A passion for art song
Weimar graduate Teodora Oprișor becomes professor of accompaniment in Madrid
Pianist Teodora Oprișor has been appointed professor of accompaniment at the ‘Alfredo Kraus’ Department of Voice at the renowned Music university ‘Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía’ in Madrid (Spain). Born in Romania, the musician studied piano with Prof. Balázs Szokolay and artistic song interpretation with Prof. Tomas Steinhöfel at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar. In 2020, the now 31-year-old passed her concert exam in Weimar with distinction.
‘The Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía is one of the most important music universities in Europe and celebrates fantastic successes of its students every year,’ says Teodora Oprișor, pleased with her new task.
‘I am overjoyed to be part of this institution and to accompany the journey of highly talented vocal and piano students together with two of the most important German singers – Juliane Banse and Christoph Prégardien. I am very happy to now be able to share the passion for art song, which is so alive in Weimar, with the students in Madrid.’
‘The fact that Teodora Oprișor has now won the Spanish crown is both gratifying and uplifting,’ says her former professor of art song Thomas Steinhöfel.
‘In her concert exam, she explored, discovered, and illuminated a true universe of repertoire and anchored it in concert life in a variety of ways. My sincere thanks also go to the singing professors Ulrike Rynkowski-Neuhof and Siegfried Gohritz, in whose classes she regularly accompanied, as well as to Prof. Hans-Christian Steinhöfel, with whom she studied Opera répétiteur studies.’
Teodora Oprișor specialises in working with singers. As a lover of the art song repertoire, she has already performed in major concert halls and at well-known music festivals, including the Musikverein Wien, Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, Heidelberger Frühling, Wigmore Hall in London and Palau de la Musica in Barcelona.
She is a former scholarship holder of the Heidelberg Lied Academy, the Académie Orsay-Royaumont and the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Foundation. In May 2023, she was honoured with membership of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) for her outstanding musical achievements in connection with her concert activities.
Teodora Oprișor completed her piano studies with Prof. Balázs Szokolay at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT in Weimar. This was followed by her master's degree in piano accompaniment at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Prof. Michael Dussek and James Baillieu. Back in Weimar, she completed her concert exam in song arrangement with distinction in 2020 in the class of Prof. Thomas Steinhöfel.
In addition, Teodora Oprișor took part in masterclasses with renowned artists, including singers such as Thomas Hampson, Christoph Prégardien, Véronique Gens and KS Edda Moser, and pianists such as Malcolm Martineau, Graham Johnson, Susan Manoff, Gerold Huber and Hartmut Höll.
One of her passions is the journey of discovery for hidden song treasures. During her concert exam, this led her to a research project in collaboration with the University Archive and the Thuringian Regional Music Archive.
With her project ‘Weimarer Liederschule’, she succeeded in bringing works by previously unknown or forgotten 20th-century German composers back to light. Her aim is to introduce these unique works into the current song repertoire.
As part of the Thuringia Funding Programme for Young Scientists and Artists, Teodora Oprișor taught artistic song interpretation at the Music university in Weimar from 2021 to 2023. Since 2024, she has been teaching as a professor of accompaniment at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid.
[4 December 2024]