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.

Sara Matteucci is a Choral Conductor and musicologist. A graduate of Choral Music and Choral Conducting and of History of Music, she is professor of Choral Singing at “Luigi Boccherini” Conservatory of Lucca. With her choruses she has performed at premier theatres in Italy and abroad, collaborating with renowned personalities such as Zubin Mehta, Fabio Luisi, Daniel Oren, Yu Feng, Hirofumi Yoshida, and participating in over 200 opera productions and numerous symphonic-choral concerts, including Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, Puccini’s Mass, Mahler’s Symphony n.8, Cherubini’s Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana and Rossini’s Petite Messe, among others.

She is the preparer of the Children’s Choir at the Opera Theatre of Florence and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and since 1996 she has conducted the Children’s Choir of the Opera Theatre and “Santa Cecilia” Chapel of the Cathedral of Lucca, with an active concert schedule. From 2010 to 2016 she has also been choral conductor at “Puccini Festival” of Torre del Lago. She is often invited to be part of the jury of national and international choral competitions. Director of musicology periodical «Codice 602», she had also several books published and has been lecturer for many music conferences and conventions.

Erika Budai studied as a pianist and professional musician at the Royal Music Academy of Brussels and Lemmens Institute of Louvain (Belgium). She participated in composition master classes in Germany under Karl-Heinz Stockhausen and Wolfgang Rihm, as well as attending choral education in Belgium, Italy, Hungary and Israel. Erika Budai received several numbers of commissions for the Belgian Radio Choir and composed a great deal of compulsory pieces for national and international choir competitions. So far she has composed approximately 160 works, mostly for choral and chamber music. Erika Budai is regularly invited as a jury member at national and international music competitions in Belgium, Italy, Slovakia and Croatia. She is appointed as a teacher of music composition and harmony at the Music Conservatory of Louvain (Belgium).

Peter Pontvik studied choral conducting, composition and musicology in Uruguay as well as composition with Sven-David Sandström at the Royal College of Music (Stockholm) and Wolfgang Rihm (Karlsruhe, Germany). Pontvik’s compositions include choir works as Sagitra and Amen, the song cycle Norr om Himlen, a Missa Brevis and Candombe for wind orchestra. Pontvik has researched in the field of Latin American baroque music.

He founded the Ensemble Villancico in 1995 and serves as its artistic director. Pontvik is the founder of Stockholm Early Music Festival and its artistic director since 2002. He is also the chairman of NORDEM (Nordic Early Music). As president of REMA, the European Early Music Network, he created the “European Early Music Day” in 2013. Peter Pontvik has received the First Prize in Choral Composition in Tolosa, Spain, the “Cultural Promoter of the Year” from the Swedish Festival Association, and the Swedish Early Music Prize.