"Vocal freedom"
Singer and educator Lena Haselmann-Kränzle becomes new professor of singing and voice training in Weimar
The Department of Music Education and Church Music is receiving competent reinforcement: from 1 October 2022, Prof. Dr. Lena Haselmann-Kränzle will succeed Prof. Rynkowski-Neuhof as professor of singing and voice training. Most recently, the German-Norwegian mezzo-soprano taught as Professor of Classical Singing at the Institute of Music at the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences.
"Weimar has always been a place of longing for everyone involved in music, literature and art," says the newly appointed professor. As part of her doctorate on Norwegian female pianists and composers of the 19th century, she had already spent a short research stay at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar a few years ago.
"I was very fascinated by the aura of the place back then. Later, I was allowed to perform again at the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar as part of the Kunstfest Weimar, which also remained a wonderful memory for me," says Lena Haselmann-Kränzle.
She describes the range of work that now awaits her as professor of singing and voice training at the Department of Music Education and Church Music as "extremely appealing", especially with its combination of classical singing, didactics, research and practice.
"For me, the focus is on inspiring students for classical singing and giving them vocal freedom, vocal health and diverse expressive possibilities for their individual future professional fields," emphasises the future Weimar professor.
Lena Haselmann-Kränzle was born in Heidelberg. Engagements have taken the German-Norwegian mezzo-soprano to the Staatsoper Berlin, La Scala in Milan, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Gothenburg Opera, the Teatro Comunale Bologna, the Danish National Opera, the Staatstheater Wiesbaden, the Theater Heidelberg, the Ravinia Festival Chicago (USA), the Kunstfest Weimar, the New Opera Days Ostrava (Czech Republic) and the Schwetzingen SWR Festival.
Lena Haselmann-Kränzle has worked with conductors such as Helmuth Rilling, Christoph Eschenbach, Konrad Junghänel, Maxime Pascal as well as with directors such as Jürgen Flimm, Uwe Eric Laufenberg and Thaddeus Srassberger.
Her CD productions include "Rastlose Lieder" with works by Norwegian women composers and "Durchlöcherte Tradition", which deals with ostracised chamber music of the 20th century. She studied singing at the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts with Prof. Rudolf Piernay and at the University of Music Nuremberg-Augsburg with Prof. Dr. Edith Wiens. She received important impulses from Prof. Renate Behle, Laura Aikin and Leigh Hamilton.
From 2019 to 2022, Lena Haselmann-Kränzle was professor of classical singing at the Institute of Music at the Osnabrück University. There she initiated the series "Vokalpädagogische Meisterkurse Osnabrück", including guest lecturers such as Annette Dasch, Klaus-Florian Vogt, Silvia Krüger and Laura Aikin. From 2016 to 2019 she was a lecturer for singing and didactics of singing at the University of Music Saar.
Lena Haselmann-Kränzle, who wrote her doctoral thesis on the professionalisation of music education in Norway using the example of the composer Agathe Backer Grøndahl, completed her diploma in vocal pedagogy at the University of Music Nürnberg-Augsburg. She was a scholarship holder of the German National Academic Foundation and has received funding from the Richard Wagner Association for the Bayreuth Festival, the German-Norwegian Willy Brandt Foundation and the Mariann Steegmann Foundation, among others.
Since then, she has taught at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, among others, and has been a lecturer for the Akademie für Hochbegabte Humboldt auf Scharfenberg and vocal coach for the "Popstars" format of the Pro7 channel. She has worked for many years with the Bertheau and Morgenstern Music School in Potsdam.
She has also given master classes in Scandinavian song at the University of Music Saar and at the Arctic University Tromsø (Norway), for voice and sound students at the University of Music Detmold and at the University of the Arts Berlin.
Her work as a singing teacher at the children's opera house of the Staatsoper Berlin was captured in the Deutsche Welle film production "Du bist ein Stern" (DVD). RTL broadcast "Die große Reportage – Große Bühne, kleine Stars". The project was awarded the national promotional prize "Theater bewegt".
For Kiezklänge e.V. she developed music theatre productions with refugee children and welcome classes at the Anna-Lindh-Schule Berlin from 2015 to 2018. As part of the "Rescape" project, Lena Haselmann-Kränzle is conducting research together with Dr. Lilli Mittner (University of Tromsø) and Prof. Janke Klok (Humboldt University Berlin) on the topic of "academic intervention in an artistic context", including as a didactic method.
Further information:www.LenaHaselmann.de
[06 September, 2022]