Distinguished Visitor
Lied Master Class with World-Renowned Star Thomas Quasthoff in Weimar
Weimar is expecting a distinguished guest at the end of September: the internationally renowned bass-baritone and Kammersänger Thomas Quasthoff will be leading a multi-day international master class. In cooperation with the FRANZ LISZT University of Music in Weimar, the Berlin-based voice professor will teach at the Sendehalle Weimar from September 22 through 27—and will curate a closing concert on Sunday, September 27, at 12:30 p.m. at the Sendehalle. Admission to the master class is free. Tickets for the final concert, priced at 15 euros (reduced rate: 10 euros), are available at the Weimar Tourist Information Office and at the box office.
The course marks the launch of the new “International Arts Academy Sendehalle” (IAAS), a permanent international arts academy featuring cross-disciplinary and cross-genre formats in the fields of music, literature, and the visual arts. The master class focuses on the art song: With great precision and intensity, Thomas Quasthoff works with international master class students on stage to address the technical, musical, and interpretive demands of contemporary classical singing.
The master class will take place from Tuesday, September 22, through Friday, September 25, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day at the Sendehalle in Weimar. During the course, Thomas Quasthoff will be working with pianist Eva Sperl, who has been teaching at the FRANZ LISZT University of Music in Weimar for many years.
For five decades, Thomas Quasthoff set standards as a singer on international stages, reaching and moving countless people with his art. In January 2012, he brought his unparalleled career as a classical singer to a close. He remains closely connected to singing and the arts: whether as a teacher, as a reciter and narrator at concerts, at readings, and now increasingly as a jazz singer alongside Wolfgang Haffner (drums), Dieter Ilg (double bass), and Simon Oslender (keyboards), as well as with the duo Shawn and the Wolf.
Throughout his career, he performed with all the leading orchestras and was at home on all major concert stages and at major festivals as a lieder and concert singer. He has collaborated closely with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Simon Rattle, Helmuth Rilling, Christian Thielemann, and Franz Welser-Möst. He was also an “Artist in Residence” at the Vienna Musikverein, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall, the Lucerne Festival, as well as in Baden-Baden, Hamburg, London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Barbican Centre.
Thomas Quasthoff has received numerous national and international awards, including the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Three of his recordings have won a Grammy, and six have been honored with the Echo Award. From 1996 to 2004, Thomas Quasthoff held a professorship at the Detmold University of Music. Since then, he has been teaching at the “Hanns Eisler” University of Music in Berlin. He also regularly leads master classes, including at the Heidelberg Spring, the Verbier Festival, and the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg.
Further information: https://sendehalle.de/programm/
[17 September 2026]