Interview with British Conductor George Jackson

Next to going out to live concerts, Youtube really is a great place to hang around and run into your next favorite artists. 

Do you like this rendition of Beethoven's 1st symphony? If yes, me, too! Aside from listening to the music being played I love watching how it is being conducted (after all, I spent some time playing orchestra clarinet in my high school and early college years). There are some great conductors around whose beat and musical intention I have the hardest time deciphering. This young maestro is probably one of the easiest conductors around to follow, though. You only have to look at him to know exactly what he wants out of what orchestral section. His name is George Jackson, and, lucky me, the young British maestro was kind enough to agree to an interviewed:

You started out as a violinist playing for hometown Ealing Youth Orchestra. What got you interested in classical music in general and the violin in particular?

My story goes back further than the violin, and classical music altogether! As a 15 year old teenager, I was a 'heavy metal' drummer in a band of school friends, which led quite quickly to becoming the guitarist and lead singer of my own 'punk' band – we did quite well, with a highlight being a gig at the London Astoria.

As a child, long before those teenage musical kicks, I had always expressed an interest in playing the violin and, after a failed attempt at the piano (I refused to practice!), I switched and started violin lessons at the age of 10. I played in school orchestras and that sort of thing, until a very close friend (who was concertmaster of the Ealing Youth Orchestra) invited me to hear one of their concerts. I immediately rushed to join. The highlights included summer tours across Europe, and a great chance to get to grips with the core orchestral repertoire – the more social aspects of playing music with other like-minded young colleagues was also a benefit, and I made lifelong friends in the EYO. The conductor of the orchestra (Mark Forkgen) had a fascinating ability to explain the stories behind the music (I think we used to all sit back on our chairs for 'storytime'): I remember working on Symphonie fantastique and being fascinated at the sheer imagination of the sounds that the orchestra could make, made even more special by the meaning that Berlioz had contained within.  

Did you have favorite composers/musicians growing up? If you do, what made them special to you?

I have had an unusually wide variety of musical obsessions, which have included phases of the Rolling Stones, Planxty, Van Morrison, Slipknot, Bob Marley (I am in the middle of a quite heavy Beatles phase right now!). In terms of composers, I think my first musical obsessions always stemmed from contact with individual works – the focus on composers always came as a subsequent result of that. Elgar's Enigma Variations, Mahler's 4^th Symphony, Mozart's Requiem stick out the most. They were all pieces that I played, which of course led to interest in their other works, and then an interest in the composers' lives themselves. I went through a serious 'New Viennese School' phase too, and was also interested in programmatic music. My encounters with orchestral story telling (like the Berlioz I just mentioned) were definitely the beginnings of my current interest in opera, encouraged too by my first visit to the opera at around 17 years old (Tosca at the English National Opera). 

Tell us about your journey from being a young orchestral violinist to switching to conducting? Was that a difficult transition?

I would love to say that there was no conscious transition, but now you ask me this question, I do remember an incident during my brief stint as a violinist in Dublin. Early on in my time at Trinity, I remember sitting at the back of the second fiddles and watching the orchestra's conductor plow through Mussorsky's Pictures at an Exhibition –we reached the 'gnome' movement, and something just didn't click. I didn't agree with anything musically, and felt very strongly that it should be performed differently. After the rehearsal, I went home with a passionate determination to conduct the orchestra myself one day, and two years later, I conducted the Pastoral Symphony with them in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral. 

Aside from this small anecdote, it did feel natural– that event merely opened up my realization that I started to feel very passionately about how music should 'go' – this passion lit the second fire: the desire to share that passion with the musicians and, ultimately, the audience. Relating back to being an orchestral violinist, I maintained (and still maintain) the idea that everybody is a 'cog in the works', especially the conductor – I am fond of the team-playing approach, rather than an autocratic style. I suppose that means that my beginnings as an orchestral violinist helped me to develop collegiate aspect of my conducting.

What have you found to be the most challenging aspect of conducting? Is it the same when conducting an instrumental concert as when conducting an opera?

The German conductor Christian Thielemann once said to a group of students that learning to conduct is learning to 'develop an opinion', and I think that this is a clever way of summarizing the most challenging aspect. Stage one is having an opinion, and stage two is communicating it, and funnily enough, stage two can only exist when stage one is firmly in place.  

When comparing instrumental concerts or opera, there are different sets of challenges. With the former, rehearsal time is often sparse, so problems need to be solved quickly – there is often only one performance at the end of it all too, so the process runs like lightening. Opera, on the other hand, can be a 'slow burner', with vocal coaching, production rehearsals, orchestral rehearsals, and a longer run of shows that allow the piece to grow through repeated performance. Both provide challenges in time management and pacing, which are important skills to develop through experience, like a tennis player learning how to pace a rally, then a game, then a complete set.   

Another challenging aspect of pursuing conducting is the level of rejection, from master classes, jobs, competitions, universities, etc. At the beginning it is tough, but you have to use that disappointment to 'get back on the horse'. I remember my mentor Peter Shannon (conductor of the Savannah Philharmonic) told me that as he started out, he could have 'papered his living room with rejection letters': hearing that from a successful professional was encouraging, and I am willing to bet that my newly-wallpapered living room is larger than his. 

George Jackson working with Kurt Masur.

It seems many conductors find themselves specializing into concert conductors and opera conductors. Some even sub-specialize into specific musical period. Your repertoire ranges from Haendel to Adams! Do you plan on focusing in on any particular Fach or do you enjoy conducting music from different periods through out the years?

My interest in conducting represents a wider interest in story telling, and the concert, choral and opera repertoire tell stories in different ways - the concert hall and its rituals are also as much a part of theatre as an opera or ballet might be. I think focusing on a particular area of the repertoire is inevitable, and mirrors the film industry, where actors are quickly typecast into their recurring roles (Hugh Grant, for example!). But I also feel that a young conductor's priority is to explore and experiment, which is the reason why my repertoire is so wide-ranging.   

On the other hand, I am a strong believer in the connection between music and language (even in a purely orchestral context), and sometimes being a native Russian speaker (which I am not!) can be a pre-requisite to performing a Tchaikovsky symphony, for example. In that respect, my relationship to Vienna, Austria, Germany and the German language, as well as my British background, puts me in a strong position to specialize in music that represents those areas. Somebody very wise once said 'don't conduct what you like, but like what you conduct', a mantra which I try to place at the centre of my musical activities.

You studied musicology and composition at Trinity College Dublin, so you are well familiar with musicological problems with performance traditions and audience expectations, especially in earlier period opera (where the surviving scores leave a lot of room for interpretation/ornamentation). How difficult is it to pick the right balance and come up with 'what the composer probably wanted' that also satisfies the audience that might be used to hearing certain works/arias done in a certain way (even if that isn't quite what the score indicates)?

This is a very complex question, but it is great that you asked it! This was an area that the recent production of Charpentier's David et Jonathas touched upon. All that survives of this opera is a copy of the full score, copied out by the King's music librarian in 1690. This removes many of the problems that musicology can present to performers: the contradiction of sources. With the Charpentier, performers today are all 'singing from the same hymn sheet', so to speak. What makes this opera further unique is its small performance history – this means that any secondary sources (recordings, for example) complement our own reading. Picking the right balance is therefore dependent on context: aside from Jonathan Del Mar's noteworthy editions, it is impossible to ignore the wealth of recorded sources of the Beethoven symphonies, for example.  

My conducting teacher in Vienna, Mark Stringer, has been influential in encouraging the consideration of notable recordings of pieces of music – a well-informed performance of a symphony may use a critical edition, but should also consider its interpretations on record. This last point deals with the end of your question: presumably, the nature of our interaction with music today means that audiences' expectations are influenced by recordings more than the concert hall, suggesting that music's un-notated elements are preserved in a sonic form of notation (like the oral traditions in ethnomusicology, for example). 

The informed part of 'historically-informed performance' is the most important, and I think that combining musicianship with an informed and insightful context is a fabulous way of using the vast resources available to us today. Lastly, to know what a composer 'wanted' is impossible, particularly with the implication of desire in the term 'want': I prefer to think of what the composer may have 'expected', and our job as conductor is to consider this expectation in modern times.

You were also Yves Abel's assistant conductor at the Bavarian State Opera last year and worked the rehearsals during the I Capuleti e i Montecchi featuring Anna Netrebko and Vesselina Kasarova that was live-streamed all over the globe and got more than 241,000 hit. What was it like working with maestro Abel in such a high profile project with such popular stars?
I was, and Yves has been so kind to me - he took me to London with him as his assistant during his debut there in 2010, and then to the Vienna State Opera for a series of productions in 2011 and 2012. The Munich engagement was a similar situation - Yves was flying backwards and forwards for La Fille performances in London, and the souffleur needed somebody to conduct the Act I duets between Romeo and Giulietta, and suddenly there I was!  

What I found fascinating was how easy it was to follow them both - they breathe so early, and with such character that it is impossible NOT to be with them every step of the way. With regards to working with 'stars', I suppose the glamour of the outside opera world is absent from the rehearsal room in a very positive way: both are there to do the job, and they didn't treat me with any less respect for being the 'new kid' (I even got a high five from Anna at the end of the rehearsal!).

One thing I found particularly interesting  was how much they both question elements of the staging, something which Yves is also interested in too - the conductor can be a major part of the stage direction, and can intervene or express differences of opinion when necessary.  I learnt a lot from him, and that is why I enjoy collaboration with directors.

You recently took part in the London SymphonyOrchestra's Discovery Masterclass with Michael Tilson Thomas. What was that experience like?

The experience with the LSO was super, and it was a real treat to get close to such an orchestra – like driving a Ferrari, which is superior to my rusty Nissan Micra! Part of the Masterclass includes permanent access to the orchestra's rehearsals, providing an incredible learning opportunity in future years. Working with the LSO on repertoire that is close to their hearts (Britten's 'Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra') was also a privilege, and the experience has shaped the way I will perform that piece in years to come. 

George Jackson with Michael Tilson Thomas during the LSO Discovery Masterclass 2013.

For similar reasons, studying Copland (Short Symphony) and Shostakovich's Fifth with Michael Tilson Thomas was also unique, because both are central works in his repertoire. On a sonic level, the experience of being involved in the cultivated sound of the orchestra was also a highlight. Although young conductors are taught that every tiny movement we make has an effect on the sound, I believe that it is a two-way street – the sound of the orchestra acts physically upon the conductor, and the relationship is reciprocal. Exposure to that sound has changed an aspect of my physicality that will have an effect on all of my forthcoming conducting engagements.  

It is very comforting to know that orchestras and conductors, however prestigious, recognize their place in the cultivation of a next generation of musicians, and I salute the LSO for continuing to prioritize its involvement with the community around it.

You founded the Speculum Musicae Opera Company in 2010 and have conducted Pergolesi's La serva padrona and Charpentier's David et Jonathas. Did you stage them, too? or were they in concert form?

That is correct, although the opera company is perhaps best seen as a project-orientated 'collective' rather than a regular working company. I have always been fascinated in opera for its theatrical qualities, and am interested in theatre that uses weird and wonderful locations ('site-specific theatre', as it is often known). Both of the productions you mention were fully staged collaborations, but taken out of the traditional opera house context. 

The first was a project with the French director, Béatrice Lachaussée – we took Pergolesi's comic intermezzo and performed it amidst a working Viennese coffee-house setting, at the sixth district's famous Café Sperl (brought to fame as one of Franz Lehár's regular hangouts). The waiters and waitresses would continue their daily grind amongst our performance, and the audience could place their orders as normal. The second production was a collaboration with Kai Schuhmacher (currently on staff at the Stadttheater Mainz), and took place at the Vienna Music University's black box theatre.

Like the Pergolesi project, we worked with the notion of challenging the traditional pit-stage relationship. This time, the orchestra occupied a small box-like enclosure under the stage in a Bayreuth-like setup, and was free to rise up as a central part of the set. This formed a series of uneven ledges that became the singers' playground, so to speak. Going back to your earlier question about challenges in conducting, this was a great example of solving technical difficulties: with very little direct sight lines to the singers, everything happened through monitors, which encouraged a different style of conducting: for me, this lies at the heart of my interest in opera, where theatrical concepts can have a direct effect on how musicians adapt their technical skills to contribute to the end goal.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

There are lots of aspects that I enjoy about my work, but the most significant is the privilege of sharing a composers' masterpiece with the world. Score study can be so exhilarating, because it is like getting to know a new person (or being on a date!) – you ask questions, you want to know more, you share your own experiences with that 'person'. But ultimately, it is an isolated act, which brings me to the next great joy – moving from the one-on-one relationship between conductors and scores, to being in a room and sharing that work with 70 people who add to that relationship, and then finally, the audience's eventual involvement at the performance. 

On June 13th you will make your conducting debut with the ORF at the Wiener Musikverein with 5 other conductors. What work will you be conducting? What does the piece speak to you?

I am very excited about conducting at the Musikverein next week, and I am lucky to have the chance to work with the Swiss composer Michael Jarrell. This performance will be the Austrian premiere of his orchestral piece 'Ombres' ('Shadows'), and as I am 'jumping in' for a sick colleague, this has meant a very quick turnaround, with just two weeks to prepare the score. 

My dialogue with the composer has been mostly practical, working out any errata in the parts and solving technical problems that will help the orchestra. This has allowed me to develop my own independent view of the piece, which I feel is important when working in collaboration with a composer. I find that a lot of music finds its place in the world through parallels with other art forms, particularly fine art (the traditional Schoenberg-Kandinsky or Debussy-Monet connections, for example). 

My feeling with 'Ombres' is a relationship to abstract expressionism in art. Paintings by Mark Rothko or Clyfford Still, for example, have helped in my imagination of the piece – the idea of a single dark texture with a contrasting white line across the centre, for example, finds aural equivalence in the piece: the dark texture in Rothko is formed by Jarrell's cantabile backdrops (tremolo strings or woodwind effects), offset by the contrasting 'white lines' in the form of louder pizzicato gestures in the strings, or sforzato 'stabs' in the brass - Jackson Pollock-esque pointillist textures are also prevalent. I feel that the visual-aural relationship that music exhibits is of enormous benefit to conductors, and helps to initiate the flow of imagination between conductor-orchestra and then orchestra-audience.  

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The man is so fascinating and refreshing I wish I live in or near Vienna so I can catch Maestro Jackson live in action at the ORF concert next Thursday! Luckily he is quite young yet, so I expect to have many chances to attend his concerts in years to come. In the meanwhile, though, check out George Jackson's official website for more info about the maestro. And if you are in Vienna you can catch him at the Musikverein next week (and come back here to tell us about it afterward!), too!

Photos courtesy of George H Jackson.

Hearting Mt. Helix

Look at this sneaky little guy. Isn’t he cute? I caught him trying to sneak up the front door a while back. He crept up the door so smoothly, carrying his house on his back and generally didn’t make me feel better about myself huffing and puffing me and my bicycle up the local mountain that bears his species' name.

A startled Helix aspersa AKA garden snail, trying to decide if the camera presented sufficient amount of threat to retreat into his shell (and fall off my obviously-not-snail-proof door) to hide from.

This, of course, is a  generic brown garden snail, also known to biologists as Helix aspersa. He came to America from Europe sometime after Columbus, and has since made quite a pest of himself. You can find the garden snail just about everywhere in Southern California (perhaps except in the dry desert east of the mountains), so I'm not sure why the prominent spiky hill that dominates the San Diego neighborhoods of La Mesa and Casa de Oro was named Mt Helix, after the slow-moving slimer. At any rate, the name stuck, and there are more things to love about this petite neighborhood 'mountain' than its resident gastropods. 

Mt Helix Nature Theater

A long while ago (months ago, actually) Ms Tracey Stotz, generously granted me a cyber interview about the Mt Helix Park & Nature Theater (it's a private property that's being kept open to the public), but your procrastinator-in-chief here kept getting busy doing other things and hadn't managed to properly written it up until now, just a week before this year's HeArt of Mt Helix Festival (Saturday September 15th from 5:30-10PM)!

HeART of Mt Helix 2012 poster on Mt Helix Dr

Smorg: Can you tell us a bit about Mary Carpenter Yawkey (the park was built and dedicated to her)? 

Tracey Stotz: Mrs. Yawkey loved Mt. Helix. She would hike up for quiet contemplation. Her children (Mary Yawkey White and Cyrus Yawkey) wanted to build the Park in her memory. They added the amphitheater to bring the cultural arts to the people of San Diego.

Smorg: How was the park built? How long did it take? (I see that it was dedicated in 1925, but there's a stone on top-right of the auditorium with the date February 1st 1954 on it)

TS: The Park was built by hand, donkey, wheelbarrow and lots of sweat. It was opened in 1925 and dedicated at that time. We are unsure what the 1954 date is from. We too were mystified and tried to research that date a few years ago. The county ran the park from 1929 - 1999 and they didn't have anything in their historical records about that date. I would love to know!

Smorg: I should disclose outright that I'm not religious, and I hope this question isn't offensive. There is a big cross on top of the park (nothing wrong with that in my book, it's a private property), but the park's mission statement on the website is very religion-neutral. Is the cross something of a heritage (rather than religious) symbol for the park founders?

TS: The cross is actually the memorial that the two children chose to remember their mother. The cross you see is the original one build in the 1920s!

Smorg: I've been up at the park many times now and it is always so clean and well maintained. Do you have any problem with graffiti or other types of vandalism (is being surrounded by private properties keeping graffiti vandals away or is the lack of graffiti the result of the park elves cleaning up storm after hours?)?

TS: We do have graffiti issues but that has gotten better with the increased daily use by our classes (yoga and pilates) and by having an office in the Park which is open 3 mornings a week. People that spray and vandalize don't want to be seen so the more positive activities we have going on the better. We also have an wonderful "elf" volunteer by the name of Larry Kennard who cleans up graffiti on a weekly basis to ensure guests find a clean, safe space.

A few locals watched the partial solar eclipse from the top of Mt Helix earlier this year.

Smorg: What is most special to you about Mt. Helix Park?

TS: The most special part of Mt. Helix Park to me is the history. I am honored to be able to work with our Board of Directors and volunteers to ensure that Mt. Helix Park is here for future generations to enjoy. I get a kick out of sitting in the amphitheater and speculating on who else sat in that same spot in previous years. Did Ed Fletcher sit there to attend an Easter Sunrise service in 1932? In 1949 did someone sit in that exact spot and cry when their child graduated from Grossmont High School? Did some sweet old man sit in that spot in 1925 at the original dedication? I LOVE the connection to the past and being trusted to be a guardian for the future.

A comfy spot on the Yawkey Trail.

Smorg: Since this is a private park that is open to the public, rather than a regular public park, what should visitors know when they visit?

TS: "Private Park" means we get no government funding so we encourage anyone who values the Park to become a "Friend of the Park" and make a donation to help keep things going. The western view from up by the cross is spectacular on a clear day in January. That is a definite "must see." I would also encourage any new visitors to walk the newly constructed "Yawkey Trail". It is a loop in the west side of the Park which can be accessed from the ramp going up to the cross or from the drinking fountain on the north side of the amphitheater. There are benches and overlooks (thanks to some wonderful Eagle Scouts) and soon will be interpretive signage.

Views from Mt Helix's Yawkey Trail.

Smorg: Are the park staff paid or are they all volunteers?

TS: We have 3 part-time paid staff (me - the Executive Director, an office administrator and a wedding/memorials coordinator). The rest of the work is done by volunteers.

Smorg: What can park visitors  do to help keep Mt. Helix park open and maintained?

TS: Become a "Friend of the Park" or attend the Fifth Annual HeART of Mt. Helix, a Sept. 15 food/music/beer/wine event which is a blast. Tickets will go on sale in late June.

Smorg: On a whim, has the park ever appeared on a movie or television series yet? It is such a spectacular site... If I'm a Hollywood movie director I'd probably find some excuse to use it in a film or something)

TS: Not that I know of! We have been featured in Ken Kramer's KPBS show on San Diego but we would be a great back drop for a show!

So... This year's HeART of Mt Helix Festival is on next Saturday September 15th from 5:30-10PM. If you are in town and looking to escape the late afternoon heat to enjoy good music, local arts, and spectacular Mt Helix and its scenery - and all to support a good cause - I say this is a great ticket to buy!

Interview with soprano Hélène Lindqvist

Here in the USA talks of classical singing usually center around opera or oratorios, but there is another type of classical vocal music that is more intimate than either without being any less profound and timeless. Art song, the short musical setting of poetic lyric for a voice and a musical instrument (usually the piano) that has a knack for capturing its native flavors in understated elegance, is a rewarding labor of love for its performer and audience alike, inducing as much nostalgia as it does remembrance and even hope for the future. One of the best advocates for art songs and classical vocal music today, Hélène Lindqvist, the Swedish-Egyptian soprano and co-founder of The Art Song Project, generously indulged me with a cyber-interview a few days ago:

Hélène Lindqvist as Alcina

Smorg: How did you get interested in performing classical music? Was there any single life-changing moment that suddenly convinced you to become a classical singer?
 

Hélène Lindqvist: There actually was something like a changing moment when I got introduced to classical music. I didn't fit in well in the school where I started as a kid, so to get me out of there my mother let me audition to an "elite" music school in Stockholm. Suddenly I was 10 and into classical music. It was great.
 

Smorg: Sweden seems to have a particularly strong classical singing tradition! There are so many wonderful classical/opera singers who came from Sweden. Is opera (and classical singing) very much in the mainstream of entertainment there?

HL: In Sweden, people like to sing- on big parties and for holidays there are songs everybody knows. Many drinking songs. In the summer, they organize big outdoor sing-along concerts, which are also covered on the TV. These shows have the highest ratings every week. I think, it's because people sing much in general that many classical singers come from Sweden. The "classic scene" is not big.
 

Smorg: Aside from the vast repertoire of art songs you also sing roles like Constanze (in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Violetta (in La Traviata), etc. Is it a big adjustment to go from singing in staged opera to giving intimate Lieder recitals, back and forth? What do you do differently? Do you enjoy one more than the other?

HL: I love singing opera! I like it because I can use my whole body and being to express what needs to be expressed. The singing is then only a part of the package.I will have to keep the voice loud enough and clear enough for people to get the overall message. Opera is also very much a group effort, where I as an individual singer don't have much influence over many things such as: costume, lighting, wigs, staging, most of the time even, musical tempo and style is on this list as well. As an opera singer you will have to fit into the creation of the director and conductor. It's great if you agree with their visions and difficult when you don't.

In art song I'm the boss. I have to agree with the pianist, of course, but working with one that you trust, this is easy. Musically it's very often much more satisfying to not have to compromise your own vision in any way. When I record art songs, I like to envision the listener sitting in front of me in her living room in a nice chair and listening to me singing right there in front of her. That's how I like to listen to art songs as well. It turns into almost a one-on-one experience, that a bigger concert or opera can not provide.

Hélène Lindqvist as Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar (Carola Hölting) Ulm

Smorg: You include a lot of Swedish art songs and songs from relatively unknown composers on The Art Song Project website. What attract you to them?
 
HL: I grew up with the Swedish songs. As I started taking vocal coaching at the age of 16, this was very much the material that came first for me. Its sooooo dear to me, it lets you feel the forests and fjords and the feel of the country's "heart" immediately.
 
Smorg: How is it like working with Philipp Vogler in recitals and with The Art Song Project?

HL: Working with Philipp is great! We were colleagues at the opera house in Saarbrücken, Germany, and were musical partners a few years before we got together personally an then eventually married in 2000. We have played  a great deal of music together since!

We always liked going to libraries and obscure old bookshops to find sheet music of songs we never heard before. In most cases, you get them very cheap, as nobody knows what the heck it is. If you keep an eye open, you can find stuff at garage sales and in the "cheap-giveaway box" outside sheet music stores etc. We would then get to the piano at night, possibly with a glass of wine, to sight-read the new pile of stuff and delight in all the new stuff. We have been doing this for years and years, and last December we had the idea to actually share our finds on the net, so that other people could delight as well, without  doing all the work themselves. At the end of march this year, we were ready to start!

Smorg: What makes the project worthwhile to you?
 
HL: It's worthwhile in so many ways. I can share music that I have found and grown to love, I spend fun time with my husband, I can explore and refine my art in a way that gives me great freedom- AND I have had so many mails from people saying they enjoy our stuff, which is extremely rewarding. 

Hélène Lindqvist as Pierrot Lunaire (Carola Hölting) Ulm

Smorg: What makes a performance successful for you personally? (when you did everything you wanted to do with it regardless of how it is received? or if it is well received even if you didn't do everything perfectly? something else?)
 
HL: This is a difficult question! :) Some is about the chemistry in the room... When I perform within the parameters I've set up for myself; I'm happy...

Smorg: Any plan on a recital tour or opera performance in the United States in the future? :oD
 
HL: I'd love to perform in the US, but have no plan as for now... (Find someone to invite me! :)

Find out more about Hélène Lindqvist at her website, the Art Song Project, on Youtube and on Twitter.