Pearl Shangkuan US
Dr. Pearl Shangkuan is a sought after
conductor, lecturer and clinician all across the United States and
internationally. Director of Choral Activities and professor of Music at Calvin
College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she is also chorus master of the Grand
Rapids Symphony, a Grammy-nominated professional orchestra. Her conducting and
teaching engagements have taken her to Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa,
Europe and all across Asia. Shangkuan has a signature choral series with
earthsongs and is the music editor of the Calvin Choral series, published by
GIA. In 2013, Michigan ACDA honored her with their Maynard Klein Choral Award
for “artistic excellence and lifetime leadership in choral music.” Her choirs
have performed at ACDA national, division and state conferences and for other
professional music organizations. She has conducted ACDA division honor choirs,
all states, honor choirs and festivals in numerous states and internationally,
and has headlined several ACDA state conferences. She has also served on the
jury of several international choral competitions and has been a guest faculty
for programs in the US such as the Chorus America conducting masterclasses, the
University of Michigan Choral Conducting Symposium among many others. She
served as president of ACDA Central Division and Michigan ACDA, and has
commissioned and premiered numerous choral works by composers which are
performed in concert halls around the world.
Ambrož Čopi SI
Ambrož Čopi (1973) was born in Bovec (Slovenia). After
completing the Secondary Music and Ballet School in Ljubljana, he studied
composition and piano at the Ljubljana Academy of Music and graduated in 1996
in the composition class of Dane Škerl; he completed his post-graduate studies
in the class of Uroš Rojko. He gained first knowledge of vocal music as an
assistant of the conductor Stojan Kuret in the Academic choir Tone Tomšič in Ljubljana and as a singer of the
Chamber Choir Ave, and he attended further singing classes with Marjan Trček at
the Music School Vič-Rudnik in Ljubljana. His compositions have been awarded at
numerous composer competitions. They are comprised in CDs containing only
Čopi’s compositins, i.e. Lirični akvareli (Academic choir APZ Tone Tomšič,
conductor Stojan Kuret), So ptičice še snivale (ČarniCe, conductor Stojan
Kuret), Praeparate corda vestra (Ave Chamber Choir, conductor Ambrož Čopi),
Sanjam (Slovenian Chamber Choir, conductor Martina Batič), as well as on
various other CDs by national and foreign choirs. His compositions were
published by Astrum, DSS, and Sulasol. Ambrož Čopi was awarded the Young Musician Award in
1995 for the outstanding achievements during his study, while in 1997 he was
bestowed the Prešeren Prize of the University of Ljubljana and the award of the
Municipality of Bovec. In 2009 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the University
of Primorska for the achievements with the APZ UP choir and in 2014 he was
given two important awards by the Municipality of Koper. Also in 2014 he was
awarded with the Gallus Medal, the highest award in the field of musical
activity at national level in Slovenia. He has been a teacher at the Art Grammar School in
Koper since 1999. He is the conductor of the Choir of the Music and Ballet
Conservatory Ljubljana (2010–). In the past years, he also conducted the Youth
Mixed Choir of the Art Grammar School Koper (1999–2002, 2007–2013) and the
“Vladimir Lovec” Chamber Orchestra (2005–2007). With great success he conducted
the Chamber Choir Iskra Bovec (1992–2001), the Nova Gorica Chamber Choir
(1998–2004), the Mixed Choir Obala Koper (1998–2007) and the Academic Choir of
the University of Primorska (2004–2014). Through the years, the choirs brought
him fourteen golden plaques from national competitions and twenty first places
and several golden plaques from competitions abroad. With the Academic Choir of
the University of Primorska he performed as a finalist at the European Grand
Prix in Choral Singing in Tours (France, 2009). Furthermore, he was awarded
several special prizes for his interpretations, a number of prizes for
exceptional achievements with the choirs, and was also voted best conductor at
numerous competitions. Ambrož Čopi is regularly invited to act as a member of
the jury at various choral events and competitions, and he is often involved in
choral music seminars at home and abroad as a lecturer.
Urša Lah SI
Urša Lah studied musical education at the
Ljubljana Music Academy and choral conducting at the University in Tromsø
(Norway). She
perfected her conducting skills on educational seminars organised by choral
associations IFCM and Europa Cantat. She
was a member of some of Slovenia's best vocal ensembles and also a member of
the professional Slovene Chamber Choir from 1992-1996. In
the years 1993-2009 she was the conductor of the Mixed Youth Choir Veter
(Jeunesses Musicales Ljubljana), with which she won many Gold Plaques and First
Prizes at competitions in Slovenia and in Europe (Neerpelt, Budapest, Pohlheim,
Lindenholzhausen, Preveza, Bratislava), several special prizes and "Best
Conductor" awards. From 1998-2002 Urša Lah was also the
chief conductor of the National Radio Chamber Choir with which she had several
first performances of works by contemporary Slovenian composers, enriched the
archive with recordings of works by Slovenian and foreign composers of the 20th
century and prepared many vocal-instrumental projects. In the years 2002-2009 she was the
chief conductor and artistic director of APZ Tone Tomšič University of
Ljubljana. With the choir she won many First Prizes and Golden Plaques at
national and prestigious international choral competitions (Tampere,
Cantonigros, Maribor, C.A.Seghizzi in Gorizia, Varna, Olomouc) and many special
prizes for her program choice and interpretations of contemporary works. At the
International Competition in Varna 2007 she received the Best Conductor award.
The highest achievement of the choir under the leadership of Urša Lah
represents winning the final of the competition The European Grand Prix for Choral Singing in Debrecen, Hungary 2008. In 2006 Urša Lah co-founded the school for choral singers at the Glasbena
Matica in Ljubljana and had led the school and taught Ensemble Singing there
for three years. In recognition
of her valuable work with choirs she received in 2008 the highest award of
the Municipality of Ljubljana for cultural achievement - Župančičeva
nagrada. In 2009, the Public Fund of Republic of Slovenia for Cultural
Activities awarded her the award Gallusova Plaketa. Since the autumn 2009 Urša Lah lives
in Norway. She lecturers Ensemble leading and
Choir conducting at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Tromsø. From
January 2016 she works also as the conductor and artistic leader of the
University Choir Mimas. She works as the choirmaster for
different professional orchestras: Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, Trondheim
Symphony Orchestra and Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra. Together with her husband Ragnar
Rasmussen she established an international »Utopia & Reality Chamber Choir«
for young talented singers in the year 2011. The choir has successfully
performed on many reputable festivals and was representing Europe on 12.
International Choir Festival in Beijing in July 2014. In February 2017 the
choir held a production in Mariinsky Theathre in St. Petersburg. Urša Lah lecturers at educational
seminars for choral conductors all over Europe, she works as a quest conductor
of professional choirs and as a member of international juries at choral
competitions at the highest level. She is also active as an organizer of
international master classes for choral conductors and concert productions of
various vocal ensembles.
Theodora Pavlovitch BG
Theodora Pavlovitch is Professor in choral conducting and Head of
Conducting Department of the Bulgarian National Academy of Music. As a
conductor she has worked with the Bulgarian National TV-choir (1986-1991) and
Vassil Arnaudov Sofia Chamber Choir (from 1991 and recently). Under her batton
the choir won prestigious awards at international competitions, took part in
many high-level international festivals, in TV and radio-programs, concerts
tours in 23 countries. Since 2005 Theodora Pavlovitch is conductor of the
Classic FM Radio Choir performing concerts with Classic FM Radio Orchestra and
world-famous soloists like Andrea Bocelli, Anna-Tomowa Sintow, Paco Pena, Ira
Spolding, among the others. In 2007/2008 she conducted the World Youth Choir,
honoured by UNESCO with the title Artist for Peace, recognizing the WYC’s
success as a platform for intercultural dialogue through music. Prof. Theodora
Pavlovitch is frequently invited as a member of Jury-panels at a number of
international choral competitions, as a conductor and lecturer at prestigious
international events in 25 European countries, USA, Japan, Russia, China, Hong
Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Israel and Argentina. In 2005 she led a Master class
for choral conductors in the program of the 7th World Symposium on
Choral Music in Kyoto, Japan. Representative of Bulgaria in the World Choral
Council since 2012, Vice-President of the International Federation for Choral
Music (2008-2014), Chair of the Artistic Committee of the World Youth Choir (2010-2014),
Chair of the Music Commission of the European Choral Association Europa Cantat
(2003-2006). For her artistic achievements Prof. Theodora Pavlovitch has been
awarded The Golden Century National Award bestowed by the Minister of Culture
of Bulgaria (2016), The Golden Lyre by the Union of Bulgarian Musicians (2010),
several Special Prizes by the Bulgarian Choir’s Union, Classic FM Radio, Sofia
Municipality and other institutions.
Ragnar Rasmussen ΝΟ
Ragnar
Rasmussen is Professor in choir conducting at the Faculty of Fine Arts (Music
Conservatory), University of Tromso, Norway. He is currently the conductor and
artistic director of Kristiansand Solistensemble (Norway), the international
Utopia & Reality Chamber Choir (Europe) and UArctic World Ensemble (Norway,
Canada, Scotland and Russia). Ηe was the conductor/artistic director of the
chamber choir Vokal Nord (Tromso, 1999-2011), the Norwegian National Youth
Choir (2008-2010),the World Youth Choir,2010), the professional Stavanger
Symfoniorkesters Kammerkor (Stavanger, Norway, 2011). During the academic year
2007/08 Mr. Rasmussen held a guest professorship at the Academy of Music,
University of Slovenia. He studied church music (Trondheim Music Conservatory,
Norway), choir conducting with Eric Ericson and Stefan Sköld (Sweden) and
orchestra conducting with Colin Metters and Jorma Panula. As conductor of the
choirs Saga, Mimas and Vokal Nord he has won numerous first prizes, including
several conductor prizes, in choral competitions in Norway and abroad. He
participated at the International competition for choral conductors in Bologna,
Italy (2001) where he won the 1st Prize. As guest conductor he works with
orchestras throughout Europe, such as the baroque orchestra Concerto Farinelli
(Germany), The Artic Symphony Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, the RTV
Slovenia Symphony Orchestra etc.and with a large number of choirs in
Scandinavia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Italy, Russia, Serbia, Croatia,
Slovenia, Germany, Austria, Ireland and the UK. Ragnar Rasmussen frequently
holds lectures and workshops for conductors in Norway and abroad ( The
Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Russia,
Germany, Hungary, Finland, South Korea, Ireland, Croatia, Austria, Colombia,
The UK, China). He is often a member/head of juries at prestigious national and
international choir and conducting competitions. He was awarded the Albo d’oro
award from Fondazione Mariele Ventre, Bologna, Italy (2014), the Tromso
University College Honorary Research Prize (2007), the prestigious Northern
Lights Prize (2008), the Honorary Prize of the Town of Tromso for his
extraordinary artistic achievements, his contribution to artistic enjoyment
among his fellow citizens and his contribution to positive profiling of his
hometown in Norway and abroad (2008) and finally, the Norwegian Choir Prize
2009 for his dedicated work at all levels in his homeland’s choral life by the
Norwegian Choral Association. As a
composer he has written several a - cappella works, vocal -instrumental works
and one opera. In the year 2012 he was recognized as a member of the Norwegian
Society of Composers.
Justin Smith US
Justin Smith is the Director of Choral Activities and holder of the Joseph Naumes
Endowed Chair in Music at Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon, where he
conducts three choirs, teaches music history and conducting, and administers
the music core. He is director of the Marylhurst Chorale and founder of the
Marylhurst Choral Union and Marylhurst Chamber Choir. During his tenure,
Marylhurst choirs have grown from eighteen to one hundred singers, from one to
three choirs. Under Dr. Smith's leadership, the Marylhurst Chamber
Choir has achieved international recognition, winning both Third Prize and the
PEACE Award for Spirit at the 62nd International Cork Choral Festival, one of
Europe's most prestigious choral competitions, in May 2016. In 2014-15, the Chamber
Choir appeared by invitation at both the Allstate Conference of the Oregon
Music Educators Association, and at Carnegie Hall, New York City. He will lead
the Chamber Choir to compete in the European Choir Games in Riga, Latvia this
summer and serve on the jury panel for the 35th Preveza International Choral
Festival in Greece. Dr. Smith is in demand as an honor choir and festival
clinician throughout the Northwest, directing several region and district Honor
Choirs in Oregon and Washington in 2016-17. He is also the founder and director
of Marylhurst Opera, which presents a fully staged production each spring. He
received the Excellence in Academic Service and Teaching Award for the 2015-16
school year. Before taking up his present position, he served as
Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Houston Moores School of
Music, where he conducted the Concert Women's Chorus and the University Men's
Chorus. In the summer of 2010, he founded the Houston Cecilia Chamber Choir,
with whom he presented the Houston premiere of Leonard Bernstein's MASS in May
of 2012 to rapturous acclaim and sold-out houses. He made his Carnegie Hall
debut in April of 2012, conducting the Faure Requiem for MidAmerica
Productions, and returned to conduct the Mozart Missa Brevis in Vienna, Austria
in summer 2016. He holds the DMA in Choral Conducting from the Moores
School of Music, where he studied with Charles Hausmann and Betsy Cook Weber.
He is a noted scholar of American choral music of the 20th century, having been
published twice in Choral Journal on neglected choral works of Marc Blitzstein
and Vincent Persichetti. He holds further degrees in music from Wesleyan
University and the University of Oregon. Dr. Smith is a member of the American Choral Directors
Association and the Oregon Music Educators Association. He serves as Collegiate
R & S Chair on the board of the Oregon ACDA chapter.
1st International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 1995
- Zahari Mednicarov BG
- Mihalis Adamis GR
- Vassileios Makridis GR
2nd International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 1996
- Marco Sofianopulo IT
- Zahari Mednicarov BG
- Mihalis Adamis GR
- Vassileios Makridis GR
3rd International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 1997
- Marco Sofianopulo IT
- Zahari Mednicarov BG
- Venno Laul EE
- Vassileios Makridis GR
4th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 1998
- Venno Laul EE
- Krikor Tshetinyan BG
- Vassileios Makridis GR
5th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 1999
- John Fitzpatrick IE
- Zahari Mednicarov BG
- Vassileios Makridis GR
6th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2000
- John Fitzpatrick IE
- Venno Laul EE
- Vassileios Makridis GR
- Ioan Oarcea RO
- Mihalis Adamis GR
7th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2001
- Krikor Tshetinyan BG
- John Fitzpatrick IE
- Venno Laul EE
8th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2002
- Krikor Tshetinyan BG
- John Fitzpatrick IE
- Venno Laul EE
9th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2003
- Krikor Tshetinyan BG
- John Fitzpatrick IE
- Venno Laul EE
10th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2004
- John Fitzpatrick IE
- Venno Laul EE
- Theodora Pavlovitch BG
11th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2005
- John Fitzpatrick IE
- Theodora Pavlovitch BG
- Andreas Pylarinos GR
12th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2006
- Volker Hempfling DE
- Theodora Pavlovitch BG
- Andreas Pylarinos GR
13th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2007
- John Fitzpatrick IE
- Theodora Pavlovitch BG
- Eva Kollar HU
14th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2008
- John Fitzpatrick IE
- Theodora Pavlovitch BG
- Valentin Stefanov GR
15th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2009
- Theodora Pavlovitch BG
- Samuel Gordon US
- Marcin Tomczak PL
16th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2010
- John Fitzpatrick IE
- Theodora Pavlovitch BG
- Valentin Stefanov GR
17th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2011
- Eva Kollar HU
- Darena Krosneva - Stamenova BG
- Lorenzo Donati IT
18th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2012
- Voicu Popescu RO
- Lorenzo Donati IT
- Valentin Stefanov GR
19th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2013
- John Fitzpatrick IE
- Theodora Pavlovitch BG
- Valentin Stefanov GR
20th International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2014
-
- Veneziela Naydenova CH
- Aggathagelos Georgakatos GR
21st International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2015
-
- Lorenzo Donati IT
- John Fitzpatrick IE
- Antonis Kontogeorgiou GR
22nd International Choral Competition of Sacred Music - 2016
-
- Theodora Pavlovitch BG
- David Means US
- Miguel Angel Felipe US
- Ragnar Rasmussen ΝΟ
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου