Johanna Will
Soprano Johanna Will was born in Munich and grew up in Dresden. When she was 11 years old she began singing lessons at the Heinrich-Schütz-Konservatorium Dresden, at which she completed her final certificate with highest distinction in 2010.
Frequent master classes have contributed a great deal to Johanna in her development as a singer. She has worked with KS Brigitte Fassbaender, Irina Gavriolici, Magreet Honig, Ken Benson, Klesie Kelly-Moog, and KS Franz Grundheber, among others. She was also a scholar of the International Summer Academy Mozarteum Salzburg, the International Masterclasses Vaduz and the Junge Musiker Stiftung Bayreuth.
In 2011 Johanna started private studies with Prof. Kurt Widmer and then began her studies at the HfMT Hamburg, where she received her BA under Carolyn Grace James in 2018.
She is keenly dedicated to Lied, and also studied in the Lied Class of Burkhard Kehring with her collaborative partner, Nils Basters.
In 2018 she received a full scholarship to attend a two year Master's program at the Mannes School of Music of The New School in New York City, where she studies under Ruth Falcon.
First stage encounters include the lead roles in the “Feuersbrunst“ by Joseph Haydn in 2009 and in “Brundibar“ by Hans Krasa in 2007.
In 2009 she sang and played a Bridesmaid in a cinema production of “Der Freischütz“ by Carl Maria von Weber. She interpreted the roles of Fiordiligi and Mimi in Dresden and Berlin in 2013.
Frequent master classes have contributed a great deal to Johanna in her development as a singer. She has worked with KS Brigitte Fassbaender, Irina Gavriolici, Magreet Honig, Ken Benson, Klesie Kelly-Moog, and KS Franz Grundheber, among others. She was also a scholar of the International Summer Academy Mozarteum Salzburg, the International Masterclasses Vaduz and the Junge Musiker Stiftung Bayreuth.
In 2011 Johanna started private studies with Prof. Kurt Widmer and then began her studies at the HfMT Hamburg, where she received her BA under Carolyn Grace James in 2018.
She is keenly dedicated to Lied, and also studied in the Lied Class of Burkhard Kehring with her collaborative partner, Nils Basters.
In 2018 she received a full scholarship to attend a two year Master's program at the Mannes School of Music of The New School in New York City, where she studies under Ruth Falcon.
First stage encounters include the lead roles in the “Feuersbrunst“ by Joseph Haydn in 2009 and in “Brundibar“ by Hans Krasa in 2007.
In 2009 she sang and played a Bridesmaid in a cinema production of “Der Freischütz“ by Carl Maria von Weber. She interpreted the roles of Fiordiligi and Mimi in Dresden and Berlin in 2013.
She received the Rolex Scholarship as the youngest attendee to the Georg Solti Te Kanawa Accademia di Bel Canto, where she worked with Angela Gheorghiu, Richard Bonynge and Dennis O'Neill. Johanna is a prize winner of international competitions; 1st prizes at the Mahler Competition and the Elise Meyer Competition. 2nd prize at the Mozart Competition Hamburg and 3rd prizes at the Stauss Competition Salzburg and the Maritim Competition.
Nils Basters
The pianist Nils Basters began his studies in piano in 2009 with Prof. Anna Vinnitskaya at the
Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg. Here he completed his bachelor’s degree in 2013
and started his master’s degree directly thereafter.
An Erasmus scholarship brought him to Vienna, where he studied with Prof. Martin Hughes at the
Universität für Musik und darstellende Künste Wien. During his master’s studies, received further
artistic instruction from Konrad Elser, Emmanuel Ax, Matthias Kirschnereit, Pavel Nersessian,
Brigitte Fassbender, Tanja Becker-Bender and Burkhard Kehring, among others.
Since October 2016, he has been fine-tuning his skills as a concert pianist with Prof. Péter Nagy at
the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst Stuttgart.
In 2013, Nils Basters won 1st prize at the Elise Meyer Competition in Hamburg and was a
semifinalist at the renowned Concours International De Piano Clara Haskil. In 2015, he won third
place at the Troisdorf International Piano Competition. At the Maritim-Wettbewerb in 2016 he was
awarded 1st prize for piano accompaniment from the Franz Wirth Gedächtnis-Stiftung.
He is sponsored by the “Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now“ Association and was a scholar of the
Oscar und Vera Ritter-Stiftung from 2012 to 2014.
Chamber music and song accompaniment are Nils Basters’ greatest passion, and he has been a
regular duo with soprano Johanna Will since 2016. He has regular lessons in accompaniment from
Burkhard Kehring.
A further key point of his artistic development is interdisciplinary work bringing together the realms
of music, theater and performance. In this area, Nils Basters works regularly with director Aileen
Schneider. They have created numerous projects together, during which he plays the part of an actor
as well as a pianist. Such works include the concert performance “Chopin im Spiegel”, which was
awarded with the Masefield Scholarship for innovative concert ideas from the Alfred-Toepfer-
Stiftung in 2016. The most recent project was the musical theater performance of “Geliebtes Eden
oder Die Furcht vor dem Apfel” (“Beloved Eden or the Fear of the Apple”), which premiered in the
fall of 2018. For this he contributed to the musical dramaturgy and appeared again as a performing
artist on stage.
Additionally, Nils worked together with actor Milena Straube to create a performance called “Clara
and Robert Schumann – Licht- und Schattenseiten einer Liebe” (“Of Light and Darkness in Love”),
a collage of music and spoken word.
Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg. Here he completed his bachelor’s degree in 2013
and started his master’s degree directly thereafter.
An Erasmus scholarship brought him to Vienna, where he studied with Prof. Martin Hughes at the
Universität für Musik und darstellende Künste Wien. During his master’s studies, received further
artistic instruction from Konrad Elser, Emmanuel Ax, Matthias Kirschnereit, Pavel Nersessian,
Brigitte Fassbender, Tanja Becker-Bender and Burkhard Kehring, among others.
Since October 2016, he has been fine-tuning his skills as a concert pianist with Prof. Péter Nagy at
the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst Stuttgart.
In 2013, Nils Basters won 1st prize at the Elise Meyer Competition in Hamburg and was a
semifinalist at the renowned Concours International De Piano Clara Haskil. In 2015, he won third
place at the Troisdorf International Piano Competition. At the Maritim-Wettbewerb in 2016 he was
awarded 1st prize for piano accompaniment from the Franz Wirth Gedächtnis-Stiftung.
He is sponsored by the “Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now“ Association and was a scholar of the
Oscar und Vera Ritter-Stiftung from 2012 to 2014.
Chamber music and song accompaniment are Nils Basters’ greatest passion, and he has been a
regular duo with soprano Johanna Will since 2016. He has regular lessons in accompaniment from
Burkhard Kehring.
A further key point of his artistic development is interdisciplinary work bringing together the realms
of music, theater and performance. In this area, Nils Basters works regularly with director Aileen
Schneider. They have created numerous projects together, during which he plays the part of an actor
as well as a pianist. Such works include the concert performance “Chopin im Spiegel”, which was
awarded with the Masefield Scholarship for innovative concert ideas from the Alfred-Toepfer-
Stiftung in 2016. The most recent project was the musical theater performance of “Geliebtes Eden
oder Die Furcht vor dem Apfel” (“Beloved Eden or the Fear of the Apple”), which premiered in the
fall of 2018. For this he contributed to the musical dramaturgy and appeared again as a performing
artist on stage.
Additionally, Nils worked together with actor Milena Straube to create a performance called “Clara
and Robert Schumann – Licht- und Schattenseiten einer Liebe” (“Of Light and Darkness in Love”),
a collage of music and spoken word.