LAB51 is an interdisciplinary duo founded in 2016 by Johanna Vargas and Magdalena Cerezo, aiming to expand the contemporary repertoire for coloratura soprano and piano, and to develop a new concept of Liedduo. In this context, both artists work together to intertwine vocal, multimedia, and performance art with classical singing and piano playing within their projects and performances.

The collaboration between Johanna and Magdalena started during their contemporary music studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart under Prof. Angelika Luz and Prof. Nicolas Hodges, respectively. Since then, LAB51 has worked with composers such as Gerhard Stäbler, Johannes Kreidler, Bernhard Lang, Wolfgang Rihm, Hans-Joachim Hespos, Gregor Mayrhofer, Benjamin Scheuer, Hans Thomalla, and Óscar Escudero & Belenish Moreno-Gil. They have also received musical advice from world-class artists such as Sarah Maria Sun, Donatienne Michel-Dansac, Georg Nigl, Julia Mihály, Anika Rutkofsky (Stuttgart Opera House), Christian Dierstein, and Hartmut Höll.

Highlights from the 2018-19 season included engagements at NUNC!3 (Northwestern University Chicago), the New Music Series of Goethe Institut-Schwäbisch Hall, and ZeitGenuss Festival Karlsruhe, curated by Johannes Kreidler and featuring artists such as Ensemble Mosaik and Enno Poppe. During the same period, the duo participated in the Darmstädter Ferienkurse für Neue Musik and won the first prize at the John Cage Competition in Halberstadt, Germany. During the 2020-21 season, LAB51 was a featured ensemble of the Munich Society of New Music, performing at the portrait concert of composer and conductor Gregor Mayrhofer, and premiered/recorded Benjamin Scheuer's "Sprechblasen for soprano, guitar, percussion, and piano with objects and samplers" at the Akademie der Wissenschaften in Mainz alongside Vanessa Porter and Thilo Ruck.

In 2022, LAB51 obtained an artistic residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and performed at various events organized by Radio France and the Royaumont Foundation. During the 2023/24 season, the duo performed internationally at festivals such as ZeitGenuss (Karlsruhe), Musica in Prossimitá (Pinerolo, Italy), Meta World Contemporary Art Festival (Belgrade), Vocations-Reimagining the Lied (Berlin), ECLAT (World Premiere of "The Day Fanny Mendelssohn Died" by Belenish Moreno-Gil & Óscar Escudero), and RESIS (Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid), as well as at Literaturhaus Stuttgart (invited by the Staatsoper Stuttgart), NDR (Kleiner Sendesaal, Hannover), the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome, and Schauspiel Frankfurt. Next September, LAB51 will present the world premiere of "Valeria's Album" by composer Manuel Hidalgo Navas at the Royaumont Festival alongside beatboxer Ervinho.

LAB51's performances have been broadcast internationally on platforms such as Deutschlandfunk, RTVE, Radio Nacional Clásica Argentina, Radio France, and NDR, among others. In 2021, a CD recording of Wolfgang Rihm's "Ophelia Lieder" was released by Naxos-Capriccio.

Since 2018, LAB51 has been coaching a program in contemporary voice training and performance, and curating the concert/project series "Out of the Box" at the University of Music Karlsruhe.

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