Florian Störtz and Mark Rogers winners of the Nadia and Lili Boulanger 2023 Competition

On Sunday 29 October, the President of the Fondation Etrillard, Mr Etrillard, came to the Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique in Paris to award the Prix de Mélodie to the duo Florian Störtz and Mark Rogers. Every two years, the Prix de Mélodie - Fondation Etrillard awards a €6,000 prize to a vocal-piano duo for the quality of its performance.

Florian Störtz, a 29-year-old German bass-baritone, is a former student of the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he won numerous first prizes. He performs regularly on international and French stages, including the Salle Cortot in Paris and the London Handel Festival. His vast repertoire includes recitals of French songs and Operatic roles such as Bartolo in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro and Masetto & Commendatore in Don Giovanni.

Mark Rogers is a 24-year-old American pianist specialising in vocal and chamber music. He has been a Young Artist at at Lieder festivals including Zeist, Leeds, and Ludlow with Florian Störtz. He was awarded 1st prize in Art Song accompaniment at the Royal Academy of Music. He is a regular collaborator with many singers and instrumentalists and a staff pianist at Oxenfoord summer school.

At the Final, they both dazzled the audience and the jury with their interpretation of Nadia Boulanger's Doute, Leonard Bernstein's Civet à toute vitesse and Franz Schubert's Der Wanderer.