Emma Hartikainen & Tanja Niiranen | Lied-duo

Lied duo Emma Hartikainen and Tanja Niiranen started working as a duo in 2020, when they met at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and had their first lied lessons with Keval Shah. They have studied under the guidance of Ilmo Ranta, as well as participated in Lied masterclasses in Finland, Germany, Austria and Italy, held by world-class singers and pianists such as Angelika Kirchschlager, Andreas Schmidt, Malcolm Martineau, Graham Johnson, Roderick Williams, Pauliina Tukiainen, Andrè Schuen, Christian Westergaard, Anu Komsi and Pia Värri. Hartikainen and Niiranen work a lot with contemporary music, and they have also commissioned and premiered new music. They have also studied Lied improvisation with David Dolan, and the duo’s improvised Lieder have received an enthusiastic response from their audiences.

The duo has performed extensively all around their native Finland in festivals and concert series, as well as received many grants and prizes. Abroad, they have performed in Florence, Rome and Salzburg. Important performances in Finland include Musica Nova festival, Wäinö Aaltonen Museum concert series, Hämeenlinna Sibelius Museum concert series and Pro Musica foundation’s concert, as well as concerts in Ateneum art museum and Soiva Kieli lied concert series. In 2023, the duo was awarded with a generous grant from Martin Wegelius foundation as a sign of their auspicious work. In 2024, they received a prize from Kulturfonds der Stadt Salzburg at Mozarteum, as well as grant from Musiikkitalo Foundation in Helsinki. The duo’s concerts 2024 included their debut in Rome, where they performed Hugo Wolf’s Mignon Lieder and improvised on Goethe’s novel “Wilhelm Meister’s apprenticeship”.