6th Choral Conducting Seminar and Masterclass
Ragnar Rasmussen is conductor, university professor and composer, situated at NTNU - The
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Trondheim, Norway). He was born and raised
in the north-east region of Norway, surrounded with many cultural traditions of indigenous
people and other peoples of the Arctic. This fact has heavily influenced his music-making,
both as performer and composer.
He is on regular basis visiting academies, choirs and orchestras all over the world as guest
conductor, such as BBC Singers, The Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra and choir, Turkish State
Choir and many others.
Rasmussen is currently artistic leader of Nidaros Vokalensemble, and the international
Utopia & Reality Chamber Choir (which he share with Urša Lah).
Urša Lah studied Choral Conducting in Slovenia and in Norway. With Slovene choirs she led:
MeMPZ Veter, APZ Tone Tomšič UL and the National Radio Chamber Choir, she has been involved
in many première performances, and won many first prizes, golden plaques, special prizes and
conducting awards at national and international choral competitions, including the final for
Grand Prix of Europe (Debrecen, 2008). She received the highest award of the Municipality of
Ljubljana for cultural achievement and the award of Public Fund of the Republic of Slovenia
for Cultural Activities.
Since autumn 2009 Urša lives in Norway. She taught conducting at the universities in Tromsø
and Trondheim (Associate professor), she was the artistic leader/conductor of Finnmark
Operakor and University Choir Mimas, she worked as a choir master for Artic Philharmonic and
Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra.
Currently she conducts Trondheim Symphonic Opera Choir and is employed as a choir master for
Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. She gives seminars for choral conductors, is a frequent member
of adjudicating panels at international choral and conducting competitions, a guest
conductor of professional choirs/ensembles and one of two artistic leaders of the
international Utopia&Reality Chamber Choir.
Utopia & Reality Chamber Choir is an international choir established in 2011 by two
conductors, Ragnar Rasmussen (Norway) and Urša Lah (Slovenia). They have joined talented
young singers from different countries in performing contemporary choral music. The aim
of the project is to perform on a high artistic level, to encourage singers to think
about the role of art in the society today, to explore different ways of affecting
audiences, to develop young singers through establishing a strong role of the individual
in the group and to raise up a sense of tolerance towards different nations through
learning about their singing traditions.
The project has turned out as a success and Utopia&Reality has (as an invited choir or
as “Artist in Residence”) memorable performed at the numerous festivals, among them
Nordlysfestivalen in Tromsø, Olavsfestdagene in Trondheim, Norway, The 12. China
International Choral Festival in Beijing (where the choir was representing Europe), The
City of Derry International Choral Festival, Northern Ireland, International Choral
Festival in Preveza, Greece… In 2017 the choir was invited to perform a whole evening
concert in Mariinsky Theathre in St. Petersburg and in 2019 it served as demonstrative
ensemble for the World Choral Conducting Competition in Hong Kong in all three rounds.
In 2023, choir consists of singers coming from Slovenia, Norway, Italy, France, Ireland,
Croatia, Sweden and Finland.
A lot of time and attention will be dedicated to practical work with choir; the demonstrative ensemble will be international Utopia & Reality Chamber Choir.
The masterclass is addressed to conductors on different levels who would wish to improve their skills. Mentors will focus on individual progress and will adjust the literature to the level of participants.
Participation can be active or passive. Participants who wish to be active are kindly asked to send their CV with specified experiences in choir conducting.
Participation can be active or passive. The active participants will have the chance to work on equal voices choral repertoire with the Female Vocal Ensemble Voci Contra Tempo. Participants who wish to be active are kindly asked to send their CV with specified experiences in choir conducting. Any videos or online links that show the active participants conducting a choir will be more that welcome (but it is not obligatory). In consultation with the workshop leaders there will be a selection of the active participants to conduct at the Final Concert (7th July).
From 8th of July 2021 to 11th of July 2021, the participants will have the opportunity to attend the 38th ICF of Preveza, in the frames of which the 26th international Choral Competition of Music will take place, but also to meet and discuss with conductors of the participating choirs, while the organizing committee of the festival will provide them with any kind of material they might need.
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