Olaf Bär lives in his home town of Dresden where he started his musical education as a member of the boy choir Dresdner Kreuzchor.

As winner of the inaugural Walther Gruner Lieder Competition, Olaf Bär was launched on an international career. Olaf Bär has appeared worldwide in recitals and concerts and has made major tours of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and America.

For many years he was a principal member of the Semper Oper Dresden. As an opera singer Olaf Bär has appeared at Covent Garden, at La Scala di Milano, at the Opera Houses in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Zurich, Chicago, Rome, Napels and Turin and at the Glyndebourne, Salzburg, Bayreuth, Aix-en-Provence, Wiener Festwochen and Ruhr-Trienale Festivals.

He has done numerous recordings with EMI, Decca, Philips and other companies.

1998 Olaf Bär was awarded the Schumann-Preis of the city of Zwickau.

Since 2004 Olaf Bär is a regular professor for interpretation of Lieder at Hochschule für Musik in Dresden.

Olaf Bär is regularly invited as Juror in numerous international singing competitions and to give masterclasses, specialising in the interpretation of German Lieder.

Described by The Daily Telegraph as ‘in a class of his own’ James Baillieu is one of the leading song and chamber music pianists of his generation. He has given solo and chamber recitals throughout the world and collaborates with a wide range of singers and instrumentalists inclu-ding Benjamin Appl, Jamie Barton, Ian Bostridge, Allan Clayton, Louise Alder, Tara Erraught, Lise Davidsen, the Elias and Heath Quartets, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Adam Walker, and Pretty Yende. 

A highlight of James’ 2024/25 season includes a long-awaited Wigmore Hall residency: compri-sing three recitals with different partners, including acclaimed mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton. James continues to collaborate with many of his frequent recital partners including Allan Clay-ton, Cecilia Masabane Rangwanasha, Benjamin Appl, Tim Ridout, Veronique Gens and Ailish Tynan. 

James is a frequent guest at many of the world’s most distinguished music centres including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Metropolitan Opera House, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Van-couver Playhouse, Berlin Konzerthaus, Vienna Musikverein, the Barbican Centre, Wiener Kon-zerthaus, Bozar Brussels, Pierre Boulez Saal, Cologne Philharmonie, Wiener Staatsoper, Funda-ción Juan March and the Laeiszhalle Hamburg. Festivals include Aix-en-Provence, Verbier, Sch-leswig-Holstein, Festpillene i Bergen, Edinburgh, Spitalfields, Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Bath, City of London and Brighton Festivals.

James Baillieu is a Senior Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, a coach for the Jette Parker Young Artist Program at the Royal Opera House, a course leader for the Samling Foundation, and is head of the Song Program at the Atelier Lyrique of the Verbier Festival Academy. 
 

Born in Barcelona, since 2017 he has served as Artistic Director of the Festival de Lied and the Victoria de los Ángeles Foundation, combining the presence of major international and national artists with support for young talent through scholarships, awards, training programs, and masterclasses. He was also the curator of the Victoria de los Ángeles Year for the Government of Catalonia, commemorating the centenary of the soprano.

In the field of stage direction, he made his debut in 2023 at the Oxford International Song Festival with the production Goya & Granados, which was also performed at Palau Güell in Barcelona. Together with Vincent Huguet, he developed the concept for the Victoria de los Ángeles Centenary Gala at the Gran Teatre del Liceu (2023) and directed the Homage to Victoria de los Ángeles at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid (2024).

Recently, he directed La voix humaine with Mercedes Gancedo and Julius Drake at the Machynlleth Festival (UK), at the Palau de la Música Catalana, at Espacio Turina in Seville, and at 89 Reade in New York City. He also directed Mild und Leise, a program featuring Lieder by Wagner and Mahler performed by Elena Pankratova and Joseph Breinl, and Letters to a Young Poet, exploring Rainer Maria Rilke’s relationship with music, performed by actress Núria Prims and pianist Marta Puig.

He studied Journalism at Ramon Llull University (Barcelona) and holds a Master's degree in Performing Arts Administration from New York University. He has worked with Gotham Chamber Opera (New York), the Gran Teatre del Liceu, where he created its American Friends program, and collaborated with the Xavier Montsalvatge Association in promoting the composer’s work.

Born in 1977 in Barcelona to a German father and Spanish mother. He attended the German School of Barcelona and, after studying Audiovisual and Film Communication in Barcelona and Paris, began working for various media companies (Klassik.com in Cologne, Kirch New Media in Munich, and ARTE TV in Strasbourg).

In 2001, he shifted his professional path towards music management, working as an assistant to the Artistic Director of the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.

In 2003, he joined the Heidelberger Frühling Festival as Head of Artistic Planning and Production, where within just two years he initiated a period of expansion, creating permanent series dedicated to string quartets, Lied, and contemporary music. During his tenure in Heidelberg, composer Jörg Widmann held his first residency at a German festival, and the complete chamber music cycle of American composer Elliott Carter was programmed in Europe for the first time.

In 2005, he joined Ibercamera, the leading private concert promoter in Barcelona. Over ten years, he played a decisive role in transforming the company into a leading force in the Spanish music scene, organizing orchestral tours, managing artists, and building new symphonic subscription series in Madrid and Girona. During those years, the company brought numerous top-tier artists, ensembles, and orchestras onto its roster. He also gave decisive support to the international careers of young talents such as Viviane Hagner, Alexei Volodin, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, the Casals Quartet, the Quiroga Quartet, and Varvara. He was founding director of La Filarmónica in Madrid, director of Ibercamera, and director of Agencia Camera.

During this time, he also founded a concert platform for young artists at Gaudí's UNESCO World Heritage site Casa Milà-La Pedrera, as well as the Cervià de Ter Music Festival and the Da Camera Orchestra, composed of leading Spanish instrumentalists.

In 2015, he took another professional step by establishing himself as an independent consultant, working with institutions such as the Barcelona Conservatory of Music, the Granada Festival, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (OBC), Revista Musical Catalana, SWR (Southwest Broadcasting) in Stuttgart, and the Engelhorn Stiftung (Zurich), while also representing numerous internationally renowned artists.

In 2016, he was appointed General Director of the Schubert Association in Barcelona, which organizes the Schubertiada in Vilabertran, a unique festival dedicated to chamber music and Lied. Under his leadership, the festival has been significantly expanded. Besides planning and organizing the festival, new concert series have been launched in Barcelona, the Basque Country, and Cantabria, and educational activities have been reinforced with an international academy and the international young talent platform Lied the Future.

Since 2017, he has also coordinated the music division of the Engelhorn Foundation (Zurich).

On his initiative, in 2017, Barcelona’s three main musical institutions — Gran Teatre del Liceu, Palau de la Música Catalana, and L'Auditori — created Barcelona Obertura, a platform aimed at promoting the city as a destination for music lovers. By joining forces, Barcelona has been promoted as a leading musical city in Europe. In 2019, the three institutions organized for the first time a joint festival, the Barcelona Obertura Spring Festival, with more than 50 concerts covering all city districts and including municipal and private venues, building a platform for local talent and broadening public access to concerts.

In April 2018, he was invited by Karsten Witt — legendary music manager and former president of Deutsche Grammophon — to join his team as a consultant, conceiving and developing the new clsx.de concert season, active at the Berlin Philharmonie and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.

In 2023, he became a member of the Music Commission of the Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona.

As of July 2025, he will assume the position of Director of L’Auditori in Barcelona.

He has served as a jury member at singing and piano competitions in Görlitz (Germany), Barcelona, and La Chaux-de-Fonds (Switzerland).

From 2015 to 2018, he taught Cultural Management at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, and from 2018 to 2023, he lectured in the Master's in Music Administration at the Escola Superior de Música de Barcelona and at the Liceu Conservatory of Barcelona.

Since 2024, he has been a professor of Music Programming at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya.

Medem holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration and Marketing from ESADE (Barcelona) and SDA Bocconi (Milan).