With great joy and sincere gratitude, we are pleased to announce that so many composers responded to our call. Your trust, creativity, and courage to share your music with an international audience have deeply moved us. The jury faced a truly demanding task, as many of the submitted works were of an exceptionally high artistic level. Each score carried its own world — its own story, colors, sonic imagination, and authentic artistic voice. Composers from Italy, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Spain, Denmark, Irland, Brazil, USA, Philipines, Belarus, Brazil, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore and Greece took part in the competition, confirming that this event is becoming an important meeting point for diverse aesthetics, cultures, and creative perspectives.
Ambrož Čopi studied composition, piano, and vocal music. His compositions have been
published by Astrum, DSS, and Sulasol editions on various recordings, and he has received
numerous awards for his works in several composition competitions. He has been honored with
the Young Musician Award (1995) for outstanding achievements during his studies, the
“Prešeren” Award of the University of Ljubljana and the Municipality of Bovec Award (1997),
the Gold Medal of the University of Primorska for distinguished artistic achievements with
the APZ UP Choir (2009), and two major awards from the Municipality of Koper (2014),
including the “Gallus” Medal — the highest national distinction in Slovenia for achievements
in musical activity (2014).
Since 1999 he has served as a music professor at the Art Gymnasium of Koper, and since 2010
he has conducted the Choir of the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet.
In recent years, he has also conducted the Youth Mixed Choir of the Koper Art Gymnasium
(1999–2002, 2007–2013), the “Vladimir Lovec” String Orchestra (2005–2007), the Camerata
Choir “Iskra,” Bovec (1992–2001), the Nova Gorica Choir (1998–2004), the Mixed Choir
“Obala,” Koper (1998–2007), and the Academic Choir of the University of Primorska
(2004–present). With his choirs he has won numerous awards and has repeatedly been
recognized as Best Conductor in international competitions. He is frequently invited to
serve on juries of choral festivals and competitions and regularly participates as a
lecturer in choral music seminars in Greece and abroad.
Born in Częstochowa in 1968, he is a graduate of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in
Warsaw, where he studied cello and composition. He has been affiliated with the Fryderyk
Chopin University of Music since 1996, holding a doctoral degree in composition and the
academic title of Professor. In 2016 he was elected Vice-Rector. He has also served as a
visiting professor in Chile and Argentina (2003, 2006).
He has received numerous distinctions, including First Prize at the Warsaw Music Academy
Competition and Second Prizes at the 2nd Forum of Young Composers in Kraków. He has been
awarded many honors for both his compositions and recordings. Among his distinctions are the
Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, awards from the Mayor of Częstochowa and
the Rector of the Warsaw Music Academy, the Saint Brother Albert Chmielowski Award, the
Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture “Gloria Artis,” an award from the Archbishop of Poland,
the Jerzy Kurczewski Award, the Blessed Michał Sopoćko Memorial Award, and the Feniks Award
presented by the Association of Polish Catholic Publishers.
His works have been performed at more than 100 festivals in Poland and internationally,
while his discography includes over 150 CDs. Since 1995 he has served as Director of the
International Festival “Laboratory of Contemporary Music,” and since 2000 as President of
the Musica Sacra Association. He is a member of the ZAiKS Society of Authors and Composers,
the Presidium of the Phonographic Academy Council, and the Artistic Council of the
International Festival of Sacred Music Gaude Mater in Częstochowa. He is Artistic Director
and Conductor of the Musica Sacra Choir of the Warsaw-Praga Cathedral and Director of Musica
Sacra Edition, while also frequently serving as a juror in numerous international
competitions.
Josu Elberdin Badiola was born in 1976 in Pasaia (Gipuzkoa, Spain). He began his musical
studies at the Pasaia Conservatory (Pasaia Musikal), where he obtained teaching diplomas in
piano and vocal studies. He also holds a degree in Social Education from the University of
the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). Since 2000 he has worked as a music teacher at the Municipal
Music School of Pasaia, and since 1991 he has served as organist at Nuestra Señora del
Carmen Church in Trintxerpe.
He is a regular lecturer at conducting seminars for children’s and adult choirs both in
Spain and internationally, including Indonesia, Lithuania, France, Bulgaria, and Colombia.
He frequently serves as a jury member in national and international choral and composition
competitions. He is Artistic Director of the Ourencanto Choral Festival and a member of the
Artistic Committee of the Tolosa International Choral Competition.
He is internationally renowned for his compositions. He has received numerous composition
awards and has been commissioned by distinguished choirs worldwide. His works have been
selected as compulsory repertoire in major international events such as the Tolosa
International Choral Competition, the Taipei International Choral Festival, Europa Cantat
Junior, the World Symposium on Choral Music (Argentina 2011 and Barcelona 2017), the San
Sebastián Quincena Musical Festival, Musikaste, and others.
His work focuses primarily on children’s choirs, often in the form of musical tales or
symphonic productions. Although most of his output is choral, he has also composed numerous
symphonic works, pop-rock songs, and instrumental compositions. Some of his scores are
published by Walton Music, Helbling, and CM Musical Editions. The complete catalogue of his
works is available at: www.elberdin.com.
Composer and conductor born and raised in Tokyo in 1962. Matsushita currently serves as
conductor and artistic director of 13 choirs, which are regularly invited to perform in
Japan, Europe, America, Canada, and across Asia. His ensembles have achieved outstanding
results in the international choral scene, winning numerous awards in prestigious
competitions.
Matsushita is a prolific composer whose works are performed worldwide. His compositions span
a wide spectrum, from works inspired by traditional Japanese music, masses and motets, to
educational repertoire for choirs.
His works are published in Japan by KAWAI, Pana Musica, Ongaku no tomo sha Corp., Edition
ICOT, and internationally by Carus-Verlag Stuttgart (Germany), SULASOL Helsinki (Finland),
among others. In addition to conducting and composing, he is highly active as a workshop
leader and lecturer both within Japan and internationally. He has received numerous
distinctions in international choral and composition competitions.
In 2005, he was awarded the “Robert Edler Prize for Choral Music” for his outstanding global
contribution to conducting, composition, performance, and education in choral music. The
Tokyo Metropolitan Choir and Matsushita himself were invited as guest choir and panel
participant at the American Choral Directors Association National Conference in Salt Lake
City, Utah, USA, where he also presented a reading session lecture in February 2015.
He was invited to Stuttgart, Germany, in March 2016 to lead a workshop dedicated to his
works, during which his composition “De profundis clamavi” received its world premiere
performed by KammerChor Saarbrücken at the State University of Music and Performing Arts
Stuttgart. He served on the artistic committee of the 11th World Symposium on Choral Music
in Barcelona in 2017, where his work “Salva me” was also premiered. In Taipei, Taiwan, his
work “Te Deum” for four male choirs, organ, string quartet, and percussion received its
world premiere in 2017. In 2019, he delivered the keynote address at the International
Kodály Symposium (Kuching, Malaysia).
He currently serves as CEO of the Tokyo International Choral Organization, Artistic Director
of the Karuizawa International Choral Festival and the Tokyo International Choir
Competition, Founding Director of the Asian Choral Association, Honorary Member of the
Italian Choral Directors Association, member of the World Council of the Interkultur World
Choir Games, Vice-President of the Tokyo Choral Association, member of the Youth Choir
Committee of the Japan Choral Association, member of the Japan Association of Composers and
Arrangers, and Special Professor at Kobe College.
“We extend our warmest thanks to all composers for their participation. Through your creativity, you have enriched contemporary choral literature and made a meaningful contribution to the development and promotion of vocal art.
We firmly believe that these new works will come alive on concert stages, in the hearts of singers and audiences alike, conveying to the world the message of music that transcends borders, unites people, and continually inspires us.
Thank you for contributing to shaping the future of choral art.
Preveza, 18 February 2026”