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.

conductor, pianist, adjudicator

• licenciate of the Royal Schools of Music in Choral Conducting
• pianist and pedagogue
• founder and director of the children's choir "Cor Vivaldi of Barcelona"
• national and international adjudicator in Tours, Cantonigròs, Linz, Calella, Torrevieja and others
• has commissioned and premiered several new works dedicated to him and his choir

He was born in Pineda de Mar (Barcelona) and he began his singing studies at the Conservatori del Liceu with Cecilia Fontdevila and Enriqueta Tarrés, where he graduated with top grades and received an honourable mention. He has been awarded in several singing competitions, like the International Competition XVI for singers Francesco Cilea of Reggio di Calabria and the Young Musicians Festival VI in Catalonia. He has been awarded by the Jaume Aragall Foundation with a scholarship. He has also attended to master classes given by Montserrat Caballé and other opera singers. His repertoire includes operas like La Bohème, La Traviata, Tosca and many others; lieder and zarzuela, as well as oratorios and cantatas. He has performed in theatres around Europe and Central America, including the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

He is a pupil of maestro Salvador Brotons at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya. In 1998 he started giving singing lessons at the music academy Centre Musical Can Salom, where he became director in 2002. He is the director of Cor i Orquestra Simfònica Harmonia and the artistic director of the Temporada Lírica Ciutat de Calella.

Volkan Akkoç started his music education at the Istanbul University State Conservatory and graduated in 2007. He carried out MSc. studies in Istanbul Technical University Center for Advanced Studies in Music.He also completed MSc. degree in Composition and Orchestral Conducting Department of Istanbul University State Conservatory where he still continues his doctorate studies.

Since 2012 he has also been working at the İstanbul University State Conservatory Composition and Orchestral Conducting Department. He conducts the Conservatory’s Undergraduate Students’ Choir and Childrens Choir and has been invited to İstanbul State Opera and Ballet as a guest choir conductor since 2014.

He also continues to work with the female choir “Sirene” as the founding music director and conductor since 2014. In 2017 Sirene competed in the 10th International Johannes Brahms Choir Competition in Germany and in 2018 in the 8th International Robert Schumann Choir Competition and won two golden diploma and awarded the jury’s special prize as well.

He has made many compositions for chamber music, orchestral music and especially for a cappella choir music. In 2018 Akkoç won the first prize with his new composition at one of the significant 13. century Turkish poet Yunus Emre's poem in the "2. A cappella Choir Composition Competition" organized by Ministry of Tourism and Culture of Turkey. He is the music commission member of the Choral Culture Assosiation in Turkey.

He was born in Pineda de Mar (Barcelona) and he began his singing studies at the Conservatori del Liceu with Cecilia Fontdevila and Enriqueta Tarrés, where he graduated with top grades and received an honourable mention. He has been awarded in several singing competitions, like the International Competition XVI for singers Francesco Cilea of Reggio di Calabria and the Young Musicians Festival VI in Catalonia. He has been awarded by the Jaume Aragall Foundation with a scholarship. He has also attended to master classes given by Montserrat Caballé and other opera singers. His repertoire includes operas like La Bohème, La Traviata, Tosca and many others; lieder and zarzuela, as well as oratorios and cantatas. He has performed in theatres around Europe and Central America, including the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

He is a pupil of maestro Salvador Brotons at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya. In 1998 he started giving singing lessons at the music academy Centre Musical Can Salom, where he became director in 2002. He is the director of Cor i Orquestra Simfònica Harmonia and the artistic director of the Temporada Lírica Ciutat de Calella.

Since 1998, Mārtiņš Klišāns, works as art director of the Rīga Cathedral Boys’ Choir. Under his guidance, the choir has been granted the Latvian Grand Music Award - the highest State award in music and Latvian Music Recording Award.

Klišāns has graduated from the conducting class at the Jāzeps Vītols’ Latvian Music Academy (tutored by Imants Kokars). He got his Master’s degree in 2009. His vocal skills were improved at Bach Academy (Stuttgart, Bruce Abel). As a vocalist, Klišāns has contributed to the chamber choir Ave Sol and Rīga Vocal Group. As a tenor solo performer, he has participated in more than one hundred performances of the Baroque operas and oratories.

Klišāns still teaches at the Rīga Cathedral Choir School and at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music. In July, 2004, he was a guest conductor at the Americafest: the world festival for boys’ and men’s choir singing. He’s a member of the council of the World Choir Games and of the INTERKULTUR association, and has been a part of international juries lately. He is the conductor of the amateur choirs Juventus and Beverīna and also conducts the mixed choir Vaidelote, the mixed choir Valmiera, and is chief conductor of Cēsis district. Klišāns has also been elected chief conductor of the Great Song Festival 2008, 2013 and 2018 as well; he was also among the chief conductors of the IX and X Latvian Youth Song and Dance Festivals. Annually he is invited to the different choral competitions as a jury member. In 2015 Mārtiņš Klišāns got the highest State award – The Order of Three Stars.

Thomas Kreiling started with choir singing and playing organ at primary school and was member of the school choir. He finished his pipe-organ education at the age of 16 with B-license (professional) and studied music in Frankfurt, Regensburg, Vienna and Warsaw with main focus on conducting and composing for choirs. The PhD graduation (topic: contemporary vocal music) was in 2005/2006.

2005, Kreiling has founded the mixed choir Chorona Buseck and he is still the conductor of the group. The choir has developed to an international award-winning choir and is the gold-medal and grand-prix winner in Barcelona (2014), gold-medal winner in Prague (2016), further it won several national prices and awards. Kreiling was honorary head of conductors and artistic director of the regional choir federation (2009-2015) and works on regular bases for the Dr. Hochs Conservatory in Frankfurt as guest lecturer and clinician.

His expertise was also appreciated by invitation of Assumption University Bangkok (2014/2017) by Dean Prof. Dr. Nathara Mhunpiew, University of Santo Tomas, Manila (2016/2018) by Prof. Fidel G. Calalang jr, University Shah-Alam Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2017) by Dean Prof. Dr. Ramona Mohd Tahir, NAFA School of Music, Singapore (2017) by Dean Prof. Lim Yau and San Francisco Gay Men Choir, California (2017) by Dr. Timothy Seelig.

He regularly lectured workshops at HAMU Charles University in Prague and was hired as detractor and juror at national and international choir competitions.

Elena Rosso Valiña, graduated in piano and chamber music, as well as teacher of piano and choir at the municipal music school of Carreño. It is formed in a choral direction with teachers like Xabier Sarasola, Julio Domínguez, Basilio Astúlez, Enrique Azurza, Javier Busto or Johan Duijck, among others.

She is the founder director of the children’s choir “Los Peques del León de Oro” and the female choir “Aurum”, with whom she has won international awards in competitions such as Tolosa, Debrecen, Varna, Torrevieja, Cantonigrós, Arezzo and Rimini. She is a singer and technical coach of the “El León de Oro” choir since its inception in 1996. Likewise, she obtains the “Best Conductor Choir” award in the contest “Polyphonic Guido d’Arezzo” 2012 and “Montreaux Choral Competition” 2018.

In turn, it is usually required to teach courses and workshops of choral conducting to directors, and choruses for children or youth.