Words And Music Beyond The Lines.

Exploring a new perspective for the Lieder tradition, DIVAN OF SONG abandons the accustomed focus and reflects the changing cultural world order of our time. Presenting innovative concert programmes... inaugurating commissions for new song compositions... introducing new writings and poetry... inviting young talented artists... supporting neweditions, researches, meetings and discussions... In its unlimited diversity of activities, DIVAN OF SONG creates a rich bazaar of sounds, voices, works and ideas that inspire a new quality of intercultural discourse in the field of vocal music.

Burkhard Kehring

Burkhard Kehring founded Divan of Song in 2014, after touring the world as Lieder accompanist for more than two decades. A pianist, professor and scholar of global song repertoire, he constantly seeks to transcend traditional boundaries towards a new perspective for the Lied genre.One of his main goals is the exploration of song as a medium for the migration of ideas beyond languages and cultures. He draws inspiration from a wide circle of artistic partnerships, creating programmes together with internationally acclaimed singers and recitors, seeking also new collaborations with young vocal talents and contemporary composers from all continents.

Upcoming Events

WELT | KLANG | FEST

May 1st 2025
Hamburg, Germany HfMT Welt|Klang|Fest

Artists

  • Lee Juyeon (soprano)
  • JANG Changwook (tenor)
  • Áron Musitz (piano)
  • ZHOU Xueli (sopran)
  • Camilla Pilla Arnese (piano)
  • KWON Leeseok (baritone)
  • Sarah Quitt (piano)
  • Antonia Brinkers (soprano)
  • LIU Zhuoling
  • Dulguun Chinchuluun (piano)
  • HISATOKU Sumire (piano)
  • KURODA Mao (soprano)
  • Negin Razzaghi (soprano)
  • Prof. Burkhard Kehring (piano / moderation)
  • and many others

Language

  • German, Spanish, Polish, Hungarian, Turkish, Farsi, Arab, Korean, Chinese, Mongolian, Indonesian, Japanese

The Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, and what was once founded as a place of learning and training for classical music is now a lively, international space for artistic learning and research - open to diversity, change and new worlds of sound.
With the World | Sound | Festival, we want to make this spirit audible; we do not see music as a closed form, but as a dialogue between cultures, generations and traditions. Our students and teachers come from over 40 nations - they all bring their musical roots, languages and stories with them. This creates a space for exchange and encounters.
On this evening, musical traditions from all over the world come together, with Western art music on an equal footing with Balinese gamelan, Persian ud, Brazilian baroque and Korean pansori. This is not a ‘crossover’, but an audible plea for respect - for one's own and for others. Music as an invitation to listen, to marvel, to pause.
Together with musicians from Hamburg communities and students of the HfMT, a concert of change is created that makes boundaries permeable - between stage and everyday life, origin and present, sound and body. Living musical languages come together - without the pressure to translate, but with genuine mutual interest.
This not only raises the question of how music can sound today - it is also about what we can learn from each other.

(Prof. Dr. Jan Philipp Sprick,
President)

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THE BOOK OF HANGING GARDENS

September 27th 2025
Shanghai Shanghai Symphony Hall Chamber Hall

Artists

  • ZHU Huiling (mezzo soprano)
  • Burkhard Kehring (piano)

Composers

  • Arnold Schönberg
  • Gustav Mahler
  • a.o.

First concert performance of Arnold Schoenberg's "Buch der hängenden Gärten" in China.

All upcoming events

Past Events

EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVES

March 24th 2025
Lübeck, Germany Europäisches Hansemuseum Click here for listening to NDR Live Broadcast

Artists

  • Michaela Kaune (soprano)
  • Friederike Westerhaus (moderation)
  • Burkhard Kehring (piano)

Composers

  • Clara Schumann
  • Regine Wieniawski
  • Edvard Grieg
  • Gabriel Fauré
  • Reynaldo Hahn
  • Alban Berg

Languages

  • German
  • French
  • Norwegian

NDR FOYER CONCERT

A radio lecture recital with conversations about the origins and perspectives of European song.

LIEDFORUM: WEST! OST!

February 12th 2025
Hamburg, Germany HfMT Forum

Artists

  • Morgane Solinac (soprano)
  • Laetitia Dodé (piano)
  • Mariana Gomes (soprano)
  • Antonia Brinkers (soprano)
  • Sarah Quitt (piano)
  • Leeseok Kwon (baritone)
  • Seungwoo Sun (baritone)
  • Thomas Ruan (piano)
  • Hyeonseo Lee (soprano)
  • Áron Musitz (piano)
  • Hongping Ruan (soprano)
  • Prof. Burkhard Kehring (moderation)

Composers

  • Hong Kim
  • Doonam Jo
  • Marcos Portugal
  • Pauline Viardot-Garcia
  • Clara Faist
  • Gabriel Fauré
  • Sergej Rachmaninoff
  • Modest Moussorgsky
  • Richard Strauss
  • Gustav Mahler
  • Franz Schubert

Languages

  • Korean
  • Portugese
  • Russian
  • French
  • German

Global Art Song Conference

March 14th 16th 2024
Freiburg im Breisgau Hochschule für Musik

Artists

  • Ido Ariel
  • Phillip Burnett
  • Julia Byl
  • Patricia Caicedo
  • Ercüment Çelik
  • Joys Cheung
  • Christopher Flaskamp
  • Shannon Foster
  • Sandeep Gurrapadi
  • Amanda Harris
  • Kira Henkel
  • Lena van der Hoven
  • Amanda Hsieh
  • Sophie Hunold
  • Nina Kanter
  • Burkhard Kehring
  • Natasha Loges
  • Cüneyt-Ersin Mıhçı
  • Sharifah Mohammed
  • Olabode Omojola
  • Julian Prégardien
  • Camilla Pilla-Arnese
  • Chris van Rhyn
  • Jennifer Ronyak
  • Franziska Scheinpflug
  • AJ Villanueva
  • a.o.

Languages

  • Arabic
  • Chinese
  • English
  • Farsi
  • Hebrew
  • Korean
  • German
  • Polish
  • Portugese
  • a.o.
All past events

Blog

Composer Ye Shen about “Gogol”

Lyrics by: Tomas Tranströmer (1931 – 2015)
Translated by: BEI, Dao (1949 – )
Music by: SHEN, Ye (1977 – )

Language: Chinese

First performance: April 8, 2017 | Heidelberg, Germany
by Lini Gong, soprano | Burkhard Kehring, piano

[…]

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Lieder Landscapes

Burkhard Kehring has further refined his project Divan of Song for the 2017 Heidelberger Frühling. A conversation with the internationally renowned accompanist and professor of lieder performance and collaborative piano in Hamburg about leaving, returning and song.

[…]

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