Address: 4-2-2 Kusunokicho, Chuo Ward, Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture 650-0017, Japan

Kobe Cultural Hall offers the opportunity to enjoy high quality performing arts in a wide range of genres such as music, theater and ballet at relatively low prices. The Kobe Culture Hall, with 2 floors underground and 6 floors above the ground, with a total floor area of 18,603 m2, is a public hall with a multipurpose large hall mainly composed for music, a multipurpose middle hall centered on theater, a rehearsal room, a multipurpose room and others. Located in Chuo-ku, Kobe City, it is a 1-minute walk from Okurayama Subway Station.

Photo: kobe-infos.com

Saeko Hasegawa is President of Japan Choral Association (JCA). As Conductor Laureate and Honorary Artistic Director of the Little Singers of Tokyo (LSOT), she has led and contributed to the success of LSOT's various projects including subscription concerts. She is an active member of the Japanese and international choral community, committed to promoting choral music both in Japan and overseas.
Since being appointed Principal Conductor of the LSOT in 1971, Saeko has founded and conducted the Senior Choir and Youth Choir comprising of LSOT graduates who perform works from Gregorian Chants to Renaissance choral music as well as contemporary works from Japan and abroad to enrich and increase their repertoire and to improve their techniques.
She has been very active internationally as lecturer and adjudicator in many competitions, such as Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod, International Chamber Choir Competition Marktoberdorf, and Singapore Youth Festival. She was Chairperson of the Artistic Committee at the 7th World Symposium on Choral Music in Kyoto, and was invited as a conductor for the 1st and the 3rd Asia Pacific Youth Choir (APYC).
Saeko is a former Vice President and was a Board member of the International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM) over 20 years. Awards received include the Medal with Blue Ribbon in 2023 Autumn Conferment of Decorations for many years of service to the music culture and the Agency for Cultural Affairs Commissioner’s Award in 2019.

Dr. Randall Johnson received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Washington in Seattle. He then joined the faculty of the University of Guam with principal responsibilities in solo and ensemble vocal music. His additional responsibilities varied but have included ear training, jazz band, conducting, music theory, saxophone and others as needed.
He has travelled to over 30 countries as a conductor, singer, instrumentalist and clinician. Randall Johnson has written choral music for many different choirs and his university choirs have won competitions internationally and performed in choral festivals and tours to 13 different countries. One of his recent compositions, "Ragnarök", was commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association for their grades 7-10 TTBB National Honor Choir. The piece will premiere at the ACDA National Conference in Dallas, Texas, in March 2025. Randall is thrilled to be part of the INTERKULTUR "Sing From Kobe" international choir festival and competition!
Besides music, Randall and his wife and 14-year-old daughter enjoy many of the activities available on the tropical island of Guam: hiking, biking, kayaking, snorkeling, scuba and sailing.

Dr. Beverly Shangkuan-Cheng is the President of the Philippine Choral Directors Association, Chair of the Conducting & Choral Ensemble Department of the University of the Philippines College of Music, and Artistic Director of the Las Piñas International Bamboo Organ Festival.
She is a first prize winner at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) National Graduate Conducting Competition. She also won first prize for the A1 Piano Category of the Philippines' National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA). She is the Philippine representative to the Asia Pacific Choral Council and was appointed as conductor of the Asia Pacific Youth Choir for its 2018 Season. In 2023, she served as one of the Artistic Directors for the World Symposium for Choral Music, an event organized by the International Federation for Choral Music. She was also a featured presenter at the 2023 National Conference of the American Choral Directors Association. In the same year, she served as guest conductor of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra in one of its season concerts.
Dr. Shangkuan-Cheng's conducting, academic, and teaching awards include the Levi Barbour Fellowship from the University of Michigan, the Phyllis Curtin Career Entry Award from the Yale School of Music, the Margot Fassler Award and the Hugh Giles Prize from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, the 2022 - 2024 One UP Professorial Chair Award in Music for Outstanding Creative Work and Public Service and the 2023 UP Diliman Centennial Professorial Chair.
Performance and adjudication engagements have brought her to Belgium, South Africa, Germany, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Spain, Vietnam, Portugal, Singapore, and the US. She also regularly leads workshops in different parts of the Philippines.
Dr. Shangkuan-Cheng received a Bachelor of Music (summa cum laude) from the University of the Philippines, a Master of Music from the Yale School of Music and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan.