Wigmore French Song Exchange 2026

Dame Felicity Lott We are saddened by the recent death of Dame Felicity Lott, one of the most successful British sopranos in living memory, who had a particularly close association with Wigmore Hall. As a much-loved artist, she appeared here for over 50 years, receiving the Wigmore Hall Medal in February 2010 for her exceptional contribution and more recently serving as a Trustee. We extend our sympathy to her family. Dame Felicity Lott was a vital part of the Wigmore French Song Exchange programme, working on it for six editions from 2019-2026, mentoring 48 singers and 10 pianists. As part of the scheme, Dame Felicity helped produce 18 concerts at Wigmore Hall and at the Salle Cortot in Paris, and through one-on-one coaching, group masterclasses and mentoring, she shared her expert knowledge and love of French song, nurturing young artists with her warm and personal teaching style at an early stage of their careers. The final concert in the Wigmore French Song Exchange series – a programme taught by Dame Felicity Lott, François Le Roux and Sebastian Wybrew, which now includes both singers and pianists – celebrates a creative meeting of cultures: English composers setting French poetry and French composers setting English texts. Expect works by Adela Maddison, Elgar and Berkeley on poems by Ronsard and Baudelaire, alongside songs by Saint-Saëns, Massenet and Milhaud inspired by Tennyson, Shelley and Shakespeare, as an elegant musical ‘exchange’ between two traditions.