With over 30 applications received for this prestigious international competition, the selected choirs for 2010 will join us from such far-flung countries as Singapore, Philippines and Japan, as well as Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Ireland, and Norway . In addition to their participation in what is sure to be an outstanding competition for this internationally renowned award, each choir will fill the city with colour and song in a variety of performances throughout the week – find out more about the choirs below and see which ones you just don’t want to miss!

Cantabile, Finland

Cantabile is a mixed choir of 50 singers from Helsinki,  Finland.  The choir is conducted by Ruut Kiiski.   Cantabile has a wide and demanding a cappella repertoire.  The choir keeps its focus on modern Finnish choir music, but over the years has also performed major orchestral works from different eras, as well as jazz and rock arrangements and folk music.  In  addition, Cantabile has frequently taken part in productions combining various art forms.

Cantabile’s varying repertoire and strong expression on stage has also drawn attention abroad.  In 2001 Cantabile attended “In … Canto sul Garda” – a contest for choirs in Italy and was awarded the most successful choir of the contest.  In 2005 the choir was awarded the Grieg Grand Prix at the first Grieg International Choral Festival in Bergen, Norway.  In November 2007 the choir was awarded the Grand Prix at the 11^th Athens International Choir and Lyric Soloist Festival in Athens, Greece.  Their most recent achievement was at the Tampere Vocal Music Festival 2009 – Chorus Review, where the choir was awarded with two golden stamps.

Ruut Kiiski  - Conductor.

Ruut Kiiski (M Mus) graduated from the Church Music Department of the Sibelius-Academy year 2008.  She continues her studies at the Choir Music Department supervised by Dr Matti Hyökki.  Kiiski has attended Masters courses by Tatjana Hitrova ( Russia), Kaspar Putnins (Latvia) and Johannes Prinzin (Austria).

Ruut Kiiski has previously conducted chamber choir Dimus and the female choir Elegia.  Currently she is also the conductor of the mixed choir Academic Choral Society.

Listen to:  Cantabile

Since its foundation in 1993, the Heinrich-Schütz-Ensemble Vornbach has established itself as one of the leading concert choirs in Bavaria. Located in Passau, a key city at the common border between Lower Bavaria, Austria and the Czech Republic, it has played a central role in the regional cultural agenda, performing at festivals such as the international Europäische Wochen Passau but also reaching further on the choral scene with invitations to festivals and competitions from throughout Europe.

Award highlights of the past years have included the E.On Cultural Award for Bavaria (2008) for the ensemble, as well as the Passau Region Cultural Support Award and the Foundation Europäisches Konzerthaus Award for its conductor (2005). In 2007, the choir was awarded two prizes at the International Choral Contest Spittal/Drau(Austria): first in the classical category and modern choral works, and third in the folksong category.

Martin Steidler

1966-born Martin Steidler, founder and musical director of the Heinrich-Schütz-

Ensemble, was trained at the Conservatoire of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and achieved a postgraduate degree in choral conducting and training in

Regensburg. He has been working as chorus master with Gustav Kuhn and the

Chorus Academy of the Tyrolean Festival Erl since 2007, and was appointed artistic director of the newly founded Audi Youth Choir Academy in 2008.

Since the winter term 2008, Martin Steidler holds the chair for choir conducting at the Music and Performing Arts Conservatory in Munich. He now conducts the

renowned Madrigalchor Munich and coaches postgraduate courses in choral

paedagogy.

Listen to: Heinrich Schutz Ensemble Vornbach

Miyagi Sanjo Og Choir, Japan

The choir was founded in December 2001 by the graduates of Miyagi Sanjo Girls’ High School who were former members of the school choir - one of the best and most well known High School Choirs in Japan. Every year they have performed at regional and national choral competitions, events and musical festivals. In 2003, 2005 and 2007, they won the gold prize at the All Japan Choral Competition and in 2005 they also received the NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyoukai or Japan Broadcasting Corporation) awards.

They have toured Finland, Russia, Romania, Korea and in 2005 they were awarded 1^st prize at the 23^rd International Music Festival in Catonigros,  Spain.  In 2008, the choir won “Summa Cum Laude” at the 56^th Youth Festival in Neerpelt,  Belgium.

Kanezo KORI  - Conductor

Kanezo KORI graduated from Department of Economics at Fukushima University. Afterwards he took a music course at the Department of Education in the same university.

He led the choir at Sendai Minami High School to the national competition of All Japan Choral Competition six times and he also led the graduates’ choir to national competition to win silver prize in 1998.

Having been transferred to Miyagi Sanjo Girls’ High School, he has led the school choir to national competition every year, and has won first prize and special awards in 2001 and 2004.

In 2001 he organised a graduates choir and since then has led them to compete both at national and international choral competition.

Listen to: Miyagi Sanjo Og Choir

National Junior College Choir, Singapore

National Junior College (NJC) is Singapore’s first junior college. The National Junior College was established in 1969, the year the College was founded.  Since then, the choir has gained the reputation of being one of the finest school choirs in Singapore.   The choir has enjoyed success at the biennial Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging of Choirs, by attaining mainly Gold or Gold with Honours Awards.

In recognition of its service and high standards, the choir has been one of the selected schools in the Ministry of Education’s Choral Excellence Programme since the programme’s inception in 1989. In addition, the choir contributes actively to the lively arts scene in College through its own annual concerts as well as through collaborative performances with other groups in College, singing at many College events such as the 40^th Anniversary Dinner this year.

The National Junior Choir has also competed at International Choral Festival in Wales, Australia (Sydney), Germany and Italy.  Our more recent achievements include winning Gold Awards in Verona in 2006 and Riva Del Garda in 2008.

Ms. Lim Ai Hooi - Conductor

Lim Ai Hooi entered the Royal College of Music, London, majoring in Piano and Voice, graduating in 1989 with Dip.RCM for Teachers and Performers and today is a recognised and respected figure in the local choral scene.  She had served as Vice-President of the Choral Directors’ Association Singapore, and currently conducts and advises some of Singapore’s top choirs in secondary schools and junior colleges, as well as choirs from Malaysia.  Ai Hooi’s choirs and piano students have distinguished themselves in numerous local and overseas competitions.  At the 2009 Singapore Youth Festival Choral Competition, Ai Hooi scored a tour de force when all six of her choirs garnered a total of 6 Gold (with Honours) awards.

On the International stage, Ai Hooi has also led her choirs to achieve top honours at competitions including the World Choir Games (Germany, China, Austria), the Athens International Choral Competition (Greece), The Concorso Corale Internazionale (Riva Del Garda, Italy), The Concorso Internazionale Di Canto Corale (Verona, Italy), The International Festival of Advent and Christmas Music (Bratislava, Slovakia) and Festa Musicale Oloumoc (Czech Republic).  In particular, Hwa Chong Choir was named World Champions in the Mixed Choirs category at the 5^th World Choir Games.

Her educational achievments were recognised in 2002 and 2008, when she was awarded Best Conductor for Training Youth Choirs at the Petr Eben International Choral Competition in Prague,Czech Republic and Best Conductor at 3^rd International Festival of Advent and Christmas Music, Bratislava.

Listen to: National Junior College Choir

New Dublin Voices, Ireland

Awards in 2009 include the Grand Prix at the 12th Budapest International Choir Competition, third prize at the International Chamber Choir Competition in Marktoberdorf, Germany; third prize and the special prize for the best interpretation of the set work at the 3^rd Harald Andersen Chamber Choir Competition in Helsinki, Finland; and the inaugural ESB Feis Ceol Choir of the Year.

Bernie Sherlock has extensive experience directing children's and adult choirs. She studied conducting in Hungary with Peter Erdei and Ildikó Herboly Kocsár, and continued with Gerhard Markson and earned a Masters in Musicology and Performance (Conducting) from NUI Maynooth.  She is a Lecturer in Music at the DIT Conservatory of Music & Drama and Trinity College, Dublin. In 2007 Bernie was appointed Musical Director of the Culwick Choral Society. She is in demand as an adjudicator and as a teacher of conducting and, in 2008, she was appointed Artistic Director of Educational Programmes for the Association of Irish Choirs, including the annual Conducting Summer School.

Listen to: New Dublin Voices

Ondrasek Czech Youth Choir, the Czech Republic

In 1992, Josef Zajiček, one of the first members of the choir, assumed the conductor’s baton of the Ondrasek Czech Youth Choir.  Thus began a whole new chapter in the life of the choir; with great successes at home and followed by many prizes at international choir competitions and festivals. Now the name Ondrášek can be heard on the most prominent stages around Europe.  Over recent years the choir’s activities have included wins in Arezzo (1995) and Llangollen (2000) festival, tours to Japan (1998) and South Africa (2000), concerts in the Urals (2004) and visits to almost all European countries.

At home, the choir works with many major Czech composers (Otmar Mácha, Petr Eben, Ilja Hurník, Antonín Tučapský). Ondrášek has become a notable promoter of choral singing, and the choir organises musical programmes for children and young people, workshops for young conductors and, since 1996, a regular nationwide children’s choir competition.  Over the 40 years, Ondrášek has become an inseparable part of musical life in the region of Nový Jičín.  The concerts of the choir as a whole, i.e. performed by all sections of the choir, and New Year’s concerts, where the best of Czech and world’s ensembles, orchestras and interprets are presented, rank among the genuine cultural events of the town.

Since its beginnings Ondrášek has worked with radio and television studios.  The choir has shot several series of musical youth programmes, for Czech Television and also recorded 6 CDs.

Ondrášek choir comes from the town of Nový Jičín, and today is a part of the Elementary School of Fine Arts in Nový Jičín which provides the choir with proper conditions for its work.  There are three preparatory sections of the choir and two concert ensembles.  Organisation and administration (in areas such as membership, contact with parents, planning of concerts, tours and choir training camps, making and repairing of choir costumes, development and PR) is carried out by the Society of Friends of the Ondrášek Youth & Children’s Choir, presided by Mrs. Svatoslava Lenartová, who is also the president of the choir.

Ondrášek and its leadership have been awarded many prestigious prizes and awards for their long-standing and systematic work in the fields of culture and education.

Listen to: Ondrasek Czech Youth Choir

Tribal Chamber Choir, directed by Mark Keane, is based in Galway City and takes its name from the more affectionate title “The City of the Tribes.”  In February 2009 the choir won the Sacred Music Competition at the Limerick Festival of Church Music, and in May won first prize in the National Premier Competition for Mixed Voice Choirs at the Cork International Choral Festival. As part of this competition, Tribal Chamber Choir received the highest marks in the premier competitions and was awarded the Victor Leeson Memorial Trophy and designated “National Choir of the Festival 2009.” Last year, the choir performed the Brahms Requiem in Galway with the Charnwood Symphony Orchestra from the UK before touring to London, where they sang in Westminster Cathedral.  The choir is currently recording their first CD which includes Mozart’s Spatzen-messe, Mikkelborg’s  A Noone of Night and various motets.  In 2010, they will perform Mikkelborg’s A Noone of Night in Chartres Cathedral, France, and have commissioned the Irish composer Anne-Marie O’Farrell to write a new choral work for them.

Mark Keane, director of Tribal Chamber Choir, is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama.  He is currently undertaking doctoral studies at UCD and is Head of Music at Galway Community College. A regular organ recitalist, he has performed in Canada, the US, Australia and throughout Europe.  As a choral conductor, his choirs have toured to Europe, recorded several CDs and won many competitions, including the Youth Choir Competition and the Premier Competition for Female Voices at the Cork International Choral Festival.

Listen to: Tribal Chamber Choir

Trondheim Kammerchor, Norway

Trondheim Kammerkor was established in 1977 by Norunn Illevold Giske and aims to present choir music of high quality. The choir consist of 24 singers, of whom the majority have a music education. The choir maintains a high level of activity and has become an important contributor to the musical life of the region. The choir is active in presenting Norwegian contemporary music and has performed several premieres of commissioned choir compositions. The choir has represented Norway several times at international choral festivals and competitions. In 1998 the choir was invited to participate in the prestigious Franz Schubert Festival competition in Vienna and won the first prize for mixed choirs and for the best perfomance of contemporary music. In 2001 the choir won the first prize in the Montreaux Choral Festival. In addition the choir won a special prize for best programme and interpretation.

The choir has extensively cooperated with professional musicians and soloists and also appears frequently on radio and TV.

CD  releases include Stemningsbilder (1981), Denne song er meg kjær (1987), Verker av Oddvar Kvam (1991), Å hvor salig det skal blive (1992) and Utsyn (2001).

Norunn Illevold Giske has for many years been one of the most prominent personalities in the musical and cultural life of Trondheim. She moved to Trondheim in 1962 after having completed her studies in voice, piano and organ at the academy of music in Oslo. Since then she has become a prime mover in the national and international world of choirs and choral music.

Through 40 years of continuous teaching, Norunn has put her mark on generations of Norwegian singers and choirs, creating a school of choral singing which is characterised by a pure and distinctive vocal timbre.

Norunn has received several marks of honour for her contribution to the art of choral music.

Listen to: Trondheim Kammerchor

The UST Singers has established itself as one of the finest mixed choirs in the Philippines, and has realized tremendous success in a short span of time. Led by its conductor and founder Prof. Fidel G. Calalang, Jr., it consists of a unique blend of singers who are mainly students and a limited number of alumni representing the different colleges and faculties of the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas.   Since it was founded in 1992, the choir has continued to impress audiences, encompassing music of different genres and from all periods. In the course of 17 years, the UST Singers has completed 16 concert tours in Europe, the U.S.A., Canada, Mexico and Asia, and has earned more than 45 top prizes in various international choral competitions.

The UST Singers has won the CHOIR OF THE WORLD GRAND PRIZE and four (4) First Prizes in 1995 at the 49^th Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales, United Kingdom.  They also won the Gran Premio “Citta di Gorizia” and four (4) First Prizes at the 37^th Concorso Internazionale Di Canto Corale “C.A. Seghizzi” in Gorizia, Italy in 1998 which entitled the choir to represent Gorizia at the 11^th European Grand Prix for Choral Singing held in Varna, Bulgaria in 1999. The choir has triumphed at the 27^th Florilege Vocal de Tours in France, winning two (2) First Prizes and the Prix du Public.

In 2002, the choir won five (5) Gold Prizes in five (5) categories at the Mundi Cantat Festa Musicale in Olomouc, Czech Republic; two (2) Jury Prizes and two (2) Public Prizes at the 41^st Concorso Internazionale Di Canto Corale in Gorizia, Italy; First Prize in the Polyphony Category, Second Public Prize, and the Honor Prize for Best Interpretation of the compulsory piece at the 4^th International Chorwettweberb in Miltenberg, Germany; and the “Festival Choir of the Year” award, three (3) First Prizes in all contest categories plus the Best Conductor Prize for Prof. Fidel G. Calalang, Jr. at the Tonen 2002 in Monster, Netherlands.

It earned the “Excellence Avec Distinction” in 2004 having garnered the highest score in the mixed choir category and the “Ville De Vevey Jury Prize” for Best Programming and Interpretation at the Montreux International Choral Festival in Switzerland.

Over the years, the choir’s wide exposure and maintained high standards have also constantly increased its demands for performances and participation in international choral festivals such as the Festival Coral Internacional de Alava, and Jornadas Internacionales de Musica Coral "Caja de Burgos" in Spain, the World Choral Festival in Mexico, the Taipei Philharmonic Festival in Taiwan, and Polyfollia International Festival for Choral Singing in France.

Travel has become an essential part of its existence and the UST Singers has always fulfilled its noble responsibilities being cultural ambassadors of the country. The choir has sung for Pope John Paul II, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain, Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya of Thailand, Luciano Pavarotti, the Philippine Presidents Diosdado Macapagal, Fidel Ramos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In 2008, the UST Singers embarked on a concert tour covering Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and Hong Kong. The choir received an Audience with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and President Juan José Ibarretxe of the Basque Autonomous Community; participated in three (3) International Choral Festivals, and represented the country to the World Exposition in Zaragoza, Spain.

During the choir’s most recent 2009 “American Encore” Tour, once again, the UST Singers won two (2) First Prizes and the People’s Choice Award at the 2009 California International Choral Festival and Competition held in San Luis Obispo, California, USA.

Listen to: University of Santo Tomas Singers

Vocalis is one of Norway’s best female choirs.  The choir was founded in 1987. The choir now has 32 voices, ranging in age between 18 – 51 years old.   Vocalis is well known for its rich, soft sound and has won many prices for its performances, both nationally and abroad.  The choir’s most recent win was in Cantonigros, Spain, where the choir won 1st prize in the female choirs’ competition.

The repertoire is classical (mainly contemporary music), folk music, jazz and popular music.  Vocalis has recorded three CDs; one with popular music (Øyeblikk – Moments), one with Christmas music (O Sanctissima) and the last one with mainly contemporary music ( Månekveld – Night of the moon).

www.vocalis.no

Conductor Tone Bianca Dahl studied to be a singer and a pianist,and  later a conductor.  She finished her studies at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in 1991, as Master of Arts in choral conducting.

She is now associate professor in choral conducting at the Norwegian State Academy of Music, the conductor of the chamber choir Schola Cantorum and the female choir Vocalis, and is a frequent guest lecturer for choirs and choral conductors in the Nordic countries.

Many of the arrangements on the CD O Sanctissima are made by Tone Bianca, for female choir and cello.  Tone Bianca has also composed a Requiem for equal voices, solo voices and percussion.

www.tonebianca.no