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.

- 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.

Born in Bologna, Italy, Andrea Angelini is a Doctorate of Music (Piano) at Ferrara's Frescobaldi Conservatory. He is the Artistic Director and Conductor of the professional group Musica Ficta Vocal Ensemble in Italy as well as of the Rimini Community Choir. He also is the artistic director of the Rimini International Choral Competition, of the Claudio Monteverdi Choral Competition, of the Queen of the Adriatic Sea Choral Festival and Competition, of the Liviu Borlan Choral Festival and one of the tutors at the Rimini International Choral Workshop. Furthermore, he has been member of the jury at many international choir competitions in Italy, Europe and Asia. Angelini frequently leads choral workshops in Italy and abroad, especially enjoying doing masterclasses on the topic of Renaissance Choral Music. He is the editor of the International Choral Bulletin, the membership magazine of the International Federation for Choral Music, which is distributed in 84 countries.

Miranda Caldi is Professor of Choral Conducting at the Music Department of the Ionian University. She specializes in the performance of vocal music of the Renaissance period and the performance of "Opera for Youth".

She gained her Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Cape Town in 1972 with the award of the "Eric Chisolm Memorial Prize for General Excellence". She gained her Master of Arts degree at the University of York in 1992 followed by a Doctor of Philosophy in Performance Practice in 2002.

Since 1994 she has been Director of the University Choir and Vocal Ensemble at the Ionian University. During this time she has conducted a number of significant performances in Greece and abroad. These have included large and smaller choral works from the Renaissance period to the twenty first century and many world premiers of the works of Greek composers.

Her editions of the masses of Franciscus Leondaritis have been published by York University Early Music Press and her CD Missa super Aller mi fau(l)t (sur) la verdure and four motets was voted one of the top 20 CDs by the magazine Jazz and Jazz in 2003.

She was Head of the Department of Music of the Ionian University and served as Vice-Rector of Academic Studies and Personnel between 2011-2013 at the same University. In 2012 she was elected member of the University Council.

Maria Emma Meligopoulou holds a Master Degree in Choral Conducting from Boston University CFA and a PhD in Choral Conducting and pedagogy for Children and Youth Choirs from Ionian University. She has also studied Law at Aristotle University. She teaches Choral Conducting Techniques and directs the University Choir at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki.

She also teaches at the master’s program of Choral Conducting at Ionian University and is professor of Choral Conducting at the New Conservatory of Thessaloniki. She has performed many choral concerts and international tours in Greece, Europe (Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, UK), Asia (Israel, Turkey, Singapore, China, Japan), Africa (Egypt, South Africa), USA, Canada. As Choral Director she has been several times recipient of First Prizes with her own Choir “Ss. Cyril & Methodios Choir”, among them the Moscow Sounds Festival, Interkultur Festivals, Loto Quebec Festival (Canada), etc.

She is council member of the World Choir Games, Artistic Advisor of Interkultur Festivals, and she is on demand as lecturer, guest conductor and adjudicator in international symposiums, festivals and workshops worldwide. In 1992 she founded the Ss. Cyril & Methodios Children’s and Youth Choir, the largest choral organization in Northern Greece with over 300 singers in five departments (preparatory choir, children’s choirs, mixed youth choir and chamber choir).

She is author of the textbook Introduction to the Art of Choral Praxis (2011) 3rd Edition in 2013 and the Music Editions: Choral Works for Equal Voices by Greek Composers (2014), and Christmas Choral Works for Equal Voices (2016), all of them available by Nakas - Papagregoriou Editions, Athens.

Prof. Dr. André de Quadros, conductor, scholar, music educator, and human rights activist, has conducted and undertaken research in over forty countries and is a professor of music at Boston University, where he also holds positions in African, Asian, and Muslim studies, and in the university’s Prison Education Program. He is the music director and conductor of the acclaimed Manado State University Choir, artistic director of a conducting institute at the Eric Ericson International Choral Centre “CONDUCTING 21C: Musical Leadership for a New Century”, artistic director of the London International Music Festival, artistic director of the Bali International Choir Festival, and artistic director of Aswatuna – Arab Choral Festival. Apart from his work in two Boston prisons, he is involved in several community arts projects aimed at social change. He is the editor of The Cambridge Companion to Choral Music published by Cambridge University Press together with numerous other publications. Since 2008, he has partnered in projects with Palestinian and Israeli choral musicians in Jerusalem and Galilee, and in the Arab world within the Community Heartsong Project.

Fred Sjöberg, born 1953, is an educated singer and choral conductor at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and Örebro. Among others he has studied with Prof. Solwig Grippe, Prof. Eric Ericson and Prof. Helmuth Rilling. He has been the first conductor to conduct the three major international youth choirs as World Youth Choir (1991 and 2005), World Chamber Choir (1993) and European Youth Choir (1999).

When the Swedish organization for young choirs “UngiKör” started he was elected as their first president. In 2000 he was appointed as the “Conductor of the Year” in Sweden by SCDA (Swedish Choral Directors Association) appointed with the Johannes Norrby Medallion for outstanding and 2001 service and development to the Swedish Choral Life. From 1997 to 2004 he was the Music Director and conductor of the project “Notes for Millions”.

From 2000 to 2004 he was also Music Director of the Swedish Choral Centre as well as Artistic Director for Lund International Choral Festival from 2005 to 2006. Since 2009 he is Music Director of Swedish International Choral Centre in Örebro. Fred Sjöberg has been Vice President of Europa Cantat as well as President of the Music Commission of Europa Cantat and has also been Vice President of IFCM.

He is Council Member of INTERKULTUR and also on the Artistic Directorium of INTERKULTUR.

From 2015 he is General Artistic Director of INTERKULTUR.

Joy Hill is a conductor at the Royal College of Music Junior Department, London, where she conducts the senior choirs. She also directs Vigala Singers, the RCMJD alumni choir, creating many cross-cultural performance projects and bringing people together through great choral music, most recently performing at the Basilica di Santa Barbara in Mantua, Italy. Joy Hill was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship to study the process of choral education and choral conducting in Sweden and has worked internationally as conductor, adjudicator and guest lecturer at leading choral institutions including Yale School of Music and the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. Formerly Senior Lecturer in Music and Music Education, University College London (IOE), a member of the Royal College of Music Centre for Performance Science and choir conductor and teacher at the Purcell School, she is renowned for her commitment to performing compositions by young students as well as premiering new choral works by leading contemporary composers.  Joy Hill is a member of the INTERKULTUR World Choir Council.