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.

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.

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.

Tove Ramlo-Ystad is  an educated singer and conductor with a Master Degree from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim.

Her teachers and mentors in conducting have been Stefan Sköld, Anders Eby and Mogens Dahl.

Tove Ramlo-Ystad is one of Norway’s most acknowledged choir conductors. She is a very popular and inspiring guest conductor and she is frequently invited as an adjudicator in international choir competitions.

She has conducted the female choir "Cantus" since their beginning in 1986. "Cantus" has received a lot of attention, won several competitions and is known by their Nordic sound. This sound was the reason Disney discovered "Cantus", and led to the choir being asked to sing in their animation movie 'Frozen'.

In the past she has also conducted both mixed and male ensembles. Now her experience especially serves to mentor  younger conductors.

Tove Ramlo-Ystad works for the Norwegian Choral Association as a music director, where developing education systems for conductors in Norway is one of the main issues.

Romāns Vanags is a graduate of Emils Darzins' specialized music college and of the Department of Choir and Orchestra Conducting of Jazeps Vitols' Latvian State Conservatory in Riga. He has received a diploma in choir conducting and in music pedagogy. He studied also symphonic orchestra conducting. In 2003, Romāns Vanags received the professional master's degree in music.

His professional work is focused on conducting and pedagogy. He has been the Chief Conductor of the teachers' choir "Vanema" from 1984 – 2004 and since 1990, he has been the principal Conductor of the Latvian University Female Choir "Minjona". Since 1987, he has been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of Jāzeps Mediņš Music School Boys` Choir and has worked with the Jāzeps Mediņš Music College Symphonic Orchestra from 1990 – 1993. Since 1987 Romāns Vanags was employed at the Latvian Academy of Music in Riga as professor of choir conducting. From 2005 to 2012 he was the head of the Conducting Department.

Romāns Vanags has been the organizer of various courses for conductors in numerous countries around the world and also jury member of many international choral competitions. He has been appointed as one of the chief conductors of the All Latvian Song Celebration and the Youth Song Festival. Since 2008 he is a member of the World Choir Council. Since August 2014 Romāns Vanags is one of the Artistic Directors of INTERKULTUR and also chairman of the Latvian choral conductors’ board.

The choirs conducted by Romāns Vanags have won numerous awards at international competitions (Arezzo, Debrecen, Tour, Varna, Powel River) and made concert tours all over the world.

In 2008 Romāns Vanags received the highest civil decoration in Latvia – the Three Star Order.