Address: Artemidos 121 (Junction Artemidos & Klada Street), 24134 Kalamata

The Kalamata Dance Megaron was constructed with funding mainly from the European Union and the Greek State, in order to house the activities of the Kalamata International Dance Centre, during the International Dance Festival, which takes place every year in July, as well as cultural events that take place throughout the year. It first opened its doors in July 2013. Every year it welcomes the dance world’s most prestigious names and, since 2015, every second year, choirs from around the world.

Kalamata Dance Megaron is a modern, multi functional hall. It has a main hall with 650 seats and a small hall with 200 seats, as well a massive foyer on the ground floor and another one on the upper floor.

Text and photo: Municipality of Kalamata

Address: 95 Aristomenous Street, 24131 Kalamata

Named after the well-known film director, scriptwriter and film producer Theo Angelopoulos (1935-2012), who was originally from Messinia (the wider area, of which Kalamata is the capital), this amphitheatre, built to host seminars, concerts and workshops, opened in 2006. It is centrally located, close to the Municipal Theatre, on the main shopping street, and just a few minutes’ walk from the Kalamata Dance Megaron and the Holy Taxiarches Church. With its 250 seats and good acoustic, it is a suitable place for the competition and evaluation performances.

Text and photo: Municipality of Kalamata

Address: Taxiarchon Square - Vas. Georgiou & Asklipiou Street, 24100 Kalamata

The Holy Taxiarches Church is dedicated to the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel. The church is located in Kalamata city center. Its construction begun in 1938 and it was inaugurated in 1956. Its architectural style is hellenobyzantine. Dimitrios Kentakas, a famous craftsman, painted its murals in byzantine style.

Text and photo: Municipality of Kalamata

Address: Junction of Sfakianaki Street & Anatoliko Kentro, 24100 Kalamata

The Award Ceremony will be held in Tenta Sports Hall. Tenta Sports Hall is actually a huge tent, used for various sports events. With a total of 2000 seats, it can host all participants of the Kalamata International Choir Competition & Festival. A big stage is constructed especially for the official events of the choir competition, but there is still enough space for the participants to sing and dance together and celebrate the results.

Text: Municipality of Kalamata. Photos: INTERKULTUR

Address: Platea, Aristomenous Street, 24100 Kalamata

The Central Square of Kalamata is the social hub of the city that is surrounded by bars, shops, cafés and restaurants. From afternoon until late in the night, the square buzzes with life, with people enjoying a shady spot in one of the cafés or restaurants.
During the festival, friendship concerts are staged on an open-air stage in the middle of the square and the choir parade finds its festive end and an eager audience to welcome them.

Text: Municipality of Kalamata. Photo: INTERKULTUR

Address: Georgiou Karelia and Simonos Karras Str., Anatolikos Synoikismos, 24100 Kalamata

The Kalamata Music School was founded in September 1993 and operated with 14 students in the 1st High School. Today the school reaches 280 students.
Since 2013, the school is housed in a new state-of-the-art building that meets all the specifications of a music school with general and music education rooms, workshops, a library and a 500-seat amphitheater.
The students of the school are taught all general education subjects as well as European and Greek Traditional Music in theory and practice.
In addition to studying a musical instrument, students also participate in musical ensembles such as European Music Choir, Greek Traditional Music Choir, and Orchestra, Classical Music Orchestra, Modern Music Ensemble, Folk Music Ensemble, etc.

Text and photo: Municipality of Kalamata

Address: Aristomenous Street, 24100 Kalamata, Greece

The Municipal Railway Park is an open-air museum that spans 14 acres and has been open since 1986. It hosts cultural activities and features steam locomotives, fountains, ponds, playing fields, playgrounds, open-air attractions, an amphitheatre, and a cafe situated within the historical station house.

Since 2024, Angelika Berrini has served as President of the Austrian Choral Association. Prior to this appointment, she was Artistic Director of the Burgenland Choral Association. Since 2022, she has been the Managing Director for Concerts at Esterházy, overseeing the classic.Esterhazy concert series and the internationally renowned HERBSTGOLD Festival in Eisenstadt. She also teaches piano at the ORG Theresianum Eisenstadt, a secondary school with a music focus, where she directs the upper school choir.

Her musical education began in childhood with piano and guitar lessons. She studied Musicology and Cultural Management at the University of Graz and Instrumental and Vocal Pedagogy, majoring in piano, at the Joseph Haydn Conservatory in Eisenstadt under Professor James McChesney. Her training was further enriched by organ studies, improvisation courses with Peter Planyavsky, professional voice and speech training, and repeated participation in the International Choral Academy Krems under the direction of Erwin Ortner.

Over many years, Angelika Berrini has conducted several choirs, gaining extensive experience in choral rehearsal and concert performance. In addition, she has long been involved in the organisation and production of choral and orchestral concerts, performs as an organist for radio and television church services, writes programme notes for concert publications, including those of the International Choral Academy Krems, and regularly serves as a jury member at choral competitions.

Milena Dobreva, born in 1962 in Burgas, Bulgaria, is a distinguished music educator and conductor. She holds qualifications in Pop and Jazz Singing from the National Academy of Music in Sofia, as well as in Music Technology from Sofia University. With over three decades of experience, Milena has taught at leading music institutions, including the National School of Music and Performing Arts in Burgas.

Milena founded and leads the renowned vocal ensemble Fortissimo, known for its innovative performances and artistic excellence. She is also the creator of the award-winning children’s vocal formation Morski Pesachinki, which has produced several albums and achieved national and international recognition.

As a composer and arranger, her works have won awards at prestigious competitions. Milena’s achievements include the “Teacher of the Year” award, “Burg of the Year,” and the “Crystal Lyre” for music excellence. She was named Music Educator of the Year 2023 by Bulgarian National Radio and is an Honorary Citizen of Burgas.

Milena’s commitment to music education and performance continues to inspire new generations of artists.

Rosie Mastrosavva was born in Rhodes. She studied piano, monody, and advanced theory of music at the National Conservatory of Athens and attended classes on choir conducting by A. Kontogeorgiou and M. Logiadis. She continued her studies in Germany at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and completed them, achieving an honours degree and a Master’s degree in choir conducting. She has attended numerous masterclasses in choir and orchestra conducting. Rosie Mastrosavva has conducted several choirs in Germany and Greece, including Melismachor, Amasingers, the Students’ Choir of the University of the Aegean, and the Children’s Choir of the Musical Ensembles of the Municipality of Athens. She is also a choir professor at Alimos Music High School. Rosie Mastrosavva has given international choral seminars and workshops in Europe and has been a lecturer at the Department of Primary Education of the University of the Aegean in Rhodes. She has served as a jury member in many international choir competitions. In 2008, she founded the ROSARTE Children and Youth Choir, which she continues to direct to this day. Rosarte was the first Greek choir to win four gold medals at the World Choir Games (2008, 2014, 2018). In December 2016, Rosarte and the conductor Rosie Mastrosavva were awarded an honorary distinction by the Academy of Athens (Academia Athinon) for supreme cultural and artistic achievements. This highly respected award was given to a choir for the first time in the Academy’s 90-year history.

Mārtiņš Klišāns is one of the most active choir conductors we have at the time in Latvia. Since 1998, he works as art director of the Rīga Cathedral Boys’ Choir. So far, under his guidance, the choir has been granted the Latvian Grand Music Award - the highest State award in music and Latvian Music Recording Award. The last 19 recordings were produced under him.

M. 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, M. 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 performance of the Baroque operas and oratories. He’s been an astounding success as Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in 1993. In collaboration with Andris Veismanis, Mārtiņš Klišāns has accepted responsibility of the early music choir Sacrum: it was the choir interested in the Baroque and Renaissance authentic music who won numerous international prizes imminently. M. Klišāns still teaches at the Rīga Cathedral Choir School and at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music. Since 2012 he is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Choral Conducting in Academy.

In July, 2004, Mārtiņš Klišāns was a guest conductor at the Americafest: the world festival for boys’ and men’s choir singing. He’s a member of the INTERKULTUR World Choir Council, and has conducted amateur choirs Juventus and Beverīna, was a chief conductor of Cēsis district. For the present, Klišāns conducts the mixed choir  Valmiera, and is a chief conductor of Smiltene, Valka and Valmiera. Mārtiņš Klišāns has also been elected chief conductor of the Great Song Festival 2008 and 2013, 2018 (for this festival M. Klišāns was an artistic director) and 2023 as well; he was also among the chief conductors of the IX and X Latvian Youth Song and Dance Festivals. Since 2019 Mārtiņš Klišāns is a Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Choral Sector of the Latvian National Cultural Centre. Annually he is invited to the different choral competitions as a jury member, also a conductor of chamber operas: in 2007 - Nick Gotham's chamber opera Pilot, in 2014 - Krists Auznieks's chamber opera Wind of the Sun.

In 2015 Mārtiņš Klišāns got the highest State award – The Order of Three Stars.

Jonas Rasmussen is an award-winning Danish conductor, composer, and educator. He currently serves as Artistic Director of the Academic Choir of Aarhus, Youth Choir Aarhus U, and Ensemble Novum. In addition, he teaches classical choral conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. Known for his commitment to musical excellence, Jonas has led his ensembles to multiple international awards, including victories at the World Choral Championship (Tokyo), Let the Peoples Sing (Barcelona), the Kalamata International Choir Competition, and the European Choir Games.
He studied choral conducting at the University of Cambridge, the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, and the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus. As a conductor, he has collaborated with renowned ensembles such as Ars Nova Copenhagen, VOCES8, and The King’s Singers. His work spans both classical and contemporary repertoire, with a particular passion for renewing the Danish choral tradition.
In addition to his conducting engagements, Jonas is a sought-after workshop leader and mentor, especially committed to supporting the next generation of choral conductors. With a strong belief in collaboration, innovation, and community engagement, he is dedicated to shaping the future of choral music in Denmark and beyond.

Prof. dr hab. Renata Szerafin-Wójtowicz is a Professor of Conducting at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. Head of the Department of Choral Studies and Music Education.

She was awarded three times for special achievements by the Mayor of Toruń and in 2017 with the bronze medal "Gloria Artis" by the Minister of Culture. In 2018, she was awarded the Silver Medal for Long Service by the President of the Republic of Poland. She conducts, among others, the Children's Choir "Gioia di Cantare" and the Youth Choir "Semper Iuvenes" of the Toruń Music School, as well as the Chamber Choir "Akolada" in Bydgoszcz. 

Renata Szerafin-Wójtowicz is an author of publications on music, participates as a speaker in national and international scientific choral music conferences, and gives lectures and workshops for conductors. She is regularly invited as a jury member to choral competitions around the world, is a consulter to the Center for Artistic Education as well as the Artistic Council director of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian branch of Polish Choirs' and Orchestras Association. 

She is the initiator and director of the Choir Competition and Festival "Musica in Urbe" in Bydgoszcz. With her ensembles she has performed more than 700 concerts worldwide and won over 200 awards in choir competitions, including over 20 Grand Prix, special prizes for the best performances, 45 individual awards and a dozen Best Conductor Prizes. In addition to hundreds of a cappella works, including numerous premieres and compositions dedicated to her, she has conducted many vocal-instrumental works.