The Vansìsiem Lied Duo is recognized as one of the leading realities in the field of Art Song in Italy and it is specialized in German, French and Italian repertoire of the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, with particular commitment to the diffusion of the works by the so-called Generazione dell’Ottanta.

Graduated with honorable mention in Lied Duo at the Conservatory of Florence under the guidance of Leonardo De Lisi, the Duo completed its studies at the Deutsche Liedakademie of the Hochschule für Musik of Trossingen and the Académie F. Poulenc of Tours. It also specialized with some of the most prominent names of the genre: Erik Battaglia, Jeff Cohen, Helmut Deutsch, Julius Drake, Ulrich Eisenlohr, Gerda Hartman, Christian Ivaldi, Burkhard Kehring, Anne Le Bozec, François Le Roux, Anna Toccafondi, Valentina Valente, Lorna Windsor, among others.

In 2016 the Duo won the 1st Prize at the Elsa Respighi Competition of Verona, for the Italian Art Song between the nineteenth and the twentieth century. Other awards include: 1st Prize at Grand Prize Virtuoso in Paris, 3rd Prize in the Chamber Music section at the G. Zinetti International Competition of Sanguinetto, absolute 1st Prize in the category Vocal Music at the P. Argento International Competition of Gioia del Colle, 1st Prize at the Riviera Etrusca National Music Competition of Piombino, 1st Prize at the Città di Piove di Sacco National Music Competition, Special Prize Liederìadi for the best Lied performance at the Coop Music Award International Competition, 2nd Prize (first not awarded) at the L. Tadini Chamber Music Competition of Lovere...

The Duo also works on contemporary music: in 2018 Paola and Alfredo performed in world premiere the song L’albatros by the Spanish composer Óscar Prados. In 2022 they performend in wolrd premiere Casarsa – quattro brevi Lieder per voce e pianoforte by Orazio Sciortino at the Centro Studi Pasolini of Casarsa della Delizia.

The Duo collaborated with important institutions such as Società del Quartetto di Milano, Società dei Concerti di Trieste, LaFil Filarmonica di Milano, Morellino Classica - International Festival of Scansano, ERT FVG - Ente Regionale Teatrale of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Vicino/Lontano Festival - T. Terzani Award, Liederìadi Festival and Serate Musicali of Milan, Associazione culturale F. Schiller of Trieste, Piano Academy A. Ricci of Udine, Académie F. Poulenc of Tours, Amadeus magazine, Università degli studi di Milano...

In November 2021 the Duo released the album Malipiero: Complete Songs for Soprano and Piano with the label Brilliant Classics (3CDs), which is the first complete recording of the composer’s oeuvre for voice and piano. In 2020 BAM – Beyond Any Music published the Duo’s fist CD Italiani a Parigi / Parisiens en Italie. Currently being released is the album Ildebrando Pizzetti: Complete Songs for Voice and piano (Brilliant Classics, 2024)

PAOLA:
Before studying Lied Duo in Florence, I started studying Opera Singing with Lina Vasta and then I graduated in at the Conservatory of Milan, under the guidance of Annamaria Pizzoli. I had the opportunity to improve the operatic repertoire with Marco Berti, Domenico Colaianni, Andrea Concetti and Tiziana Fabbricini, and then the Song vocality with Valentina Valente and with Leonardo De Lisi. Lover of Art in general, I embarked on a long course of study of the Arts at the University of Milan, graduating in both Art History and Criticism, and Musicology, and later obtaining a PhD in Literature, Arts and Environmental Heritage. In 2013 I won one of the main Italian opera singing competitions, the Como AsLiCo competition. I also won the prize for vocal chamber music at the A. Maliponte Competition in Milan. I regularly perform the chamber repertoire in ensembles, in Italy and abroad (France, Germany, Switzerland). I am currently professor of Lied Duo at the Parma Conservatory. I am also active as musicologist and I worked at the Parma Conservatory in the cataloguing of the Arrigo Boito archival fond on the occasion of the centenary of the composer’s death.

ALFREDO:
I started studying piano in Trieste with Nino Gardi and then I moved to Milan to study with Vincenzo Balzani at the G. Verdi Conservatory, where I graduated with honours. As a soloist I won many prizes in national and international competitions (Cortemilia, Tortona, Varallo, Gussago, Madesimo, Lamporecchio, Piove di Sacco, Milan - Clavicembalo Verde), and specialized with Maurizio Baglini, Maria Teresa Carunchio, Giorgio Lovato, Leonel Morales, Roberto Plano, Roberto Prosseda, Daniel Rivera, Steven Spooner, Gabriel Tacchino… Then I deepened the study of accompaniment and piano in Lied repertoire with Anna Toccafondi. In 2018 I performed in Italian premiere La cathédrale d’Ani by Jean-Pierre Deleuze. I collaborated with important institutions, such as the Liederìadi Festival and the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala. I also obtained my MA in Musicology at the University of Milan, where I am currently PhD candidate in Literature, Arts and Environmental Heritage. My musicological studies focus mainly on music storiography, twentieth-century music and Franch mélodie: in 2023 I translated and edited the first Italian edition of F. Poulenc's Journal de mes mélodies (In Transito, 2023).