On August 17, Duo Zeffiretti will arrive in Lithuania and the Baltic States for the very first time: the critically acclaimed male soprano Maayan Licht and the talented harpsichordist Guy Maori! In 2020, the duo won both the jury and audience prizes at the prestigious Grachtenfestival competition in Amsterdam, and have received numerous scholarships. A male soprano is a rare encounter, so we encourage you not to miss this exceptional performance!

“Maayan Licht, who is extraordinarily agile on stage, performs the leading role simply astoundingly well: his superb soprano voice is enchantingly clear and virtuosic in the sung coloratura; thus he creates the portrait of a mercilessly aggressive, yet simultaneously vulnerable ruler.” (Online Music Magazine portal)

Maayan Licht studied early music vocal performance as a soprano at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam under teacher Xenia Meijer, graduating with honors with both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 2021. Since then, he has interpreted virtuosic operatic roles, as well as the Italian and French Baroque repertoire, which he shapes in his own way through a rich palette of expressive nuances. He turned to the path of early music after his talent in this field was discovered by Vita Gurevich, a singing teacher from Israel.

He has won numerous awards: with Duo Zeffiretti he received the jury and audience prize at the 2020 Grachtenfestival competition in Amsterdam, the Dino Arici Foundation scholarship for the 2019–2020 season, won the AICF scholarship competition (2014–2020) and the audience prize at the Aviv Competitions (2015). Maayan performs frequently in the Netherlands and abroad.

In 2015–2016, he sang as a soprano soloist in G. F. Handel’s Messiah and J. S. Bach’s Mass in B minor in Amsterdam. In 2019, with the opera company The Fat Lady, he performed the role of Amore in Gluck’s opera Orfeo ed Euridice in Haarlem, and the role of Danceny in the opera Dangerous Liaisons throughout the Netherlands with the Netherlands Bach Society and Opera2Day, performing it once again in 2022 with the TBOS orchestra in Switzerland. In 2019, he became a finalist in the Cesti Competition in Innsbruck. At the 2020 Opera Rara festival in Krakow, the singer performed the title role in Rossini’s opera Sigismondo. Following his victory at the Grachtenfestival competition, he was invited to perform in a concert at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, which was broadcast live on Radio4, the television program Podium Witteman, and the NTR broadcast ZomerFestival.

In February 2022, Maayan performed the role of Libanio in Porpora’s opera Siface with Capella Cracoviensis in Krakow. Later that year, with his group Technopera, which combines opera and techno music, he performed at the prestigious Down The Rabbit Hole music festival in the Netherlands and at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

The 2022–2023 season holds numerous debuts for Maayan. The prelude to the season is his debut in Bayreuth, at the Margravial Opera House, where he will perform the title role of Alessandro in Vinci’s opera Alessandro nell’Indie at the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival, directed by Max Emanuel Cencic and conducted by Martyna Pastuszka. At the same festival, he will perform a leading role in Stradella’s oratorio San Giovanni Battista – Erodiade La Figlia. Later, he will make his debut at the Theater an der Wien with the role of Amore in Martín y Soler’s production L’arbore di Diana, under the musical direction of Rubén Dubrowsky.

In February 2023, Maayan debuted in the title role of Xerxes at the Landestheater Detmold and received immense acclaim from both the public and the press. Maayan will perform the title role in Handel’s opera Xerxes in Detmold until the end of June 2023. In the summer of 2023, he will perform the role of Iris in Handel’s opera Semele at Glyndebourne, and will once again appear at the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival with Duo Zeffiretti in a solo concert.

Guy Maori is an Israeli harpsichordist and pianist who has been living in the Netherlands since 2017.

Guy performs frequently as a soloist and as a member of various ensembles. He has performed at the Utrecht Early Music Festival, Het Concertgebouw, the NPO Radio 4 Festival, on the Dutch national television program Podium Klassiek, the Grachtenfestival, the NTR Zomerfestival, the Kamermuziek Festival in Hoorn, the Jong Talent Festival in Schiermonnikoog, Huis te Linschoten, the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam, the Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival, and elsewhere.

In 2020, Guy and Duo Zeffiretti won first place at the Grachtenfestival competition. This victory was followed by a concert tour across the Netherlands. Guy has also recorded for Israeli radio and played at music festivals hosted by the Jerusalem Music Centre.

Born in Tel Aviv, Guy began playing the piano at the age of eight at the Israel Conservatory of Music under Natalia Blumenfeld. At 12, he performed with the Israel Chamber Orchestra. In 2016, he graduated with honors from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv, where he studied piano under Professor Asaf Zohar. In 2018, Guy earned his master’s degree in music from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, having studied piano with Professor Naum Grubert.

During his master’s studies in piano performance, Guy’s passion for and interest in early music and historical keyboard instruments grew. This inspired him to undertake another master’s degree in harpsichord and fortepiano under Olga Pashchenko, Menno van Delft, and Kris Verhelst, also at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.

Guy has been awarded the Holland Scholarship, as well as scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music.

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