4 - 6 July 2022
On the occasion of its 40th edition, the Preveza Choral Festival is organizing the biennial International Competition of Choral Conductors. Which will take place during the 4th-5th July 2022. In a wonderful atmosphere and ambience, ten selected conductors will showcase their skills of working with top Greek choirs Children’s Choir ‘’Armonia’’ Preveza, Voci Contra Tempo and Ambitus Choir. The competition will take place at Cultural Centre of Holy Metropolis and be judged by a jury of seven internationally renowned conductors.
Quentin Beer studied choral conducting with Patrick Russill at the Royal Academy of Music. He is Director of Music at Saint Peter’s College, Oxford and Saint Cuthbert’s Church Earl’s Court. With many years of experience in Conducting Choir and Orchestra, he has been awarded by the Royal Academy of Music as well as the Dima International Music Competition. Finally, he has collaborated with the Paris Orchestra Choir, with the Transylvania State Philharmonic Choir.
Swedish conductor Martin Hellberg has studied Choir and Orchestra Conducting. He has participated in many choir festivals and competitions as a singer, producer, artistic director and conductor from 2008 until today, with the most important moment being the conductor of the Uppsala Choir in 2019.
Alexandros Komnas was born in 1996, he graduated as an excellent student from the Department of Music Studies of the Ionian University with a specialization in “Choir Conducting”, alongside Professor Dimitris Ktistakis. At the same time he studied Acting with Natalia Kapodistria and Classical Song with Rosa Poulimenou and Ira Zerva. At the end of his studies he started working as a pianist accompanist and assistant conductor in the Rosarte Children and Youth Choir, under the direction of Rosie Mastrosavva. He has performed numerous concerts in Greece and abroad as a pianist, soloist, choir and conductor (ERT Choir, The Phantom of the Opera etc), while since February 2020 he is a member of the professional vocal ensemble 8tetto.
Olexandra Polytsia has studied choral conducting, music management and early music. She has been conducting choirs throughout Europe since 2012 and she has been teaching and singing at the University of Graz in Austria since 2018.
Matthias Schoberwalter was born in 1997 in Vienna. He has studied church music, conducting choir and orchestra. In 2015 he founded the choir Alea, he has participated in many choir festivals, concerts, opera and operetta performances. An important moment of his career was the concert that took place in the Cathedral of St. Stephen in Vienna in 2015.
Tamas Szarka was born in 1994 in Hungary. He studied orchestral and choral conducting at the Budapest Academy of Music. In 2018 he won the first prize at the National Competition of Young Conductors in Budapest while in 2021 he was an official guest at the International Competition of Choir Directors.
Originally from Latvia, Artūrs Švarcbahs is 22 years old, he has many years of experience as a conductor and chorister, with degrees in Choir Conducting and Classical Singing. One of his most important works as a conductor is the audiovisual work “Dabas Skanas” 2020.
Kristaps Solovjovs was born in 2000 in Latvia. He studied choral singing at Riga’s Cathedral Choir School and he is currently studying Choral Conducting at the Latvian Academy of Music of Jāzeps Vītols. He has taken part in many choirs in Latvia as singer and musical conductor. In 2021, he won the 3rd place at the 1st Viacheslav Palkin International Choral Conductors Competition.
Hyunju Kwon was born in Republic of Korea. She studied Choral Conducting at the National Korean University of Arts and at the University of Karlsruhe in Germany. Afterwards she finished her master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting at State University of Music and Performing Arts at Mannheim in Germany. She has taken part in various choirs in Germany as Conductor, Chorist and Soloist. In 2021 she won the 1st prize for choral conductors, at the Fosco Corti International Competition in Turin, Italy.
Gintare Barisaite – Mitkuviene was born in 1994, she began her professional musical path at the National M. K. Ciurlionis School of Art in 2001, where she studied piano and choral conducting for 12 years. She continued her studies of choral conducting at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater. Gintare has taken part at many choir competitions all over Europe and she has performed with various famous singers and musicians. In 2019 at the 5th International Choir Festival and Competition of Lithuanian Music Patriarch Juozas Naujalis, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Juozas Naujalis, she received the diploma of the best conductor of the competition.
The Children’s Choir “Armonia” of Preveza was founded in 1983 by the conductor Mr Andronikos Kourouklis and it is a section of the Choral Society “Armonia” of Preveza. Other conductors of the choir who greatly contributed to its brilliant course and success were Stavros Solomos and Valentin Stefanov. Since 1994, the choir has been directed by Anelia Stefanova. During its existence the choir has been awarded 2 first, 2 second and 2 third prizes in International Choral Competitions (Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary) and it has also been awarded twice as the best Greek Children’s choir in the International Choral Festival of Athens. It regularly performs in festivals both in Greece (Ioannina, Agrinio, Katerini, Kefalonia, Ermioni, Athens, Patras, Igoumenitsa, Parga, etc., Olympic Games ATHENS 2004) and abroad (International Choral Festival "Aram Khachaturian" in Haskovo (Bulgaria, 2003), International Festival in Rome (Italy, 2008), Easter Festival of Moscow (Russia, 2017) while it has participated in premieres of works and cooperated with renowned orchestras and soloists.
Members of Voci Contra Tempo are classically trained singers who are passionate about choral music. The core of the ensemble consists of 16 members, but varies in size according to the needs of each individual project. Even though the ensemble has been active for a short time, it has already made an impact in the Greek and international choral music scene. Voci Contra Tempo has collaborated with Thessaloniki’s State Symphony Orchestra, among others, presenting some of the main works for female choir, such as The Planets by Gustav Holst and Les Sirènes from Claude Debussy’s Nocturnes. They have performed at important venues such as the Thessaloniki Megaron Concert Hall and the historical Parnassus Athens Hall. In August 2021 the ensemble made its international debut after having been invited to participate in some of the most prestigious choral festivals in Europe: the “Guido d’Arezzo International Choral Festival” and the “Incontro Internazionale Polifonico ‘Città di Fano’”. The choir has been directed by Sofia Gioldasi.
Sofia Gioldasi has studied Choral Conducting at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Jos Vermunt, Jos van Veldhoven, Basilio Astulez and Andrew Nethsingha, specializing in the combination of choral singing, body movement and stage action. For the last 10 years she has been working with different kinds of choirs: children’s choirs, female and mixed choirs, amateur and professional singers of all levels, with great success. During her time as conductor of the Nieuw Amsterdams Kinderkoor, the choir had the honour to perform at the inauguration of the Dutch King Willem-Alexander, record for Deutsche Grammophon, and also win Silver prize at the Cantemus competition in Hungary. In 2015 Sofia moved back to her home country, Greece. She is the conductor and artistic leader of the Voci Contra Tempo - Female Vocal Ensemble. Sofia has been a jury member in International Choral Competitions and she is frequently asked to lead masterclasses and workshops in Greece, Turkey, Italy and in the Netherlands [Europa Cantat, Festival di Primavera, Movincanto, International Choral Festival of Preveza, etc]. Among her future plans is her first collaboration with the Greek National Opera (April 2022) and her participation at the Leading Voices Festival in Utrecht, the Netherlands (July 2022).
Ambitus Choir was formed in 2002 and is a founding member of the Hellenic Choirs Association. It is composed of Lycée Léonin N.Smirni alumni and lovers of choral music. It has participated and excelled in national and international competitions as a mixed or equal-voice ensemble, earning gold medals, Grand Prix, and special awards. Its repertory is comprised of a wide range of Western and Greek music, early throughout to contemporary. Ambitus has collaborated with prominent Greek orchestras and conductors. It has participated in studio recordings of contemporary works of Greek composers, while it has been the practice choir for the maestro seminar of the famous Greek conductor Miltos Logiadis. Ambitus has presented the first performances of selected songs of the Greek Choir Composers Competition that has been organized by the “Hellenic Choir Association”. The Choir was awarded with Gold Diploma on First Prizes at several domestic and international competitions (2nd International Festival of Florence (Italy, 2013), 56th International Competition “Habaneras y Polifonía”, Torrevieja, (Spain, 2010), 2nd International Competition “Musica Sacra a Roma”, (Italy, 2010), 2nd Kalamata International Choir Competition, (Greece, 2017), 3rd International Choir Competition, Nafplio, Greece, (2016), 22nd International Sacred Choral Music Competition, Preveza, (Greece, 2016)). The choir has been directed by Katerina Vassilikou.
Katerina Vassilikou, the “Ambitus” Choir’s founder and conductor, was born in Athens, Greece, and is an alumna of the University of Athens. She studied piano and classical singing, attended choir conducting and piano seminars, and completed courses in the Carl Orff System, as well as in Music and Dance Education. In 2016 she prepared and conducted the 1st Children’s Olympic Choir of Greece for the Official Olympic Flame Handover Ceremony of Summer Olympic Games. During 2018 and 2019 she served on the International Jury of the 24th and 25th International Choir Competitions of Preveza. She is the conductor of children’s, women’s and mixed voices choirs and has collaborated on multiple occasions with famous Greek conductors such as Loukas Karitinos, Miltos Logiadis, Andreas Pilarinos, Ilias Voudouris and Vironas Fidetzis.
All the participants will receive a diploma of participation. Special diplomas for participation in Semi-finals and Finals will be also given.
