Monday October 20

BAABDATH NEW CHURCH
(Google Maps: Les Musicales de Baabdath)


Performance starts at 8 PM
Free Admission
No tickets/No reservations
First come first seated
500 seats
Doors open at 7:30 PM
Latecomers will not be allowed in unless performance has an intermission
Children under 6 years old are not admitted
Concert hall is wheelchair accessible (not restrooms)

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Arrive a bit early and enjoy a free cup of freshly brewed coffee, courtesy of The Freedom Brew.
After the performance, savor a glass of wine gracefully offered by Clos St. Thomas along with simple bites by Les Chapiteaux.

Concert Partners

PROGRAM

ANNA EL-KHASHEM

Anna El-Khashem is one of the most promising opera singers of her generation. Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the Russian-Lebanese soprano who is also a German citizen, won first prize at the NEUE STIMMEN International Vocal Competition organized by the Bertelsmann Foundation in Gütersloh in October 2019. 

Anna El-Khashem studied at the St. Petersburg State Conservatory. She made her international debut at the Bregenz Festival in July 2016 as the soprano soloist in Weber’s “Jubelmesse” and as Bastienne in “Bastien und Bastienne.”

From the 2016/2017 to 2018/2019 season she was a member of the Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera and took part in many new productions and revivals.

She first appeared as Susanna in “Le nozze di Figaro” in August 2019 at the New Generation Festival in Florence. From the 2019/2020 to 2021/2022 season she was a member of the ensemble at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, where she made her house and role debut as Pamina in “The Magic Flute” in September 2019. Other roles she has performed on the stage of the Staatstheater include Gretel in “Hansel and Gretel”, Susanna in “Le nozze di Figaro”, Woglinde in “Das Rheingold” and “Götterdämmerung” and Sophie in the new production of “Werther”. 

Anna El-Khashem sang under Kirill Petrenko, Gustavo Dudamel, Ivor Bolton, Costantinos Carydis, Giacomo Sagripanti, Bertrand de Billy, Simone Young, Philippe Jordan, Riccardo Minasi and Teodor Currentzis, among others.

In June 2021, she made her house and role debut at the Opéra de Paris (Opéra Garnier) as Servilia in WA Mozart’s “La clemenza di Tito,” where she sang the role of Susanna in the new production of “Le nozze di Figaro” under the direction of G. Dudamel in January 2022. In February 2022, she made her debut in the role of Zerlina in “Don Giovanni” on the stage of Opéra Bastille.

In July 2022 she made her debut at the Verbier Festival, where she performed as Zerlina in WA Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and in a solo song recital with S. Skigin (piano). 

El-Khashem made her successful concert debut at the Zurich Opera House under Riccardo Minasi in April 2022 and was engaged for the role of Flavia Gemmira in a new production (C. Bieto) of Cavalli’s “Eliogabalo” in the 2022/23 season. 

In March 2023 she sang for the first time on the stage of Opéra de Monte-Carlo as Susanna under the musical direction of P. Jordan as part of a guest performance of the Vienna State Opera in Monaco. 

In spring 2023, Anna El-Khashem sang for the first time at the Tonhalle Zurich, Philharmonie de Paris and Festival de Pâques d’Aix-en-Provence. 

In the 2023/24 season, the soprano made her role debut as Clarine/Thalie in the new production of J.-P. Rameau’s “Platée” at the Zurich Opera House, a house debut at the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam as Marzelline in a new production of L. van Beethoven’s “Fidelio”, returned to Verbier as Susanna in “Le nozze di Figaro” and made her debut at the Salzburg Festival as Zerlina in “Don Giovanni” under the musical direction of T. Currentzis. 

In the current 2024/25 season, Anna El-Khashem performed as Romilda (role debut) in GF Handel’s “Serse” at the Zurich Opera House, as Ilia (role debut) in WA Mozart’s “Idomeneo” at the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam and for the first time at the Semperoper Dresden as Susanna in “Le nozze di Figaro”. 

In the upcoming 2025/26 season, the soprano will make her house debut at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (soprano solo, R. Castellucci’s production of JS Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion”) under the musical direction of K. Nagano, celebrate house and role debuts as Silvia in W.A. Mozart’s “Ascanio in Alba” under the musical direction of C. Rousset (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Theater an der Wien, Opéra de Lausanne), and return to the Zurich Opera House as Marzelline in L. van Beethoven’s “Fidelio.” Anna El-Khashem will also participate in several oratorio concerts and song recitals.

In addition to her first prize at NEUE STIMMEN, Anna El-Khashem won first prize and a special prize for the best interpretation of a vocal work by W.A. Mozart at the International Mozart Competition (Salzburg 2018) and first prize at the Zara Dolukhanova “Amber Nightingale” Singing Competition in Kaliningrad (2016). She was awarded the Trude Eipperle-Rieger Prize for Vocal Talent (2018) and named “Young Singer of the Year” in the critics’ poll of the magazine Opernwelt (2018).

HOLGER GROSCHOPP

Holger Groschopp was born in Berlin/Germany and studied at the University of the Arts in his hometown with Georg Sava (piano). He also studied composition with Isang Yun and song interpretation with Aribert Reimann and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. His extensive concert activities have taken him to most European countries, the Middle East, the Far East, North America and Latin America.

He has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician at major festivals (Berliner Festwochen, Salzburg Easter Festival, Cantiere internazionale d'arte Montepulciano, Tongyeong International Music Festival, Festival dei due mondi Spoleto, Musikfest Berlin, Musikfest Bonn, etc.), participated in many world and German premieres (including Henze, Reimann, Yun, Rihm) and is a regular guest in recording studios.

He has received several awards, including at the Brahms Competition in Hamburg. He has long been closely associated with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Boulez Ensemble and other renowned orchestras as an ensemble pianist, soloist and chamber musician. His nine CDs released on the Capriccio label, featuring transcriptions and original works by Ferruccio Busoni, have been highly acclaimed by international critics.

He also recorded numerous works by lesser-known composers on CD, such as Isang Yun, Simon Laks (OPUS Klassik award 2023), John Adams, Detlev Glanert, Ursula Mamlok, Hans Winterberg, Walter Braunfels, Marcel Mihalovici and others. In 2021 and 2022, he performed and taught in Lebanon at the invitation of the Goethe Institute Beirut and the Les Musicales de Baabdath festival.

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