Background

World famous German soprano Lotte Lehmann (1888-1976) was one of the great musical artists of the 20th Century. Her influence in the world of music was enormous. Lehmann's glorious voice and expressive interpretive talent enthralled her audiences with material ranging from opera to Lieder (classical German song).

The Lotte Lehmann Foundation supports the classical vocal arts through projects such as this Lehmann Website, the ASCAP/Lotte Lehmann Foundation Art Song Composition Contest, "Great Songs" radio program, CyberSing (the international web-based classical song contest), SupraTitles for touring singers, LyricLanguages, which brings fine art and art song to the foreign language lab and through other educational projects.

History of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation

Gary Hickling first met Lotte Lehmann in 1962, when he was able to observe her teach private lessons in opera and Lieder. She remained in contact with Mr. Hickling, providing advice, contacts and in 1973 two interviews for public radio programs that he produced in New York City for radio station WBAI.

In 1987 Hickling compiled the official Lotte Lehmann Discography which was included in Beaumont Glass’ centennial biography, Lotte Lehmann, A Life in Opera and Song, published in 1988.

Hickling initiated "Great Songs" in 1988 for Hawaii Public Radio. This one hour weekly program dedicated to the realm of classical song has been heard regularly ever since.

Gary Hickling was instrumental in broadening the scope and accessibility of the Lotte Lehmann Archive at the University of California, Santa Barbara. With Judith Sutcliffe, a noted researcher, writer and editor, he went to Europe in 1989 to seek missing elements of Lehmann’s legacy, returning with photos, recorded interviews, rare recordings and other memorabilia.

In 1988 Judith Sutcliffe and Gary Hickling formed the Lotte Lehmann League which offered an almost quarterly newsletters dealing with various aspects of Lehmann's legacy. The newsletter was discontinued in 1994.

In order to recognize local talented classical song performers of Hawaii, Hickling began the Annual Art Song Contest in 1997. Now handled by the independent Art Song Commitee, the competition has elicited an average of 40 applications each year.

Semi-finalists are selected and their singing is heard on "Great Songs." Finalists share a recital which is recorded for broadcast on "Great Songs." No financial prize is offered. The exposure and prestige of the contest are sufficient to assure a broad participation of talented singers: amateurs, students, professionals...no age limits. Since 1998 the recording studio at Hawaii Public Radio has been made available to contestants at no cost. Local singers are thus able to submit a tape recorded at a professional level. Beginning in 2001 contestants remote from the station on Neighbor Islands were recorded on site thanks to a grant from the Orvis Foundation.The contest has attracted print media attention and is covered by the local public radio station, HPR.

This website is a research tool providing a broad range of information about Lehmann including different length biographies, a bibliography, a complete discography, recommended CDs, sound and photo galleries and background information on classical song and opera. The Song! portion of the site provides up-to-date information on "Great Songs" and the Art Song Contest. One can hear performances by the winners of our previous Contests, many complete "Great Songs" programs and the educational video produced by the Lotte Lehmann Foundation: Three American Art Songs. Information about CyberSing: 2006 and SupraTitles for the song recitalist can also be found on the Song! site.

Though classical song is performed and recorded world wide, it sometimes seems to be an "endangered species" and overlooked both by the public generally and in schools specifically. In 2002 the Lehmann Foundation implemented CyberSing which brought world wide attention to art song. CyberSing was repeated in 2004 and will occur every even numbered year.

A large number of specialists in the field of classical song have been assembled as Advisors. These include singers, pianists, educators and composers. Their input has been important in guiding the many projects of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation.

Lotte Lehmann Foundation: Major Achievement

• Dan Welcher, commissioned to write the required song for CyberSing 2006; Libby Larsen, wrote the required song for CyberSing 2004; Ned Rorem wrote the required song for CyberSing 2002.

• CyberSing, the only international web-based art song contest has attracted the attention of singers of all ages who compete for substantial prizes and exposure.

• In 2005 the Lehmann Foundation joined with ASCAP to present the first ASCAP/Lotte Lehmann Foundation Song Cycle Composition Contest for composers up to the age of 30.

• "Great Songs," Gary Hickling's hour long theme-based radio program has been broadcast weekly on Hawaii Public Radio since 1988.

• LyricLanguages offers the students in foreign language computer labs the chance to hear poetry and art songs in the languages they are studying as well as fine art appropriate to the song and language.

• The first ever use of digital portable supra titles for a song recitalist on 2 April 2001 at the University of Hawaii.

• There is an existing library of over 700 programs of "Great Songs", presently broadcast in the prime time over Hawaii Public Radio.

• The Art Song Contest, now in its eight year, continues to attract an average of 40 contestants annually and is now run by an independent committee with support from Hawaii Public Radio.

• The Foundation has attracted world famous artists such as Marilyn Horne, Thomas Hampson, Frederica von Stade and Ned Rorem to its Advisors.

• The Lotte Lehmann Website provides an extensive research site for students and others interested in classical vocal material. International readers have commented favorably on the site.

• Within a two month period, the Foundation wrote and produced a demonstration video for the Art Song Educational Video Project. Within two hours of announcing its completion, numerous requests for it from across the US were received.

• The Lehmann Foundation presents its World of Song award to honor those who have devoted their creative lives to art song presented in a three year cycle which honors pianists, singers, and composers in turn. The list of recipients already includes some of the most prominent names in the field: the pianist Dalton Baldwin, on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, in 2001; the tenor Hugues Cuénod, marking his hundreth birthday, in 2002; the composer Ned Rorem, on the occasion of his eightieth birthday, in 2003; the pianist and song scholar Graham Johnson in 2004 and in 2005 to Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau on his eightieth birthday.

Non-profit Status

The Lotte Lehmann Foundation is a recognized non-profit organization which the IRS designates 501 (c) (3).

This is good news, as it allows US citizens to make donations to the Foundation which are tax exempt to the extent allowed by law. Anyone wishing to obtain a copy of the IRS ruling can do so by simply contacting us. No officer receives a salary.

When you donate to the Lotte Lehmann Foundation you will receive a letter of acknowledgment suitable for tax purposes. Your name will also appear as one of the supporters of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation and on our Newsletter.

If you'd like to see our financial statement just let us know. We're proud of the frugal way we run the Foundation.