Mia Makaroff is a Finnish composer, arranger, music educator, and choral conductor. A graduate of the Sibelius Academy, she has worked extensively with choirs and schools, creating and leading a wide range of musical projects. She currently conducts several successful choirs, including the Vivace choirs in Vantaa, and the Ocarina choirs and Hinthaaran Kyläkuoro in the Porvoo region. Her compositions have been performed worldwide by renowned groups such as Rajaton, The King’s Singers, and Cantus.

Mia has taken part in international initiatives like Song Bridge, and composed larger works such as the musical Kruunulapset (Crown Children) and the choral mass Diligam Te. She has also led composition masterclasses for children’s choirs across Europe, and regularly serves as a juror and lecturer at choral festivals. Passionate about creativity and connection, she is currently developing MunKuoro/MinKör—a Finnish network of inclusive, non-auditioned youth choirs.

Marleen De Boo obtained both an MA in Music Pedagogy and in Choral Conducting. She lectures choral conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp and is conductor of the Big Choir at that same institute. At the Podiumacademie Lier she teaches choral conducting in courses for amateurs, but also for semi-professionals and professionals. One of these programs focuses on working with children and youth. 

Marleen is Artistic Director of VZW Waelrantkoren, a non-profit organization with eight choirs, five of them conducted by her. Her conducting practice covers various age groups with a strong emphasis on the pedagogical aspects of choral singing. Her main motivation is to allow amateurs, especially children and young people, to discover the beauty of choral music. She strives for her choirs to be a gentle environment for young people searching for their identity, a place where everyone can show their true self. 

With Waelrant Youth Choir, she participates in international festivals and competitions. This choir currently holds the 13th place in the INTERKULTUR World Ranking.

Ben Parry has a busy career as a conductor, composer, singer, arranger and music producer. He is director of London Voices with whom he has performed in major concert houses around the world as well as conducting many major film soundtracks including Harry Potter, The Hobbit and Avengers. He studied Music and History of Art at Cambridge University, and was a member of King’s College Choir. In the mid-1980s he joined The Swingle Singers with whom he toured globally and performed with some of the world’s greatest musicians including Stephane Grappelli, Pierre Boulez and Dizzy Gillespie. 

Moving to Edinburgh in 1995, he co-founded the Dunedin Consort, which has gone on to establish itself as Scotland’s premiere Baroque ensemble. He moved back to England in 2003 and has since held various prestigious directorial posts at St. Paul’s School, London, Junior Royal Academy of Music, King’s College Cambridge, Aldeburgh Festival and the National Youth Choir. As an orchestral conductor he has worked with many of the UK’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Academy of Ancient Music, Britten Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, London Symphony, London Philharmonic and BBC Concert Orchestras. 

Ben’s own compositions and arrangements include a burgeoning catalogue of choral music for Peters Edition and OUP. He has enjoyed commissions from, among others, the St John’s College, Cambridge, BBC Singers, Chelmsford, Ely, Norwich and Worcester cathedrals, and his music has been heard at the BBC Proms and on the TV and radio. Ben features on the credits of well over 300 recordings, broadcasts and film soundtracks.

Photos: Ilkka Siitari, David Borland

Photos: Markku Lehtinen