Melbourne Uni student Eleni Calypso Gerostamoulos has taken home the Robert Salzer Foundation Award at the 2026 National Liederfest, a German Art song competition showcasing elite singers and pianists.
The third generation Greek-Australian, is undertaking a Bachelor of Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (University of Melbourne).
“I feel so honoured and grateful to have received this award,” she told Neos Kosmos.
Eleni entered the two-day competition to strengthen her foundation in German Classical Voice repertoire, with little expectation of progressing beyond the initial heats.
“It was quite exciting (and pleasantly surprising) to have been asked to perform in the finals the next day, which was such a wonderful experience,” she added.
“It also just feels very rewarding to have been recognised for all of the preparation and hard work I put into my repertoire for the competition.”
Her award win is also notable as it is typically presented to postgraduate students and young professional performers – she is in the second year of her course. For the competition, Eleni performed challenging compositions from mid-late 19th Century by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Richard Strauss, Hugo Wolf and Franz Schubert.
The judging panel acknowledged Eleni’s expressive and emotional storytelling with an excellent observance of the composers’ dynamics.
“German is quite a common language in classical vocal repertoire,” Eleni said.
“I already have quite an affinity for languages, from speaking Greek since a young age, and having studied French at a VCE level, so I really enjoy singing in different languages.
“I also have a passion for singing Greek classical repertoire, and more recently, I have been researching and singing songs from 20th century Greek Operetta, which is such a beautiful, yet lesser-known genre of music that deserves a far wider audience.”
