The biennal competition “Das Lied” was launched in 2009 by Thomas Quasthoff and has quickly established itself as one of the most important vocal competitions worldwide. In addition to Thomas Quasthoff, the jury includes other personalities who have played a major role in the genre in recent decades, including John Gilhooly, Charlotte Lehmann and Helga Machreich. With prize money of 40,000 euros, the song competition is one of the most highly endowed of its kind. Until 2015, “Das Lied” took place in Berlin and moved to Heidelberg in 2017, where it found a new home under the roof of the International Song Centre Heidelberg.