Mitsingkonzert with the Rundfunkchor Berlin

Simon Halsey occupies a unique position in classical music. He is the trusted advisor on choral singing to the world’s greatest conductors, orchestras and choruses; as an ambassador for choral singing to amateurs of every age, ability and background he has led ground-breaking massed choral events, notably for New York’s Lincoln Center.

Making singing a central part of the world-class institutions with which he is associated, he has been instrumental in changing the level of symphonic singing across Europe. He holds positions across the UK and Europe as Chorus Director of City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Principal Guest Conductor and Choral Ambassador of Orfeó Català, Principal Guest Conductor at WDR Rundfunkchor, Conductor Laureate of Rundfunkchor Berlin, Choral Director Emeritus of London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and Professor and Director of Choral Activities at University of Birmingham. His work is the subject of the documentary film Unsere Herzen – Ein Klang (Our Hearts – One Sound), which was released to cinemas in September 2022.

He is also a highly respected teacher and academic, nurturing the next generation of choral conductors on his post-graduate course in Birmingham and through masterclasses in Germany, the Netherlands, and the USA. He holds four honorary doctorates from universities in the UK, and in 2011 Schott Music published his book and DVD on choral conducting, Chorleitung: Vom Konzept zum Konzert.

Halsey’s numerous awards include three Grammys for his recordings with the Rundfunkchor Berlin. He was made Commander of the British Empire in 2015, was awarded The Queen’s Medal for Music in 2014, and received the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2011 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to choral music in Germany.

Born in London, Simon Halsey sang in the choirs of New College, Oxford, and of King’s College, Cambridge and studied conducting at the Royal College of Music in London. In 1987, he founded with Graham Vick the Birmingham Opera Company. He was Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Choir from 1997 to 2008 and Principal Conductor of the Northern Sinfonia’s Choral Programme from 2004 to 2012. From 2001-2015 he led the Rundfunkchor Berlin (of which he is now Conductor Laureate); under his leadership the chorus gained a reputation internationally as one of the finest professional choral ensembles. Halsey also initiated innovative projects in unconventional venues and interdisciplinary formats.

The Norwegian–Nicaraguan soprano Victoria Randem (b. 1995) has quickly established herself as one of the most distinguished voices of her generation. She is known for her warm lyric expression, dramatic presence, and artistic curiosity — qualities that have brought her to some of Europe’s most prestigious stages.

From 2019 to 2024, she was a soloist at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, where she performed roles such as Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Ilia (Idomeneo), Ännchen (Der Freischütz), and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte).

Her international breakthrough came in 2021 with the role of Alida in Peter Eötvös’ Sleepless, based on Jon Fosse’s novel Andvake. The production was presented in Berlin and at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, receiving multiple awards. This role became a vital springboard for Randem’s international career.

She has also appeared as Pamina at the Semperoper Dresden, and has performed at the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Volksoper Vienna, Glyndebourne Festival, and Grand Théâtre de Genève. In 2024 she expanded her repertoire into musical theatre, singing Maria in West Side Story in Vienna.

In September 2025 she made her Italian debut as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at Palermo Classica, and performed Musetta in La Bohème at the Tiroler Festspiele, in Jonas Kaufmann’s first season as festival director.

At the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Randem achieved great acclaim in the title role of Stefan Herheim’s production of The Cunning Little Vixen, conducted by Edward Gardner. For this performance she received the Hedda Award for best musical and scenic performance, while the production itself won both the Critics’ Award and the Hedda Award for best opera.

She is also the recipient of the Kirsten Flagstad Prize 2025 and the Ingrid Bjoner Prize 2023 (awarded during the Queen Sonja International Music Competition), as well as The Norwegian Soloist Prize 2025, which will be marked with a dedicated concert at the Bergen International Festival 2026.

Randem has performed at the Bayreuth Festival (Waldvogel in Siegfried and Blumenmädchen in Parsifal), and has appeared with orchestras such as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla.
She has collaborated with conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Christian Thielemann, and Simone Young.

Upcoming highlights include new engagements at the Bayreuth Festival, with the Berliner Philharmoniker, an Artist in Residence period at the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, and performances of Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Rundfunkchor Berlin in both Vilnius and the Berlin Philharmonie.

The British-Indian tenor Caspar Singh is entering his second season as a member of the Bavarian State Opera ensemble after completing his studies at the State Opera’s opera studio at the end of the 2019/20 season. Caspar received a first class degree from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he studied with Adrian Thompson and Susan Waters.
His engagements at the Bavarian State Opera in 2021/22 include Gherardo Gianni Schicchi, Pásek Cunning Little Vixen, Normanno Lucia di Lammermoor, Third Squire Parsifal, Young Seaman Tristan and Isolde and Dominik in Haas’ Thomas.
Outside of Munich, this season Caspar makes his house and role debut as Tamino Die Zauberflote at the Komische Oper Berlin and as a male choir The Rape of Lucretia at the Potsdam Chamber Academy. On the concert stage, he sings Septimus Theodora at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow with the Musica Viva Chamber Orchestra and Alexander Rudin, sings a solo concert with the West Side Sinfonietta in Wroclaw, Poland, and embarks on a mini-recital tour of the UK Sholto Kynoch for Oxford songs.
Looking ahead, Caspar will join the ensemble of the Komische Oper Berlin for the 2022/23 season, singing Ferrando Cosi, Fenton Falstaff, Steuermann The Flying Dutchman, Laerte Hamlet and returning to the role of Tamino The Magic Flute. He will also make house and role debuts at Glyndebourne Opera, perform Messiah with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, make his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in Il Prigioniero and make his Warsaw Philharmonic debut.
Recent engagements at the Bavarian State Opera include role debuts as Wilhelm Meister in a new production of Mignon, Edmondo Manon Lescaut, Borsa Rigoletto, Der Haushofmeister in Faninal Der Rosenkavalier, Third Squire Parsifal, Scaramuccio Ariadne auf Naxos, the Prince in Hans Abrahamsen’s Die Schneekönigin, High Priest Poseidon Idomeneo and Augustin Moser Die Meistersinger.
Caspar’s operatic performances to date have included the roles of Brabant’s Edle Lohengrin, First Prisoner Fidelio, Prince of the Snow Queen, Messenger Il Trovatore, Mainfroid Les Vêpres Siciliennes, First Prisoner Fidelio, Giuseppe La Traviata, Almeric Iolanta and Coryphaeus Alceste in the opera studio of the Bavarian State Opera.
Caspar made his professional debut as the Alvarez Young Artist for the Garsington Opera, where his engagements include the Italian tenor Capriccio and roles in The Magic Flute and Falstaff.
Other opera performances include; Ferrando Cosi fan tutte, L’Aumônier (cover) Dialogues des Carmélites, Tamino in Mozart’s Magic Flute, Young Man (cover) in Martinů Ariane and Chorus Tchaikovsky Iolanta at GSMD; Amphinomus (cover) Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria in a co-production between the Royal Opera and the Roundhouse, conducted by Christian Curnyn; Man in the chamber opera Occo’s Eternal Act by Daniel Saleeb and Oge Nwosu (as part of the Opera: Passion, Power and Politics exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum); the good robber in Judith Weir’s The Vanishing Bridegroom with British Youth Opera; and small roles in Beethoven Fidelio at the Longborough Festival Opera, and in the UK premiere of Jonathan Dove’s The Monster in the Maze at the Barbican Hall with Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra.
On the concert stage, Caspar has co-performed Handel’s Messiah at Gärtnerplatztheater, Dvořák Stabat Mater with Munich Motettenchor, Bruckner Te Deum at LSO St Luke’s, Britten Saint Nicolas with Northwood Choral Society, Haydn Nelson Mass with Hertford Choral Society, Orff Carmina Burana Ealing Symphony Orchestra , Stainer Crucifixion at All Saints’ Church Chalfont St Peter , Mozart Requiem with the City of London School, Dvořák Mass in D with Genesis Chorale and Bach Easter Oratorio with the Guildhall School Consort. An avid recitalist, he has appeared at the Munich Opera Festival and recent performances include Britten Winter Words and Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, Schubert’s Die Schöne Mullerin and In the Great Dawn, Thomas Bove’s setting of Rupert Brooke’s poem Second Best.

The youngest among them are just 11 years old, and at 20 they are already considered “old” here – and yet they are already playing on major international stages and at festivals such as the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein and the Cologne Philharmonic Hall, the Grand Auditorium in Luxembourg and the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and Young Euro Classic in Berlin.

The orchestra members of the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie regularly impress audiences and critics alike with their high quality and excellence of playing. The intensive work of the instructors from the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin with the individual voice groups ensures the ensemble’s characteristic, extremely homogeneous string sound. Since 2013, the ensemble has been under the artistic direction of principal conductor Wolfgang Hentrich, first concertmaster of the Dresden Philarmonic Orchestra.

Participants qualify through an audition, which the DSP regularly invites them to attend – in Berlin and also digitally, making it even easier to reach highly talented young string players in all 16 federal states. Numerous RSB members once played in Germany’s youngest selection orchestra themselves – thus continuing the tradition between the two officially certified Jeunesses Musicales patronage orchestras for 50 years now.

Among the numerous highlights in its anniversary year 2023 – its 50th birthday – the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie is particularly delighted to have been awarded the prestigious Würth Prize. The young musicians also look back with pride on their participation in the award-winning Hollywood film “Tár,” which was released in German cinemas in March.