Unanimously recognized as one of the greatest interpreters of the Renaissance and Baroque vocal repertoire, Giovanni Acciai studied choral music, choir conducting organ and organ composition at the Conservatory “Giuseppe Verdi” in Milan, and took his master degree in musicology at Pavia University.

He was conductor of the Chamber Choir and of the Symphonic Choir of the Italian Broadcast and of the Corale Universitaria of Turin. Presently, he is the conductor and artistic director of the vocal and instrumental ensembles “I Solisti del Madrigale”, and “Nova ars cantandi”, with which he carries out an intense concert and recording activity; he has published several articles and reviews on early music, musicological essays, as well as recordings of unreleased works for the publishers Antes, Stradivarius, Sarx, Unda maris, Tactus and Archiv Deutsches Grammophon.

His latest CD production with Nova Ars Cantandi, the "Armonici entusiasmi di Davide" by Giovanni Battista Bassani, has been nominated for the International Classic Music Award as the best CD of the year 2017 in the category Early Music.

His CD "Contrafacta" was named album of the month for the magazines Classic Voice and Amadeus as well as his CD "Responsoria" by Leonardo Leo for the music critic review Musica. He teaches musical history and early music semiography at the Conservatory “Giuseppe Verdi” in Milan, moreover he is the artistic director of the International choir competitions of Quartiano, Grado, Perugia and Lucca. He is regularly invited as an international jury member and jury president in most renewed choir competitions; he is sought after as a lecturer at conferences of musicology and asked to hold masterclasses for choral conducting in Italy and abroad.

For his high-ranking international artistical achievements in 1991, he was appointed honorary member of the American Choral Directors Associations (ACDA). Giovanni Acciai was a member in the panel of the International juries at the Choir Olympics as well as the World Choir Games and since 2004 he is an active member and official representative for Italy in the World Choir Games International World Choir Council. Since 2014, he is artistic director of the Accademia di Musica Antica of Milan and since 2005 active member of the Réseau Européen de Musique Ancienne” (REMA) of Versailles.

Benedykt Błoński (1957) - conductor, choirmaster, university lecturer.

A graduate of the Music Academy in Warsaw (1982). Academic employee at the Art Department of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn.

In 1999 (at the age of 42!) he received the title of professor of musical arts. Since 2012 - dean of the Faculty of Arts. Since 1982 he has been running choirs earning the highest national awards and international choir competitions. He has conducted hundreds of concerts in Poland, Europe (Greece, Ireland, Great Britain, Belgium, Lithuania, Belarus, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Vatican, Italy, Spain, Germany, Russia) as well as in Mexico, the USA and twice in Argentina. His achievements include numerous premieres of works, as well as 13 CDs released with Polish and foreign music.

He is a member of artistic councils and jury of choir competitions and festivals of national and international range. He was the artistic director of the international choir workshops Eurochor 2001, artistic director of the Polish-German Choir Academy In Terra Pax.

Since 2008 he has been a member of the International Choir Olympic Council and also the artistic director of the International Choir Festival by Feliks Nowowiejski in Barczewo (Poland). Since 2009, the conductor of the CANTORES VARMIENSES Choir at the Warmian-Masurian Philharmonic in Olsztyn. He has been honored with numerous awards and distinctions for his artistic, pedagogical and organizational activities.

Māra Marnauza was born in 1963. She has graduated the “Jāzeps Vītols Latvian State Conservatory” in 1987.

Māra Marnauza is the founder, conductor, and artistic director of the chamber choir FORTIUS and the female choir BALTA; a chief conductor at the Baltic States’ Student Song Festival Gaudeamus and the XXV General Latvian Song and XV Dance Festival in 2013.

Māra Marnauza won the Best Conductor’s Award (Riga, 1999), received the international jury’s Special Best Conductor’s Prize (Námestovo, 2009).

She has gained recognition as a conductor in many international choir festivals and competitions, recorded CDs and DVDs, lead international artistic projects, master classes in Latvia and abroad in cooperation with Ragnar Rasmussen, Bob Chilcott, Christoph Schönherr and others.

Māra Marnauza is the Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy’s vice-rector for research, PhD, professor in music pedagogy, Latvian Science Council expert, author of several scientific publications.

Māra Marnauza is a regular jury member in several choir festivals. This is her first adjudication for an INTERKULTUR event.