2021 EDITION
WINNERS
Kutxa Grand Prix
BASQUE YOUTH CHOIR (Basque Country)
Basque Government Award for the best performance in Basque
CORO DE JÓVENES DE MADRID (Spain)
Chamber Choirs – Polyphony
1º BASQUE YOUTH CHOIR (Basque Country)
2º MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY CHORALE (USA)
3º CORO DE JÓVENES DE MADRID (España)
Chamber Choirs – Popular Music
1º BASQUE YOUTH CHOIR (Basque Country)
2º CORO DE JÓVENES DE MADRID (Spain)
3º CANTEMUS CHILDREN’S CHOIR (Hungary)
MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY CHORALE (USA)
Audience Award
CORO DE JÓVENES DE MADRID (Spain)
2021
52nd Edition
From October 29th to November 1st
In 2021 the Tolosa Choral Contest will celebrate its 52nd edition. Yes, suddenly we became one of the oldest choir competitions in Europe!
COMPETITORS
Cor Bruckner Barcelona was founded in 2003 by then director Sergi Moreno Lasalle. Júlia Sesé took the helm in 2007, first in collaboration with Josep Miquel Mindan (until June 2009) and later with Josep-Ramón Olivé (until June 2012) before leading the choir herself.
In this new phase, the choir is focussing on the a cappella repertoire of the 20th and 21st centuries. The choir has won numerous prizes over recent years (2nd place at the 11th Antonio José de Burgos Choral Contest and 2nd place at the 34th Fira de Tots Sants de Cocentaina Choral Contest). It has performed in the Orfeó Català choral cycle in the Palau de la Música Catalana (2016-2017), the chamber music season in the Auditori de Barcelona (2018-2019), and at the 11th World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona, where it was the pilot choir in the masterclass by renowned director Helmut Rilling (2016-2017).
In the 2020-2021 season, the choir has been involved in the educational project at the Gran Teatre del Liceu (2020-2021), specifically the participative opera titled El Monstre al Laberint, working with stage director Paco Azorín and maestro Manel Valdivieso. The choir has also collaborated with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and National Orchestra of Catalonia (OBC), the Catalan Baroque Orchestra and the Vallès Symphony Orchestra.
The Missouri State University Chorale is the flagship choral ensemble at Missouri State University. Made up of a diverse group of people from a variety of backgrounds, this ensemble performs at an incredibly high level and enjoys an international reputation.
This renowned ensemble has performed regularly at conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, Missouri Music Educators Association, the National Association for Music Education, and has toured through North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Recent highlights include invited performances for the National Collegiate Choral Organization, national and regional ACDA conferences, an 18-day concert tour of Iceland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, and performances at the China International Chorus Festival, the Yellow River International Chorus Festival (Lanzhou, China), and the International Folk Song Festival/IFCM World Voices Conference (Kaili, China).
Recordings of the Missouri State University Chorale can be found at https://tinyurl.com/yabwkbk3.
Recently, this ensemble adopted the following mission: The Missouri State University Chorale seeks to inspire listeners through musical excellence and diverse repertoire. Through performances and personal interactions both domestic and abroad, we strive to build an atmosphere of unity and belonging among ensemble members and those we encounter.
The Youth Mixed Choir Vox Populi, based in Tallinn, Estonia, was established in 2006 and has been under the direction of Janne Fridolin ever since. The choir is made up
of about 40 singers, all of who come from various backgrounds and for whom singing is not only a hobby but also a passion; several members have been singing with the
choir since its establishment.
Vox Populi is best known in Estonia for its unique choral-theatre performances, including a staged concert in honor of Uku Masing`s 100th birthday; several staged
concerts dedicated to composer Veljo Tormis` music: “The City of Paris in London”, “Ingrian Evenings”, “Meditations with Tormis”, “Waking the Birds” as well as “Thistles. A Play in Honour of the Men in Anija”, Theatre NO99´s musical production “Savisaar”; theatre production “Oomen” at Kreenholm Manufacturing Company in Narva; and the French-Estonian performance “The Cloud Opera or the Dido Problem” at Tallinn`s Vaba Laba (Open Space) theatre. The choral-theatre performances have had a great impact on the singers as seen not only by their dedication to the choir, but their desire to expand their work to theatre and collaboration with actors and stage directors as well.
Vox Populi has also helped keep Estonian choral music based on traditional folklore alive, especially in the case of composer Veljo Tormis` musical compositions, even
while abroad, the choir upholds this important part of Estonian national identity. In 2015 Vox Populi travelled to the Unites States with the choral-theatre production
“Meditations with Tormis”, which receicved great acclaim among Estonian diaspora as well as general American audiences on both the East and West Coasts.
Euskal Herriko Gazte Abesbatza – the Basque Youth Choir takes inspiration from other youth choirs run by choral entities. It emerged in 2016 with the support of the Basque Choir Confederation and comprises a first-rate selection of 40 of the best young voices from the Basque Country.
The choir has performed in the best theatres and auditoriums in the Basque Country and at San Sebastián Musical Fortnight, as well as in the Miramón Matinees programme and at the Tolosa International Choral Contest, including joint performances with diverse groups of young people such as the two Basque youth orchestras (the EGO, comprising young people, and the EIO, comprising students of secondary school age) and the Catalan National Youth Choir. For the 2020-2021 season the choir is being directed by Basilio Astúlez (principal director) and Aitor Biain (assistant director). Esteban Urzelai and Isabel Mantecón directed the choir from its origins through to 2019.
The choir receives financial support from INAEM, the Kutxa Foundation, the Basque Government and the regional governments of Gipuzkoa and Biscay.
Of all the Zoltán Kodály Primary School choirs of Nyíregyháza, Cantemus is the one which has won most prizes. Since 1975 the choir has included in its repertoire some of the world’s most beautiful pieces, from Gregorian chants to Renaissance, Romantic and Contemporary works, and has had the privilege of debuting numerous works by some of Hungary’s most prestigious composers. In recognition of its major contribution to the art of choral music in Hungary, the choir was awarded the « Foundation for Hungarian Arts » Prize in 1989, and the « Bartók Béla Pasztory Ditta Prize in 1993.
Cantemus has won so many prizes and awards since 1978, including over 20 First Prizes and various Grand Prix, that we will limit ourselves the mentioning only the most recent :
2003 Gorizia – Italy : 1st Prize, 2nd and 3rd Prize and the Special Prize.
2005 Arezzo – Italy : 1st Prize, Grand Prix and the Special Conductor’s Prize.
2009 Arezzo – Italy : 1st Prize
2010 Tolosa – Basque Country : 1st Prize and Grand Prix
Chamber choir FORTIUS was founded in 1985 by its chief conductor and the artistic leader Māra Marnauza. She is Professor at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Music Academy, chief conductor at the XXV and XXVI Latvian Song and Dance Festivals, jury member of the international choir competitions in Italy, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Germany etc., conductor and artistic leader of the female choir BALTA.
The repertoire of the choir comprises classical and contemporary music, Latvian folk music, and sacred music, music of various styles and periods, from Renaissance to Jazz and Pop.
FORTIUS has participated in master classes by jazz singer Prof. Janet Lawson (USA), conductor Prof. Alexander Vacek (Ukraine), composer and conductor Arthur Maud (USA), prof. Ragnar Rasmussen, Iver Kleive, Jan Gunnar Hoff (Norway), composer, conductor and singer Bob Chilcott (Great Britain). There is a regular cooperation with a composer and conductor Prof. Christoph Schönherr (Germany).
FORTIUS has been the Latvian Highest Level Choir for more than 25 years, according to the results achieved in Latvia’s annual choir competitions.
Recordings: CD Day is Dawning (1997), CD Upwards (2000),CD Sparks of Light (FORTIUS & BALTA 2003), CD Sing a Song of Song (2005), DVD Missa in tempore incerto, Now’s the Time (FORTIUS & BALTA, Christoph Schönherr, 2009), DVD Meditatio Adventus (2010), CD The Loving Ones (FORTIUS & BALTA, Ramiro Real, 2011), CD Meditatio Adventus (2012), DVD/CD Sparks of Jazz (FORTIUS & BALTA, 2012), CD Magnificat (2012), CD The Light of Christmas (2015), CD Land of the Dreams (2016), CD Atklāsme skaņās (2016), CD Ziemassvētki laika vējos ( 2020).
The 90 members of the Madrid Youth Choir are directed by Juan Pablo de Juan. Over its short career, it has become one of the leading youth choirs in Spain and one of the best-known in Europe.
The choir has performed in major cities including Paris, Rome, Milan, Venice, Budapest, Tallinn and Berlin since forming in 2014. It has participated in international festivals such as the 11th World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona, the 19th and 20th EUROPA CANTAT in Hungary and Estonia, respectively, and the 22nd and 23rd Choralies festival in France.
The hard-working Madrid Youth Choir has accumulated an array of prizes from several contests including the 44th Ejea de los Caballeros Choral Contest, the 62nd and 65th Torrevieja International Habaneras and Polyphony Contest, the 38th Villa de Rojales National Lullabies and Carols Contest, the 8th Musica Eterna Roma International Choir Festival and the 51st San Vicente de la Barquera Seafaring Songs Contest. In 2020, the choir opened the 66th Torrevieja International Habaneras and Polyphony Contest.
STEMMER (VOICES) was formed in 2018 by a group of singers and the conductor Tore Kloster.
The choir is consisting of 24 young but experienced singers, and based in Sælen church in Bergen, Norway.
The choir wants to develop a sound and musicianship by focusing on every singer, as well as building a collective of friends with mutual interest for good choral music.
STEMMER has given a number of concerts and performances, mainly locally in Bergen. But the choir had its first trip abroad in November 2019, when we visited Italy for two specific performances; notably with performances of one of our hosts and local composer Gabriele Saro.
We would like to keep developing character and skill that might attract audiences, friends and colleagues locally and internationally. Both with the performance of Norwegian music, but also through cooperation with choirs and composers around Europe.
FESTIVAL
The Oroith Choir (Ordizia) and the Hodeiertz Choir (Tolosa) have had parallel careers since they were founded 35 years ago. Both choirs specialise in a cappella, in particular contemporary music and Basque folklore.
They jointly performed Monteverdi’s Christmas Vespers for the Barroko Aire programme in 2006 and again in 2007 in the Ancient Music section of San Sebastián Musical Fortnight.
They joined forces again for Rheinberger’s Cantus Missae (mass for double unaccompanied choir) and the Mass by Steve Dobrogosz for choir, piano and string orchestra.
Inspired by these successful experiences, in 2010 the choir participated in the Tolosa International Choral Content, taking third prize in the folklore section.
Ten years on from their shared win in Tolosa, the Oroith and Hodeiertz choirs reunite to pay tribute to the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic with one of the most beautiful requiems in the history of music: Requiem by Gabriel Fauré.
In 1995, Sofia Vokalensemble was founded in Stockholm, Sweden by Bengt Ollén, who continues to be their committed artistic director. Performances are characterized by a warm, lyrical Swedish choral sound and a stage presence that has taken the ensemble far in international competitions, tours and concerts
Music by Bach, Poulenc, Pärt and Schnittke are frequently featured. The choir has also premiered original work by Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, Fredrik Sixten, Jacob Mühlrad, Sven-David Sandström, Matthew Peterson and Karin Rehnqvist, to name a few. Sofia Vokalensemble is characterized by their great love for music, their pursuit of excellence and their close interaction with their conductor – always with a lot of heart, regardless if the occasion is a regular rehearsal, training camp, travelling to a venue or behind the scenes before a competition. And, of course, on stage together.
Bengt Ollén studied under Gösta Ohlin and Gunnar Eriksson at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg. Since 1981 he has founded several successful choirs and further honed his skills. Ollén is in demand as an adjudicator in competitions, a conductor at festivals, workshops and concerts, both nationally and internationally and also as a teacher of conducting. Between the years 1994 and 2018, he was a teacher of choral singing at the well-known secondary school Stockholms Musikgymnasium. His choral ensembles have been highly successful at competitions around the world.
Quartonal began its roots in Northern Germany in the Uetersen Boys’ Choir and is currently one of the most sought-after vocal ensembles in Germany. The four young singers, Mirko Ludwig (Tenor), Jo Holzwarth (Tenor), Christoph Behm (Baritone) and Sönke Tams Freier (Bass), charm their audiences with their vast repertoire, attention to the smallest musical detail and refreshing witticism. Their trademark is their acutely harmonious sound that transcends every musical genre.
Shortly after the formation of the ensemble in 2006, Quartonal won first place at the German National Choir Competition (Dortmund) in the Vocal Ensemble category. In 2012, Quartonal was awarded audience and jury awards at the A cappella contest in Leipzig (Germany) and the Tolosako Abesbatza Lehiaketa choir competition in Tolosa.
The repertoire of the ensemble covers a large part of the spectrum of the international a cappella literature: Renaissance madrigals, sacred and secular men’s choral works of the romantic period to contemporary compositions, international folk songs, while specializing in German and low German folk songs. In addition, they pride themselves with performing new compositions and arrangements. Quartonal collaborates with international renowned composers and arrangers, such as Juan M. V. Garcia, Christoph Gerl, Oliver Gies, Thomas Hewitt Jones, Graham Lack, Philip Lawson, Patrick Prestel, Kurt Sampson und David Timm. They have also received artistic direction from the King’s Singers.
Uniform yet individual, gentle yet robust, precise yet free-flowing – this versality is what Sjaella’s sound is all about. The six singers joined forces many moons ago and continue to discover new ways to diversify their sound.
They are open to new influences, love musical diversity and have the courage to challenge barriers. They are comfortable with their wide-ranging repertoire which comprises various genres. This very diversity coupled with the close relationship the group has with their fans has paved the way, for many years, for Sjaella’s participation in renowned music festivals both domestic and overseas and have been awarded first prizes at international vocal music competitions.
The vocal ensemble VoNo, former Voces Nordicae, comes from the scenery of Swedish choral tradition. The ensemble was founded in 1999 by the Danish conductor Lone Larsen and consists of 12 professional singers. The repertoire of VoNo is varied, including works from essentially all periods of music history, with special attention to Nordic, contemporary and improvisatory music.
Open minded towards new timbres, VoNo combines a pleasant light blend with surprising and ventured sounds. Repertoire and programs are selected with great care, and encompass a wide span of musical and human expression. This interesting variation together with the desire to transmit the music through a scenic presence brings attention and curiosity to the audience.
In 2008 Voces Nordicae was selected Choir of the Year in Sweden by Concerts Sweden.
VoNos artistic director and conductor, Lone Larson, was born in 1973 och grew up on a farm in Vind – a small village in West Jytland, Denmark. She is a qualified music teacher from the Nordjysk Music Conservatoire in Aalborg.
In 1998 Lone moved to Sweden and studied at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm and graduated with a diploma in Choral Conducting. In June 2000, she performed in her especially well received diploma concert.
From 2005 – 2007 Lone was based in New York, where she completed further study at the Julliard School of Music.
In 1987, Dublin composer Michael McGlynn founded ANÚNA. The ensemble’s name, originally An Uaithne, derives from the collective term for the three ancient types of Irish music Suantraí (lullaby), Geantraí (happy song) and Goltraí (lament). While most of the performers in ANÚNA come from the island of Ireland, the group’s members are drawn from across the world. The music they perform is composed primarily by Michael McGlynn, and includes reconstructions of medieval song from Ireland and traditional arrangements. ANÚNA perform live with twelve singers, and are equally at home in an amplified theatrical setting or an unamplified concert hall. While the group’s atmospheric stage performance still enthralls listeners across the world after over thirty years, it is the unique sound the ensemble make that continues to bring new audiences to see ANÚNA. Despite numerous changes of personnel their collective voice retains its power and ability to connect with people all over the planet.
ANÚNA have sung on many of the greatest stages in the world including the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre, Radio City Music Hall in New York, Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, De Doelen Rotterdam, Orchard Hall in Tokyo and Minneapolis Symphony Hall.
They have headlined at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, and have appeared at the World Sacred Music Festival in Fés, Morocco, three times, most recently in 2019 to mark the 25th Anniversary of that Festival. In December 2020 they l featured with some of the world’s finest vocal ensembles as part of the VOCES8 Foundation “Live from London” series, which has been hugely successful internationally.
In February 2017 ANÚNA performed in collaboration with a full Noh theatrical company for the play Takahime, a Japanese adaptation of W.B. Yeats’ At the Hawk’s Well. The performance took place at Tokyo’s Orchard Hall, and was directed by Gensho Umewaka (Japanese National Treasure) and Michael McGlynn who also composed an original score for the production.
The State Choir LATVIJA is one of the most significant monuments of Latvian cultural life and history. The choir’s musical radiance is defined by the vocal culture and sound of the Latvian choral tradition, characterised by warmth, balance and precision. The State Choir LATVIJA is the largest professional choir in the Baltic States, and it is regularly in demand on the concert programmes of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. Since 1997, the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the choir has been Māris Sirmais, while the choir’s General Manager has been Māris Ošlejs.
The 60 members of the State Choir LATVIJA are renowned for their musical intelligence and vocal skill, making the choir a unique instrument capable of performing everything from subtle a cappella pieces to large vocal-symphonic masterworks.
The State Choir LATVIJA has collaborated with world-renowned symphony orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, The Cadaqués Orchestra, The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, The Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and others.
The choir has performed with such outstanding conductors as Mariss Jansons, Andris Nelsons, Zubin Mehta, Neeme Järvi, Jaap van Zweden, Paavo Järvi, Vladimir Ashkenazy, David Zinman, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Simone Young, Tõnu Kaljuste, and others.
One of the most significant achievements in the history of the choir was its collaboration with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and conductor Mariss Jansons in a world tour dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the orchestra.
The choir has performed on the stages of the world’s greatest concert halls, including the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, KKL Luzern, The Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, The National Music Auditorium in Madrid, Lincoln Centre in New York, Shanghai Concert Hall, The Esplanade in Singapore and many others.
The State Choir LATVIJA is internationally acclaimed both for its academic excellence as well as its innovative projects. The choir has participated in recordings produced by Naxos, Warner Brothers, Harmonia Mundi, Wergo and Ondine, as well as numerous recording projects by both Latvian and foreign music publishers.
El León de Oro (LDO) celebrated its 20th birthday in 2017. What started out as a small group of friends fascinated by singing is now an established vocal ensemble that is emerging as a leading choir in Spain and abroad. Testament to this are the choir’s numerous awards, its success with audiences and critics alike, and invitations to the best festivals.
The choir’s versatility and varied membership means it can offer a diversity of concerts with a vast repertoire encompassing the masters of the Renaissance and Baroque periods through to the most pioneering choral works.
The choir has been a guest at the Musika-Música festival, Cuenca Religious Music Week (one concert on its own and another with The Tallis Scholars directed by Peter Phillips), Logroño Festival of Ancient Music, Aranjuez Festival of Ancient Music, Madrid International Festival of Sacred Music and Bilbao Sacred Art. It has given two concerts in co-production with the National Centre for Musical Dissemination in Oviedo and León, and performed W. A. Mozart’s Coronation Mass with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, directed by Leopold Hager.
The choir released Amarae Morti in 2019 with British label Hyperion Records. The record contains works by the great Renaissance masters, with the choir directed by Peter Phillips (honorary director of LDO since November 2017). A further record in 2020 was dedicated entirely to the music of Francisco Guerrero.
Comprising 12 professional singers, this is the only vocal group of its genre in the Basque Country and one of the leading specialist contemporary music ensembles on the national stage.
KEA Ahots Taldea was established in 1997 as an ideal instrument for the performance of lesser-known choral works of the 20th and 21st centuries, with a special focus on Basque composers.
KEA has delivered an intensive concert schedule and has commissioned and premiered a large number of works, many of them written for the ensemble.
JURY
Xabier Sarasola
Euskadi
Graduated in violin and piano, he works as a teacher of violin, harmony, choral singing and conductor of the string orchestra at the Municipal School of Music of Beasain. After studying the courses organized by the Federation of Choirs of Guipúzcoa, he attended choral conducting courses with Javier Busto, E. Ericcson, A. Eby, C. Hogset, or G. Graden. He has been director of the choir “Loinatz” (1986–2012), singer of the “Orfeón Donostiarra” and the vocal group “KEA”. He is a professor of courses and workshops in choral conducting and a member of juries such as “European Grand Prize for Choral Singing” (Gorizzia, 2004), Arezzo, 2007 and Varna 2010. He has been president of the jury in the “Certamen de Masas Corales de Tolosa”. His works have been mandatory in the “Certamen Coral” of Tolosa and are being edited by “CM Ediciones Musicales”. His music for white voice choir has been recorded by the Vocalia Taldea choir conducted by Basilio Astúlez, with the author himself on piano.
Frieder Bernius
Germany
Frieder Bernius (born 1947 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein) is a German choir director and conductor. In 1968 he founded the Stuttgart-Kammerchor (Stuttgart Chamber Choir), with which he has made numerous prestigious recordings that have won numerous awards. In 1985 he founded the Barockorchester Stuttgart (Stuttgart Baroque Orchestra) with the purpose of interpreting baroque works with musicological criteria. of Allmänna Sången. She also teaches choral direction and singing and Russian music at courses in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. In 1987 he founded the Internationalen Festtage Alter Musik in Stuttgart, dedicated to the performance of early music.
Bernius has developed an important career as a conductor. Apart from the Barockorchester Stuttgart, he has collaborated closely with other Baroque orchestras such as Musica Fiata Köln, La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy (from Paris) and Tafelmusic (Toronto). For his recordings or his personal career he has earned numerous awards.
Marco Antonio García de Paz
Spain
Marco Antonio García de Paz was born in Luanco (Asturias), studied violin and later conducting at the Centro Superior de Música del Pais Vasco ‘Musikene’. Among his teachers are Peter Phillips, Gabriel Baltés, Johan Duijck, Lászlo Heltay and Javier Busto.
Director and founder of the choir “El León de Oro” (LDO), with which he has performed throughout Spain, Europe, Africa and USA, since 2019 he is Principal Conductor of the Young Choir of Andalusia (JCA) and has recently been appointed Titular Director of the RTVE Choir.
He has to his credit more than 60 national and international awards in cities such as London, Arezzo, Maribor, Tolosa or Tours. He has received the award for best director at the International Competition “Prof. Georgi Dimitrov”, held in Varna (Bulgaria) in 2005 and at the “Internationale Koorwedstrijd van Vlaanderen” – Maasmechelen in 2007. (Belgium).
Marco Antonio García de Paz is regularly invited to conduct numerous professional choirs such as the Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid (ORCAM), Coro de Madrigalistas de Bellas Artes de Ciudad de México (INBA) or the Coro Nacional de España (CNE) in its satellites cycle.
As a choir coach he has worked with artists such as Leopold Hager, Friedrich
Among his immediate projects are his appearances with Le Concert des Nations and Jordi Savall, Cor de Cambra de Granollers, Oviedo Filarmonía and Lucas Macias, Tallis Scholars and Peter Phillips, Festival de Granada, Cuenca and Aranjuez with ‘The Golden Lion’ or the direction of the opera ‘King Arthur’ by Purcell, as well as commitments in Italy , Finland, Greece, Mexico or Taiwan.
Peter Phillips
UK
Has achieved an impressive reputation for his research and performance of Renaissance polyphony. Having won a scholarship to Oxford in 1972, Peter Phillips studied Renaissance music with David Wulstan and Denis Arnold and gained experience in conducting small vocal ensembles and experimenting with the rarer parts of the repertoire. He founded The Tallis Scholars in 1973, with whom he has now appeared in over 1600 concerts and made nearly 50 albums, encouraging interest in polyphony all over the world. As a result of his work—concerts, recordings, magazine prizes, published articles on music and composition—Renaissance music has, for the first time, become accepted as part of the traditional classical repertoire.
Peter Phillips continues to work with other specialist ensembles. He has appeared, among others, with the Collegium Vocale of Ghent, the Netherlands Chamber Choir, the Choeur de Chambre de Namur, the Finnish radio choir, Musix from Budapest, the Montreal Studio of Ancient Music and various others across the world. Peter also works extensively with the BBC Singers, with whom he gave a concert at the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall in July 2007 in collaboration with the Tallis Scholars. The performance was broadcast live and attended by more than 5000 people. Peter gives numerous master classes and choral workshops every year throughout the world and is also artistic director of the Tallis Scholars summer schools—annual courses based in Oakham (UK), Seattle (USA) and Sydney (Australia)—which explore the heritage of Renaissance choral music and develop an appropriate performance style. Peter was recently named Director of Music at Merton College, Oxford, where the new choral foundation he helped to establish began singing services in October 2008.
In 1995 he took over and became editor of The Musical Times, the oldest continuously-published music journal in the world. His first book, English Sacred Music, 1549-1649, was published by Gimell in 1991 and his second, What We Really Do, was published in 2003.
Peter Phillips has participated in numerous television and radio broadcasts. Besides those featuring The Tallis Scholars (which include live broadcasts from the 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2008 BBC Proms, the Edinburgh Festival in 2007, the Aldeburgh Festival and the Bath Festival), he has appeared several times on the BBC’s Music Weekly and on the BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4, National Public Radio in the US and on German, French and Canadian radio, where he has enjoyed displaying his love of languages. In 1990, ITV’s The South Bank Show featured Peter’s ‘personal odyssey’ with the Tallis Scholars and in 2002 a special television documentary was made for the BBC about the life and times of William Byrd.
Since 2014 he has been Principal Director of the London International A Capella Choir Competition and has contributed to promoting choral music since then.
He is also actively involved with various Spanish choral groups.
Helene Stureborg
Sweden
Helene Stureborg graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Church Music in 1990, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Choral Conducting in 1993 at the Royal University College of Music in Stockholm. She has studied conducting with professor Gustaf Sjökvist, professor Eric Ericson and professor Kjell Ingebretsen. Since 1990 she has been working as a conductor and music teacher at the Stockholm‘s Musikgymnasium. In 1994 she became the conductor of Kongl Teknologkören at the Royal Institute of Technology and held that position until december 2002 when she became the conductor of the Stockholm’s Musikgymnasium Chamber Choir. In 2011 she started her own ensemble – Helene Stureborg’s Chamber Choir. Helene Stureborg has also been teaching choral conducting at the Royal University College of Music between 1996 and 2014. In 2014 she was appointed a member of the Artistic Council of Statens Musikverk. Helene is frequently engaged as a conducting teacher and choral pedagogue at varying courses.
Enrique Azurza
Euskadi
Photo: by Ivan Yohan
Born in Tolosa, he studied choral conducting in the Basque Country and in Stockholm, sponsored by the Council of Gipuzkoa, with Anders Eby. He has also participated in other courses given by Eric Ericson and Carl Högset. Artistic director of Sociedad Coral de Bilbao since 2016. He has conducted since 1985 the Choir HODEIERTZ of Tolosa. In 1997 he founded the professional Vocal Ensemble KEA with the aim of promoting contemporary and ancient music. He teaches choral singing in Musikene – Centro Superior de Música del País Vasco. He is President of the Confederation of Choirs in the Basque Country. He has conducted the Choir of the University of the Basque Country (1999-2016), the Choir of the Choral Singing Institute of Aragon (Zaragoza, 1993-2003), has directed the Spanish National Youth Choir. . He is member of the musical committee in the International Choral Contest of Tolosa, and the World Simposyum Barcelona 2017 and artistic director of the National Choral Contest of Ejea de los Caballeros. In 1991, he received the Prize to the Best Director in the International Contest of Varna (Bulgaria). He has been the Spanish representative in the World Choral Symposia held in Sydney in 1996, with Hodeiertz, and in Puerto Madryn (Argentina) in 2011, with KEA vocal ensemble.
Helena Fojkar Zupančič
Slovenia
She works as choral conductor and vocal coach at Diocesan Classical Gymnasium in Ljubljana. She leads St. Stanislav’ Girls’ Choir , the 100-members (Re)Mixed Choir of Diocessan Classical Gymnasium Ljubljana and St. Nicholas Choir in Litija.
Her most important achievements are with the St. Stanislav’s Girls’ Choir absolute victory at the EBU competition Let the Peoples Sing 2009 in Oslo, performance at the European Festival of Youth Choirs Basel 2014, the World Choral Symposium in Barcelona 2017, and, in 2019, at the National Conference of American Choral Directors Association in Kansas City. She has been earning highest places with her choirs in competitions and is the recipient of special awards. She was awarded the Gallus plaque (2012) and the prize of the Republic of Slovenia in the field of musical education (2016).
In 2004 and from 2007–2009, she led the Slovenian Children’s Choir. Between 2009-2015, she recorded and performed with the Radio Slovenia Chamber Choir. She conducted the project RTV Slovenia Chamber Choir and Symphony Orchestra in 2014 at the season concert part of Mozartines. In 2015, she conducted the Slovenian Chamber Choir (now Slovenian Philharmonic Choir) at the opening concert of Ljubljana Festival.
Alain Louisot
France
Founder of several choirs since 1991 within the Choral Association A Coeur Joie, he has devoted himself for twenty years to developing a demanding interpretation of contemporary polyphony, through the refined choral writing of the greatest composers. With his vocal ensemble Alter Echo, he became a finalist for the European Grand Prix in 2009 after winning seven prizes at the Florilège Vocal de Tours in 2008.
Artistic advisor of the Festival des Chœurs Lauréats in Vaison-la-Romaine, he visits the biggest European competitions and festivals.
He is also artistic advisor and member of the jury of the Florilège Vocal de Tours.
President of the A Coeur Joie France association since April 2020, he devotes a large part of his time to developing the French amateur choir network in conjunction with European bodies.
Maria Goundorina
Russia – Sweden
Maria Goundorina was born in Novosokolniki in Russia and grew up near Moscow, where she started singing in choirs at the age of seven, taking up conducting when she was fifteen. She studied at the Ippolitov-Ivanov Music College and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory (with Boris Tevlin) and later at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm with Anders Eby, also following courses in musicology at the University of Vienna.
Her ideals in terms of choral sound have been influenced by these cities and her studies, but also by her own experiences as a singer and conductor.
She has been a member of the Chamber Choir of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory, the Arnold Schoenberg Chor and Mikaeli Chamber Choir, and has conducted numerous Swedish choirs, including the Swedish Radio Choir, Eric Ericson Chamber Choir and the choir of the Royal Swedish Opera. Since 2010 Maria Goundorina has been artistic director of Allmänna Sången. She also teaches choral direction and singing and Russian music at courses in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Loïc Pierre
France
Founder and artistic director of the Mikrokosmos Chamber Choir since 1989, Loïc Pierre is also a director, stage designer, composer and visual artist. Plural artist and always looking for originality, his work draws its influences from Sam Francis, Ariane Mnouchkine, Bob Wilson, Alfred Hitchcock or Martin Scorsese. Always in search, he tries to free himself from the immutable ritual of the concert for propose another ceremony in the hope of inventing a choral theater in the service of a choral art of today.
His shows testify to this claimed merger:
Tenebrae (2001) Bright Shadows, Another History of Cinema (2006), The Night Unveiled (2013) Back to the Earth, on music by Meredith Monk (2014), Jumala (2016), Chronicles of forgotten peoples (2018) The day amazes me (2019).
Paul Phoenix
UK
Paul Phoenix’s long career in the music business spans five decades, from Ivor Novello Award-winning Chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, through seventeen years and a Grammy Award as tenor in the world-renowned a cappella group, The King’s Singers, with whom he performed more than 2000 concerts, to founder of PurpleVocals, a coaching consultancy which draws upon his vast experience as a singer and performer. His work not only as a speaker, coach and mentor, but also as a soloist continues to take him all around the world as he shares his passion for singing and choral music. His coaching specialises is encouraging audience engagement and confidence-building with soloists, conductors, choirs and ensembles.
He lives in Cambridge, England, with his wife, Helena and two sons, Will and Ed and when not working he enjoys cycling vast distances on his bikes and supporting Manchester City!.
Mikael Wedar
Sweden
Mikael was educated at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. He has a degree in conducting, piano and classical singing. He is since 2012 employed as a church musician in the parish of Farsta in Stockholm. During 2003-2011 Mikael worked as a teacher at Kungsholmens gymnasium/Stockholm’s Musikgymnasium, teaching choral singing. The school is for gifted young singers. Mikael has in his career worked with some of the most notable choirs in Stockholm, among them Eric Ericson Chamber Choir and the Swedish Radio Choir. In 2007 Mikael founded S:t Jacobs Vokalensemble (former Youth Choir) and have been its musical and artistic leader since. In November 2013, the choir took part in 45th Tolosa choral contest in Basque Country, Spain. Out of five possible prizes S:t Jacobs Vokalensemble won all of them and qualified for the European Grand Prix of Choral Music in Debrecen, Hungary 2014, where the choir won the whole competition. In 2017 the S:t Jacobs Vokalensemble represented Sweden in the 11th World Symposium on Choral music in Barcelona. Mikael has taken part as a jury member in the Grand Prix Competitions of Choral music in Varna-Bulgaria, Tolosa-Basque Country-Spain, Debrecen-Hungary, Tours-France. He also conducts masterclasses in choral singing around the world, emphasizing on modern repertoire. In 2018, they were invited to participate at the 50th Anniversary Tolosa Choral Contest and won a 1st Prize.
Nadezhda Averina
Russia
Nadezhda Averina is a graduate of the Ponomaryov VESNA Children’s Choir School (Moscow) and the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. She holds a Doctor of Art History and teaches at the Moscow Conservatory. She has won international contests and is an Artist of Merit in Moscow.
Since 2012 she has directed the Ponomaryov VESNA Choir School in addition to being Artistic Director and Director of the VESNA Children’s Choir. Under the leadership of Dr Averina, the choir won first prizes and various Grand Prizes at international choir contests in 2006 (Tolosa), 2010 (Nyíregyháza, Hungary), 2012 (Malcesine, Italy), 2014 (Neerpelt, Belgium and Halle, Germany), 2016 (Debrecen, Hungary) and 2017 (Daugavpils, Latvia). In 2017 the choir won the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing, even beating the adult choirs competing for the prize.
The VESNA choir has taken its concert programmes to 12 European countries as well as Canada, Japan, China and around 50 towns and cities in Russia. The choir has sung in the best concert halls in Moscow with many celebrated orchestras and conductors.
Its vast and varied repertoire includes hundreds of classical works from different periods and countries and a range of styles and genres. The choir’s programmes have been recorded for radio and TV.
Dr Averina has written articles on the methodology of teaching, has arranged several pieces and has compiled numerous choir music collections (seven of which were included in the Golden Library of Choirmaster series). She holds regular seminars and master classes for choir directors and sits on the judging panel for many Russian and international choir competitions.
Gary Graden
Sweden – USA
Born in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Gary Graden studied at Clark University, the Hartt School of Music, the Aspen Summer Music Festival and with Eric Ericson at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. He is a former member and tenor soloist with the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir and the vocal ensemble Lamentabile Consort.
Gary Graden has been choral director at S:t Jacobs Church in Stockholm since 1984 and is also choral director at Stockholm Cathedral. He also taught at Stockholm’s Musikgymnasium, where he founded and directed the Stockholms Musikgymnasium Chamber Choir. With this ensemble and the S:t Jacobs Chamber Choir he has won first prizes at many of Europe’s most prestigious choral competitions, including the European Grand Prix. He has also participated in various national and international festivals including the IFCM World Symposium in Minneapolis and Kyoto and the ACDA National Convention in the USA.
Gary Graden was formerly the artistic director of the Orpheus Vocal Ensemble in Ochsenhausen, Germany. With his trio WÅG (Wager Åstrand Graden) he is developing and exploring improvisational music for voice and instruments. With S:t Jacobs/ Stockholm Cathedral Vocal Ensemble he performs a solo and small ensemble repertoire encompassing all periods. Above and beyond his expertise in the performance of contemporary music, he has also performed such large works as George Frideric Handel’s Messiah, W.A. Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C minor, J.S. Bach’s passions and Mass in B minor (BWV 232) as well as the requiems of Johannes Brahms, Maurice Duruflé, Gabriel Fauré and Michael Haydn.
Gary Graden is sought after throughout the world as a conductor, choirmaster and judge. He has shown a unique capacity for combining a wide variety of musical genres with the sounds of Swedish choral tradition. With the curiosity of a true musician, he also enjoys performing newly written works. Gary has worked with prestigious international choirs including the SWR Vocal Ensemble (Stuttgart), Orpheus Vokalensemble (Ochsenhausen), Jauna Muzika (Vilnius), Pro Coro Canada, the Formosa Singers (Taipei), the Singapore Ensemble Singers and the IFCM World Youth Choir, among others. His work as a conductor and singer is documented on many CD and radio recordings (BIS, Carus, Proprius, Caprice, Phono Suecia, Gehrmans, nosag, Camerata Tokyo, among others).
Gary was awarded the Johannes Norrby medal for his contribution to Swedish choral music and was elected Sweden’s Choir Director of the Year in 2005. In 2009, he and his choir received the Guidoneum Award from the Fondazione Guido D’Arezzo in Italy.
Stojan Kuret
Italy – Slovenia
Born in Trieste (Italy), Stojan Kuret graduated from the Academy of Music of the University of Ljubljana and finished piano studies at the Giuseppe Tartini Conservatory in Trieste, where he has been teaching since 1983. He served as artistic director of the APZ Tone Tomšič choir of the University of Ljubljana for 10 years. With them, as well as with the Ljubljana Vocal Academy, he made notable international artistic achievements (five grand prizes in Tours (1999), Varna (2001), Gorizia (2001), Maribor (2002), and Arezzo (2009), and three-time finalist and two-time winner of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing in Arezzo (2002) and Varna (2010)).
In 1984 he received the Gallus commendation from the State of Slovenia for his exceptional musical achievements as well as an honour from the city of Ljubljana for his artistic direction of the APZ Tone Tomšič choir. He directed the RTV Slovenia Chamber Choir (a national radio and TV choir) for two years and also led the Italian Youth Choir for two seasons from January 2007. In September 2011 he received the prestigious Guidoneum Award in Arezzo for his successful and creative work with the Ljubljana Vocal Academy, and in 2012 he was bestowed the Prešeren Foundation Award, the greatest national cultural accolade in Slovenia.
For 15 years he has been artistic advisor for the Jacobus Gallus Choral Festival in Maribor, Slovenia.
In addition to having directed the Italian Youth Choir, he is a member of the artistic advisory group FENIARCO (National Federation of the Regional Choral Associations in Italy).
Peter Phillips
UK
Peter Phillips has achieved an impressive reputation for his research and performance of Renaissance polyphony. Having won a scholarship to Oxford in 1972, Peter Phillips studied Renaissance music with David Wulstan and Denis Arnold and gained experience in conducting small vocal ensembles and experimenting with the rarer parts of the repertoire. He founded The Tallis Scholars in 1973, with whom he has now appeared in over 1600 concerts and made nearly 50 albums, encouraging interest in polyphony all over the world. As a result of his work—concerts, recordings, magazine prizes, published articles on music and composition—Renaissance music has, for the first time, become accepted as part of the traditional classical repertoire.
Peter Phillips continues to work with other specialist ensembles. He has appeared, among others, with the Collegium Vocale of Ghent, the Netherlands Chamber Choir, the Choeur de Chambre de Namur, the Finnish radio choir, Musix from Budapest, the Montreal Studio of Ancient Music and various others across the world. Peter also works extensively with the BBC Singers, with whom he gave a concert at the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall in July 2007 in collaboration with the Tallis Scholars. The performance was broadcast live and attended by more than 5000 people. Peter gives numerous master classes and choral workshops every year throughout the world and is also artistic director of the Tallis Scholars summer schools—annual courses based in Oakham (UK), Seattle (USA) and Sydney (Australia)—which explore the heritage of Renaissance choral music and develop an appropriate performance style. Peter was recently named Director of Music at Merton College, Oxford, where the new choral foundation he helped to establish began singing services in October 2008.
In 1995 he took over and became editor of The Musical Times, the oldest continuously-published music journal in the world. His first book, English Sacred Music, 1549-1649, was published by Gimell in 1991 and his second, What We Really Do, was published in 2003.
Peter Phillips has participated in numerous television and radio broadcasts. Besides those featuring The Tallis Scholars (which include live broadcasts from the 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2008 BBC Proms, the Edinburgh Festival in 2007, the Aldeburgh Festival and the Bath Festival), he has appeared several times on the BBC’s Music Weekly and on the BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4, National Public Radio in the US and on German, French and Canadian radio, where he has enjoyed displaying his love of languages. In 1990, ITV’s The South Bank Show featured Peter’s ‘personal odyssey’ with the Tallis Scholars and in 2002 a special television documentary was made for the BBC about the life and times of William Byrd.
Since 2014 he has been Principal Director of the London International A Capella Choir Competition and has contributed to promoting choral music since then.
He is also actively involved with various Spanish choral groups.
Jordan Sramek
USA
Jordan Sramek is Founder and Artistic Director of The Rose Ensemble from Saint Paul, Minnesota. The driving force behind the repertoire of one of the most creative ancient music ensembles in the USA, Jordan is renowned as one the most innovative leaders on the North American music scene. He is highly respected for his meticulous research of sacred and spiritual folk music. He often travels in order to carry out this work—most recently involving the search for manuscripts—and has collaborated with musicologists and linguists in Israel, France, Spain, Sweden and Hawaii.
Jordan has developed a sharp and acclaimed talent for putting together concert programmes, creating a rich tapestry of vocal music which works for all concerts whether in the USA or in Europe. He is frequently invited to speak at musicology conferences and to give workshops and master classes. A talented choir director and vocalist known for his warm and welcoming personality, Jordan has worked with amateur and professional singers alike on a highly diverse vocal repertoire. Recent conferences and teaching appearances include the Festival d’Ile de France (Paris), the University of Indianapolis, the University of Rhode Island, the University of Vermont, Grinnell College, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Louisiana Lafayette, Luther College, the American Choral Directors Association and Chorus America.
Māris Sirmais
Letonia
Māris Sirmais is one of the most important names in the world of choral music. He is a pillar and guide for Latvian choir culture and a voice respected by thousands of participants in the Latvian Choral Festival. He has been Artistic Director of the Latvian National Choir since 1997. Sirmais also helped develop one of Latvia’s brightest cultural symbols, the Youth Choir Kamēr…, of which he was principal director from its founding in 1990 until 2012. He is Head of the Department of Choral Conducting and Professor at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music and has served on several occasions as a member of the judging panel at national and international choral competitions. Māris Sirmais was also awarded the Order of the Three Stars and is an honorary member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences and recipient of numerous titles and awards for his cultural achievements and for popularising Latvia throughout the world.
Māris Sirmais regularly works with Latvia’s various professional orchestras and has conducted collectives including Kremerata Baltica, the Umeå Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Strings and the Evgeny Svetlanov State Academic Symphony Orchestra. He has also collaborated with world renowned soloists, including Maxim Rysanov, Kristīna Blaumane, Egils Siliņš, Aleksandrs Antoņenko, Julius Berger, Gidons Krēmers, Nicolas Altstaedt, Douglas Webster and Inese Galante, among others.
Māris Sirmais is a member of the artistic committee of the Latvian Choral Festival.
Shin-Hwa Park
Corea del Sur
Dr Shin-Hwa Park is the Director of Ansan City Choir, Professor at the Ewha Womans University, President of the Korean Federation for Choral Music (KFCM), former president of the Korean Choral Directors Association (KCDA), Director of the Ewha Chamber Choir and presenter of the FEBC-FM Christian music radio programme. He received his degree and doctorate in church music and vocal music from Yonsei University in Seoul and his DMA in Choral Conducting and Literature from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Dr Park is one of the most sought-after choir directors in Korea for leading choral courses and workshops. He has served as guest conductor of the National Chorus of Korea, the Seoul Metropolitan Chorus, Busan City Chamber Choir and many other ensembles. He gives more than 40 lectures every year and between 1996 and 2015 his choirs released some 83 CDs. He also directs the Calvary Choir of Young-Nak Presbyterian Church, which comprises 150 singers.
Dr Park was the first winner of the Ulrim Grand Prize in 2004 and received the Ansan Art Prize that same year. The following year he was selected as one of the best professors of the Ewha Womans University and in 2007 he was awarded the Korean Music Prize. He is regularly invited to serve on the judging panel at various choral competitions both at home and abroad. In 2011 he conducted Ansan City Chamber Choir in the Vatican by invitation of the Papal Household. His choir also performed at the 2012 ACDA Northwestern Division Convention in Seattle, Washington, and at the 2015 ACDA Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Stephen Connolly
United Kingdom
For many years, Stephen Connolly was a bass singer and co-director of the world famous vocal ensemble The King’s Singers. He interpreted over 120 concerts per year for nearly a quarter century, appeared frequently in both radio and TV shows, and recorded many CDs with EMI, BMG Records, Signum Records and Sony –including three Grammy Award nominations and a Grammy Award. More recently, he has acted as a judge in several contests and has taught many choral workshops. In 2008, Stephen founded the International A Cappella School, which offers international residences for singers and choirs. In 2010, Stephen was appointed Head of Vocal Studies of the Cheltenham Ladies’ College. He lives in Gloucestershire.
Georg Grün
Germany
Georg Grün is considered to be one of the most sought-after international choral conductors and specialists for choral sound. He founded the KammerChor Saarbrücken in 1990 and has been its artistic director ever since then. He has won important international and national choir competitions, he gives concerts at numerous renowned music festivals and he regularly produces CDs with CarusVerlag and Rondeau Productions. From 2000 until 2012 he held a professorship for choral conducting at the Musikhochschule in Mannheim. There, he founded a chamber choir with which he also won several international prizes. In 2012, Georg Grün changed to the Hochschule für Musik Saar as a professor and became artistic direction of the Ev. Chorgemeinschaft an der Saar.
Georg Grün works as guest conductor guest professor, juror and tutor at international masterclasses for choral conducting both nationally and internationally. He is a mentor at the forum for conductors of the German Music Council and Chairman at the international jury of the chamber choir competition in Marktoberdorf. In 2017 concerts, lectures, master classes and guest performances will take him to Estonia, France, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the United States.
Stojan Kuret
Slovenia
He was born in Trieste (Italy). He is a graduate of the Music Academy at the University of Ljubljana and obtained his Piano Degree at the Giuseppe Tartini Conservatory of Trieste, where he has been a professor since 1983. He was the artistic director of the APZ Tone Tomši choir of the University of Ljubljana for 10 years. With that choir and the Vokalna akademija Ljubljana, he has achieved many prestigious artistic recognitions (fi ve grand prizes –Tours 1999, Varna 2001, Gorizia 2001, Maribor 2002and Arezzo 2009–, three-time fi nalist and two-time winner of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing – in 2002 in Arezzo and in 2010 in Varna). In 1984, he was honoured with the Gallus Award for his extraordinary achievements in the fi eld of music and the Ljubljana City Award for the artistic direction of the APZ Tone Tomši choir. He conducted the RTV Slovenia Chamber Choir (national radio and TV choir) for two years. Starting January 2007 and for two years, he conducted the Italian Youth Choir. In September 2011, he was awarded the prestigious Guidoneum Prize in Arezzo, due to the successful and creative work he has done with the Vokalna akademija Ljubljana.
In 2012, he received the Prešeren Foundation Award, the highest cultural recognition of Slovenia.
Bengt Ollén
Sweden
He studied under Gösta Ohlin and Gunnar Eriksson at the Music and Drama Academy of Gothenburg, and Orchestra Conducting under Lennart Hedvall, Jorma Panula, Robert Reynolds and Everett Lee. Bengt Ollén is Sofi a Vokalensemble’s founder and conductor. Since 1995 he has led the vocal ensemble with great passion and a never-dying enthusiasm, taking the choir to the highest artistic levels. Bengt’s vision is to create music “beyond the notes”. In his opinion, music should move the listener. Therefore, each singer’s commitment is a vital piece in the musical progress: for the music to be a success, everybody must participate. That is Bengt’s musical belief.
Bengt is also the founder and conductor of the Södra Dalarnas Chamber Orchestra. This orchestra participates yearly in the “Musik vid Slijan” festival.
Bengt is frequently engaged as a judge in contests, as a guest lecturer and conductor in festivals, workshops and concerts, both at national and international levels. Since 1994 he works as a choir professor in the internationally renowned Stockholms Musikgymnasium. With his choirs, he has found remarkable success in choral contests all over the world.
Ko Matsushita
Japan
He was born in Tokyo in 1962. He obtained his Composition Degree at the Kunitachi College of Music and graduated in Choral Conducting at the Kodály Institute in Hungary. His works as a music composer are interpreted in Japan and all over the world. As a conductor, he has led several choirs of the Greater Tokyo Area, and has received many awards in international choral competitions.
In 2005, he was the fi rst Asian to be recognised with the Robert Edler Prize of Choral Music.
Alexander Vatsek
Ukraine
Choir and orchestra conductor, vocal coach, judge at international contests, choral advisor, speaker and arranger. He is the founder of the Oreya Choir and the Gaudeamus Brno Choir (1996), and has won 10 Grand Prizes and 37 1st Prizes with them. He has been recognised as an Honorary Artist in Ukraine and honoured with the I. Ohiyenko Award. He has taught choral seminars and workshops worldwide, and has conducted symphonic projects in France, Germany, Romania, Ukraine and the Czech Republic. He has been a jury member of the Choir World Games in Busan (South Korea), Bremen (Germany), Xiamin (China) and Wernigerode (Germany). As well in Tolosa (Spain), Marktoberdorf (Germany), Maribor (Slovenia), Riva del Garda (Italy), Artek (Ukraine), Tallin (Estonia) and Bergen (Norway). In addition, he has been the choral advisor of the Czech Republic (2002-2006).
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