This year’s Art Song Performance Competition will be held in memory of Ada Brodsky. For many years, musician and literary person Ada Brodsky was a senior program editor for “The Voice of Music” classical music station, IBA (Israeli radio). Born in Germany in 1924, she escaped from there prior to the Second World War, immigrating to Israel with her brother. She attended school at the Ben Shemen Youth Village, later studying at the New Jerusalem Conservatory of the Academy of Music.
Ada Brodsky translated the prose and poetry of great German writers into Hebrew and edited books on the history of classical music. The “Words and Sounds” series she produced, and for which she did most of the translation, includes two volumes dedicated to the German Lied. She translated Rainer Maria Rilke’s books “The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge” and “Letters to a Young Poet”, also publishing a comprehensive monograph of Rilke. In 1994, she received the Goethe Medal for her contribution to the promotion of German culture.
The Lied Competition is open to third- and fourth year bachelor’s and master’s students. Piano accompanists will serve as both personal coaches and accompanists for each student. Three monetary prizes will be awarded to winners. The prizes, donated by Ada Brodsky’s daughters – Ms. Liat Friedlander and Ms. Ayala Goren – are as follows:
First prize – 3000 NIS
Second prize – 2000 NIS
Third prize – 1000 NIS
Alongside the competition, a master class on the subject of the German Lied will take place thanks to the generosity of Ms. Esther Narkis, who was a close friend of Ada Brodsky. The master class will be given by Professor Karola Theill of the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music, Berlin(Germany) and the Rostock School of Music and Drama (Germany).
The judging committee will consist of Israeli artists who are specialists in the art of the German Lied.