The Ensemble
Anna Schors - Mezzosoprano
Anna Schors combines, in her musical career, her love for the traditional operatic sound with a curiosity for artistic experimentation. She has delved 20th and 21st century repertoire, including performing in Victor Ullmann's 1943 opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis with the young opera company operationderkuenste (2021), taking part in the Festival Aix-En-Provence as a member of Opéra De-Ci De-Là (2021), a residency dedicated to contemporary opera, and appearing as a guest soloist in Kopernikus by C. Vivier at Staatsoper Berlin (2019). She has also been cast twice at the Deutsche Oper (Berlin) for the world premiere of Wir aus Glas by Yasutaki Inamori and Unsichtbare Fronten by Robert Krampe. Other notable engagements include a co-created experimental song performance based on the work of french author Colette at the Othmar Schoeck Festival in Switzerland.
Anna is a member of the 1781 Collective. Together they create innovative and interdisciplinary formats in unexpected urban venues in and around Berlin.
Her artistic profile puts great emphasis also on the art of song. Together with pianist Paul Heller and musicologist Dr. Maria Behrendt she founded the ensemble Trio Pontes, with whom she creates entertaining lecture concerts dedicated to lesser known or unpublished song repertoire. The young ensemble has recently started producing “ein like für Clara” a podcast revolving around the life and art of composer Clara Schumann, as well as co-hosting the podcast “Musikgespräch”
Anna completed her studies at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler”, at the Universität der Künste Berlin as well as the Barock Vokal Young Artist’s Programme in Mainz.
Anna’s passion for music is complemented by her innate love for the writing. As part of her wide range of artistic activities, she also works as a freelance writer focussing on music journalism and her articles are published by well-known magazines like Opernwelt, VAN-Magazine and TAZ.
In her free time Anna loves to read novels, write poetry and go for long walks.
Rachel Susser - Flute
Rachel Susser is a Berlin-based flutist and interdisciplinary performer whose work crosses genres and traditions.
Originally from Poughkeepsie, NY, USA, Rachel’s musical upbringing was as a multi-instrumentalist, and during her adolescence she played jazz and folk music alongside classical and improvisation. During her BA in Computer Science and Music Technology at Barnard College, she also studied flute at Manhattan School of Music. She has conducted fieldwork on traditional flutes and folk music in Peru, Bulgaria, and Romania, supported in part by a Fulbright research grant.
Following these projects, she completed a MMus in classical flute with Distinction at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where her dissertation explored non-traditional approaches to classical music performance. The Academy awarded her an Open Academy Fellowship after graduation to support her ongoing work designing and facilitating participatory music projects for community groups including schoolchildren and those living in nursing homes.
Rachel has performed in premieres of new music at the Guggenheim Museum, Carnegie Hall, and the Berliner Philharmonie, and with ensembles including Street Orchestra Live and Opera Lab Berlin. Harboring a particular passion for chamber music, Rachel has appeared internationally with various collaborators.
She is active in the Berlin and London Klezmer scenes and also works as a software engineer, specializing in audio and music technology.
Lillia Keyes - Cello
Lillia Keyes, born in Poughkeepsie, NY, began playing cello at the age of six and soon after embarked on her cello studies with Nanette Koch. At age sixteen, she had her solo debut with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic as the winner of Virtuoso-in-Progress competition.
A graduate of The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division, under the tutelage of Ardyth Alton and Fred Sherry, Lillia went on to study with Stephen Geber at the Cleveland Institute of Music. There she completed her Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance, graduating with Academic Honors. Shortly after she was accepted into the Orchestral Academy of the Staatskapelle Berlin (Berlin, Germany) under the direction of Daniel Barenboim. She then went on to finish a Master of Music in Orchestral Performance at the Universität der Künste Berlin.
Lillia Keyes has attended numerous music festivals in the United States and Europe such as Aspen Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Zermatt Festival, Encore School for Strings and Casals Festival. As a chamber musician she has taken part in many masterclasses by renowned ensembles such as The Scharoun Ensemble, The Artemis String Quartet, The Tackas Quartet, The Tokyo String Quartet, The Miró String Quartet and The Cavani String Quartet. Solo Masterclasses by Wolfgang Boettcher, Elena Cheah, Gloria dePasquale, Gary Hoffman, Markus Nyikos and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt have inspired the development of her character as a cellist, musician and performer.
Lillia lives and works in Berlin as a cellist, teacher and arranger. You can hear her collaborating with numerous orchestras in Berlin including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, the Staatskapelle Berlin and education projects with the Berlin Philharmonic. An avid contemporary musician, she performs regularly with Ensemble United Berlin.
Lillia is a founding member of both she plays cello (sheplayscello.com) and Duo Nuage (duo-nuage.com). Depending on the season, when she isn’t making music you can find her biking, rowing, running, walking her dog, knitting, reading or daydreaming about her next trip.
Lucia Brighenti - Piano
Initially focusing her studies on solo repertoire, Lucia has then developed and explored her love for chamber music and collaborative playing. Originally from Italy, she works in Berlin as a vocal language coach and répétiteur, alongside a constant activity as piano teacher and chamber musician.
Lucia graduated with honors from the Conservatorio Statale “O.Respighi” in Latina under the guidance of Maria Paola Manzi and in 2014 completed a Master of Arts in Performance (Piano Accompaniment) at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Michael Dussek and Carole Presland. She then attended a Postgraduate Course in Chamber Music with the Trio di Parma at Scuola di Musica di Fiesole and completed Magna cum Laude a Postgraduate Course in Piano under the guidance of Roberto Paruzzo at I.S.S.M. “F. Vittadini” in Pavia.
She has worked as a Collaborative Pianist at Conservatorio “G.Verdi” (Milan) and at Conservatorio “G.Cantelli” (Novara), and continues to collaborate as a pianist for International Talent Music School in Brescia. In the past few years she has immersed more deeply in the music theatre world, working as a répétiteur at the Berlin OpernFest (2021, 2022) and at the Lyric Opera Studio Weimar (2023), as well as Musical Director and pianist for an upcoming Berlin production of I Love You Because Broadway Musical.
Winner of various prizes in national and international competitions, both in chamber music and as a soloist, Lucia has performed abroad in prestigious venues in numerous countries, such as Australia, Mexico (Sala de Conciertos Felipe Villanueva), USA, Germany, Holland (TIHMS Festival), United Kingdom (Duke’s Hall, Old Combination Room - Trinity College) and Spain (Universidad de Murcia, Real Casino de Murcia). She has been invited to perform as a soloist with orchestras such as the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico and the Orchestra Giovanile Bertolucci and has appeared on National Spanish TV on the programme Clasica 7.
In her free time Lucia loves taking care of her plants, baking and any artistic manual creation activity.