Ralf Eisenbeiß was born in 1952 in Zeulenroda. After his secondary school examination he studied pedagogy, German philology and musical education. He received his PhD in 1979 at the Pedagogical University of Zwickau. From 1978 to 1981, he studied choir and orchestra conducting at the Franz Liszt Conservatory in Weimar.

Ralf Eisenbeiß was working as the director of the choral department at the Pedagogical University in Zwickau and appointed professor for choir conducting and choral singing in 1987. He was conductor of the renowned Pedagogical University Zwickau Choir. With his choir he performed a wide repertoire of compositions for a cappella choirs and with orchestra, too. Under his direction the choir won numerous prizes at national and international choir competitions.

Ralf Eisenbeiß was lecturer at the central seminar for choral conductors in Berlin and organized numerous workshops himself. He often appears as guest conductor at home and abroad. Since almost 30 years he works as artistic director of INTERKULTUR. Ralf Eisenbeiß is founder of the Int. Robert Schumann Choir Competition in Zwickau and one of the founders of the World Choir Games. Since 1992 he was responsible for more than 150 international competitions of INTERKULTUR in Germany, Italy, Korea, Indonesia, China, Austria, Spain, USA and other countries. Ralf Eisenbeiß is very often invited as a juror in national and other international choir competitions all over the world.

Antonio del Pino is a graduate on Theology of the Faculty of Granada and furthermore in Viola and Organ from the Conservatory of Málaga. Meanwhile del Pino has specialized in organ performance, especially the ancient Spanish repertoire, in several courses taught by outstanding national and international experts, such as Montserrat Torrent and Roberto Fresco.

Currently Antonio del Pino conducts the Málaga Cathedral choir, for which at the same time he is the second organist. As a result of his musical research projects at Music Chapter Archive, del Pino catalogued the repertoire in use during the 20th century and has valued the figure of composer and organist Juan B. Antolinez Casino.

Just recently Antonio del Pino has continued his musical studies at the Pontifical Ambrosian Institute of Sacred Music and graduated with a Master in Gregorian Chant and its disciplines paleography, semiology, modality and interpretation. Subsequently to his master thesis Aquitanian Influence on the Library of Plaint Chant of the Cathedral of Málaga” del Pino founded and conducts the choir “Voices Capituli”, which has specialized in this particular repertoire.

- in memoriam -

Christian Ljunggren was born in 1942. He studied music at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm as well as musicology and theology at the University of Uppsala. For many years he worked at the Music Department of the Swedish National Broadcasting Company, and was responsible for the presentation and programming regarding music.

He was the conductor of the Adolf Fredrik Madrigal Choir since their foundation (1965 and 1974). He was the first President of the Swedish Choral Directors Association (1986 – 1998) and President of KÖRSAM, the joint committee of the Swedish choral organisations (1997 – 2004). From 1997-1999  he worked for the of IFCM, the International Federation for Choral Music, as the Secretary General from 1997-1999 and as a liaison officer (until 2005).

He was one of the Artistic Directors of INTERKULTUR and the Artistic Director of the World Choir Games. Due to his engagement as a clinician for seminars and workshops around the world and having built up the INTERKULTUR series of seminars in China the Swede gained growing recognition since 2003.

Christian Ljunggren has written numerous articles in Swedish and international magazines and was also a keen arranger of choral music.

After graduating with a degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Performing Arts (VŠMU) in Bratislava under Prof. Peter Hradil, Milan Kolena continued his studies of Gregorian Chant with Prof. J.Kohlhaufl at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. He is the author of the first Slovakian professional publication about Gregorian chant: ”Current Directions in Interpretation of Gregorian Chant“. He actively cooperates with Prof. Dr. F.K. Prassl from Graz and Prof. Dr. J.B. Goschl from Munich regarding the interpretation of Gregorian chant and teaches choir conducting and Gregorian chant at the VŠMU. Kolena regularly acts as a jury member and leads workshops about vocal polyphony, Gregorian chant and Slovakian contemporary music all over the world. Since 1998 he has been the Art Director of the international festival in Bratislava and since 2013 he is the president of the Slovakian Choral Association. Kolena recorded CDs of Bratislava antiphons for the Slovakian National Library together with Schola Gregoriana Bratisalvensis. In 2014 he gave lectures at three American universities regarding the interpretation of Latin texts in Sacred Choral Music. He was awarded the special prize for the best conductor during the „Singing World“ choral competition in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2015.

Antonio del Pino is a graduate on Theology of the Faculty of Granada and furthermore in Viola and Organ from the Conservatory of Málaga. Meanwhile del Pino has specialized in organ performance, especially the ancient Spanish repertoire, in several courses taught by outstanding national and international experts, such as Montserrat Torrent and Roberto Fresco.

Currently Antonio del Pino conducts the Málaga Cathedral choir, for which at the same time he is the second organist. As a result of his musical research projects at Music Chapter Archive, del Pino catalogued the repertoire in use during the 20th century and has valued the figure of composer and organist Juan B. Antolinez Casino.

Just recently Antonio del Pino has continued his musical studies at the Pontifical Ambrosian Institute of Sacred Music and graduated with a Master in Gregorian Chant and its disciplines paleography, semiology, modality and interpretation. Subsequently to his master thesis Aquitanian Influence on the Library of Plaint Chant of the Cathedral of Málaga” del Pino founded and conducts the choir “Voices Capituli”, which has specialized in this particular repertoire.

Jan Schumacher (*1980) is Music director of the Goethe-University in Frankfurt as well as the conductor of Camerata Musica Limburg and the Choir of TU Darmstadt. Until 2016 he was professor for choral conducting at the College of Church Music in Rottenburg.

Having received his degree in School Music and German from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Jan went on to study Choral Conducting with Wolfgang Schäfer at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. Even as a child and young adult (musical education with the Limburg Cathedral Boyschoir and the State Youth Choir of Rhineland-Palatinate), he was fascinated with the activity of group singing, which has remained the main motivation for his manifold activities to this day. With his choirs, he builds extensive repertoires from Gregorian chants to world premieres, from symphonic orchestra to Big Band, and vocal or electronic improvisation.

Jan teaches courses for singers and conductors across Europe, Iceland, Iran, Turkey, Argentina, Venezuela, and the USA. He is co-editor of various choral collections. His role as Vice President of the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat puts him in the wonderful position of being able to intensify the exchange among singers, conductors, and composers further for the benefit of choir music.