorus, orchestra and rehearsal facilities.
Our philosophy is “Education with sustainability”. Because our concert programs will be performed at various venues, our young performers will learn the benefit that repetition can bring, both through an expansion of their repertoire as well as in the professionalism of their performance. Additionally, we want to show that an event can take place without wasting resources. All future partners of ASOT must meet environmentally friendly standards, including the possibility for “green” transportation methods to and from concerts, such as train or bus.
We all realize that performance opportunities for young artists must be continually increased: this is the right investment to make in our future. An artist who strives for excellence in opera or concert performance must have the opportunity to further their education and thereby also the quality of their artistry. Often such opportunities are too expensive to be realistic and are therefore out of reach for many. That is why we have decided to do our part to further the development of young, promising artists, and are investing in their future. Shared cultural experiences connect us and are the basis for a peaceful co-existence in Europe.
