The verTOON Foundation aims to foster the appreciation of the connection of poetry and music in the genre of art song. All the three founders of the verTOON Foundation are active singers as well as teachers. We aspire to produce performances of the highest artistic quality as well as to support students with training, courses, publications and projects on their path of becoming accomplished interpreters of the song repertoire.
We focus on 20th century song repertoire and Jewish vocal music.
Elizaveta Agrafenina
Singer, conductor
A recent graduate from the Conservatory of Amsterdam, Elizaveta’s career spans opera, lied as well as chamber music. She took a part of the Young Artist Program at Bergen National Opera in Norway and has since 2017 sung in several productions since.
Elizaveta is passionate about chamber music and lied. She is both curating and performing every summer at the Finnish Pyhäjärven kamarimusiikki music festival and the Norwegian festival Grieg in Bergen.
For the season of 2022/2023, Elizaveta is singing in several chamber music festivals in Europe and recording with three different labels, projects such as Akh nit gut, Missing Voices and Bosmans & Beyond.
Pierre Mak
Singer, voice teacher
The baritone Pierre Mak studied classical singing in the Netherlands, then the Mozarteum in Salzburg and Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel. His strong passion for lied has led him to perform many lied recitals, with an extra attention to the German Romantic and French lied repertoire. He has sung an extraordinary amount of oratorio performances and many operatic roles.
Next to his busy performance career, Pierre is teaching Lied and Oratorio Class at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.
Sára Gutvill
Singer, voice teacher and language coach
Hungarian-born mezzo-soprano Sára Gutvill studied German literature and linguistics and later classical singing.
Sára is mainly interested in the crossroad of literature and music, and became a passionate interpreter of German Lied as well the Yiddish Art Song repertoire. Her programs explore 20th century Jewish vocal repertoire.
She currently teaches German for singers Conservatorium van Amsterdam at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel and at the International Opera Academy in Ghent. Sára also works as language coach at opera productions, e.g. at the Nederlandse Reisopera.
Sára lives in Amsterdam and has a son.