Lotte Lehmann Foundation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Lotte Lehmann Foundation, named for the great German soprano active in the first half of the twentieth century, serves to preserve and perpetuate her legacy, and to honor her dream of bringing art song into the lives of as many people as possible.

Gary Hickling, the founder of the Lehmann Foundation, met Lehmann in the early sixties, observing first the private lessons she gave at Orplid, her home in Santa Barbara, and later, her master classes at the Music Academy of the West[1], which she helped found in 1947. Hickling became a noted expert on Lehmann’s career and work, compiling an official Lehmann discography in 1987. He continued to compile and collect material and memorabilia relating to Lehmann’s career, which now forms a significant part of the Lotte Lehmann Archive in Santa Barbara. The Foundation’s precursor, the Lotte Lehmann League, published a newsletter from 1989-1994. In the early years of its existence, Hickling was solely responsible for maintaining the Foundation, operations of which were transferred from Hawaii to New York City in 2003. The composer Daron Hagen[2] was chosen as the newly-configured Foundation’s president, and an entirely new Board of Directors was chosen at that time. Hickling retired from the Foundation in 2005 and remains an emeritus member of the Board of Directors.

The Lehmann Foundation is now one of the most highly-respected non-profit musical foundations in the United States. Its activities include two competitions, the first of which, the internet-based CyberSing vocal competition[3] occurs every two years and solicits recordings from singers the world over. Entrants submit recordings of appropriate literature, including a song written expressly for the competition by a distinguished composer. Such songs have been contributed in past years by Ned Rorem[4], Libby Larsen[5] and Dan Welcher[6]. Winners are chosen solely on the basis of their recorded submissions. Laureates of the 2006 competition include sopranos Debra Stanley and Danielle Talamantes[7] and baritone Andrew Garland[8].

The ASCAP[9]/Lotte Lehmann Foundation Song Cycle Competition[10], which occurs in alternating years with CyberSing, solicits compositions by young composers resident in or native of the United States; winners receive commissions to compose individual songs or, in the case of the First Prize recipient, a song cycle. Winners of the 2005 competition include Scott Gendel and Mark Buntag. Gendel’s prize-winning commission, the song cycle The Space Between was published by E.C. Schirmer[11] and premiered by soprano Martha Guth[12] and pianist Bradley Moore on 24 February 2007 at the Bruno Walter auditorium in New York under the auspices of the Joy in Singing Foundation.

VoxNova Media[13] comprises another important aspect of the Foundation’s activities. The mission of this division is to produce media in a variety of forms, including audio recordings, video recordings, printed materials. VNM will reissue historical audio recordings by Lehmann and her colleagues, present new recordings of contemporary vocal repertoire and of the vocal art of contemporary interpreters, and develop and distribute scholarly resources and educational materials relevant to cultivating the vocal art in which Lotte Lehmann’s legacy lives on. Its first major print publication, critical editions of mélodies by Ladislas de Rohozinski[14] and Blanche Selva[15], among others, edited by distinguished French tenor and Board Member Damien Top, will be available on the VoxNova website as well as through music publisher E.C. Schirmer[16].

In addition to these programs and activities, the Foundation presents an annual World of Song Award[17] which alternates among composers, singers, and collaborative pianists and serves to recognize those who have devoted their creative lives to this enriching form of music. Its most recent recipient is John Wustman, the distinguished American collaborative pianist and educator; previous recipients include composers Dominick Argento[18] and Ned Rorem[19], pianists Dalton Baldwin and Graham Johnson[20],tenor Hugues Cuénod and baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau[21]. The Foundation also publishes SongScape, a biannual newsletter, edited by Board Member Craig Urquhart[22] and featuring news of the Foundation’s activities. The Foundation continues to expand its programs and in future will sponsor master classes and art song recitals.

A full description of the Foundation, its Board Members and its various programs, as well as archival material on Lotte Lehmann herself, is available on the Foundation’s website.