JURY TEAM
Hirvo Surva
Estonia
Principal Conductor of the Boys’ Choir of the National Opera and the Mixed Choir of the Estonian Public Broadcasting. Head of the Department of Choral and Orchestral Conducting, Leading Professor of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theater. Winner of the title of “Best Conductor” of the Tallinn International Choir Festival (2001, 2003), winner of the “Conductor of the Year” award of the Estonian Choir Association (2003), winner of the title of “Musician of the Year” of the Estonian Public Broadcasting (2014). Chairman of the Estonian Choral Association.
The LECTION by Hirvo Surva
“Estonian national opera boys choir. Gabriel Faure “Requiem””
Romāns vanags
Latvia
Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of Jāzeps Mediņš Riga 1st. Music School Boys’ Choir. Professor of the Department of Conducting at the Latvian Academy of Music Vitola (Riga). Principal Conductor of the Latvian University Female Choir «Minjona». One of the chief conductors of the All Latvian Song Celebration (in 1993, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2018). Organizer of Various Courses for Conductors in numerous countries around the World. Jury Member of many International Choral Competitions. Artistic Director of the INTERKULTUR.
The LECTION by Romans Vanags
«About Female Choir Singing Traditions in Latvia»
Alena Pyne
Qatar
An Irish conductor, founder and director of Qatar Youth Choir and Qatar Junior Choir (2013), two high-performance choirs that have travelled with international tours to Germany, Latvia, Poland, Croatia and Austria.
Formerly Director of Music at Kings College Doha.
Leads choirs at the Swiss International School of Qatar and is their MYP Music teacher under Qatar Foundation.
Deputy conductor of Qatar Concert Choir.
Founding member and chairperson of the association for choral singing Sing Qatar.
Alena offers choral workshops and has experience leading large-scale choral singing festivals like the annual Qatar Choral Festival.
The LECTION by Alena Pyne
“Approaching arabic choral music…”
Tom Shelton
USA
Associate Professor of Sacred Music at Westminster Choir College. Music Director of Children’s and Youth Choirs at Princeton United Methodist Church. Conductor of “Grace Notes” and “Semi-Tones” with the Princeton Girlchoir Organization. Collaborator with the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and currently serves as National Past President. Conducted Elementary, Middle and High School All-State and ACDA Regional Honor Choirs throughout the United States and Hong Kong. Conducted Choral Festivals at Carnegie Hall in NYC. Author of the publishing series “Music for Young Voices” with GIA Music. Composer of more than 60 compositions.
The LECTIONS by Tom Selton
«Strategies for Working with Children’s Choirs»
«Working with the Male Changing Voice in the Choral Setting»
Alexander Soloviev
Russia
Acting Rector of the Victor Popov Academy of Choral Arts. Artistic Director of Chamber Choir of the Moscow Conservatory, Tula State Choir. Head of the Association of Folk and Choral Performers of the Russian Musical Union. Professor of the Choral Conducting Department of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and Moscow State Institute of Music named after A. G. Schnittke. Official representative of Russia in the World Choir Council “World Choir Games” and the jury of the International Association “INTERKULTUR”.
The LECTION by Alexander Solovyev
«Rodion Shchedrin. Compositions for the Choir in 2020 and the Premiere of the Cycle «Russian Folk Proverbs»
Belarus
Associate Professor of Choral Conducting at the Belarussian State Academy of Music. Choirmaster of the Honored Collective of the Academic Choir of the Broadcast. Winner of the National Award «Best Arranger» (2014). The Author of many Arrangements and Compositions for the Choir.
The LECTION by Andrey Savritsky
«Features of the Studio Recording of the Choral Compositions a cappella»