Basilio Astulez (Basque Country/Spain)

Born in 1975, he graduated in Fine Arts at the University of the Basque Country and studied music in Vitoria-Gasteiz. He trained as a conductor in the choral federation Herria Euskal, attending courses and seminars with J. Duyick and J. Busto. Between 1996 and 2004 he conducted among others the Alaitz Abesbatza choir in Vitoria-Gasteiz with which he won several national and international awards, including the National Grand Prix of choir singing in 2000. In 1999 he founded Vocalia Taldea, female chamber group that has won important international awards (Toulouse, Torrevieja, Maasmechelen, Arezzo, Tours, Cork). He founded the youth choir Leioa Kantika Korala in 2000 and the mixed choir SJB in 2007 that has over 200 young singers and has already won several awards in Spain and Europe (Toulouse, Torrevieja, Gorizia). With his choirs he has recorded 12 albums, has toured Europe, Asia and America and has worked with important soloists, orchestras, conductors and groups receiving the special award for best director in 2008 in Gorizia and in 2009 in Tours (France). In 2014 he performed with the Leioa Kantika Korala at the X World Symposium on Choral Music in Seoul (South Korea). He currently teaches choral conducting for schools, universities and many music institutes in Spain and Europe and is often invited to take part in the competion juries and to teach choral singing courses and seminars all over the world.

Çiğdem Aytepe e Atilla Çağdaşr (Turkey) 

Çiğdem studied violin at high school and has graduated from composition and orchestral conducting department of Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory (HUASC) in 2003 and she has gained her master degree in orchestral and choral conducting program in 2009. She has attended masterclasses with H.J. Lustig, F.M. Bressan, V. Nees, J. Rathbone, E. Carrasco, A. Farkas, P. Broadbent, P. Erdei, V. Hempfling, C. Pavese, L. Donati, N. Corti and R. Rasmussen. Since 2005, she has been working in HUASC; currently, she is conducting Conservatory Choir, Saygun Philharmonic Choir, Turkish Radio Broadcast Ankara Youth Choir and Ertuğrul Oğuz Fırat mixed Choir. She materialised numerous projects and got rewarded thanks to these choirs. 

Atilla has graduated from Bilkent University faculty of music and performing arts (choir department) in 2002. He had his doctoral degree at Gazi University Institute of educational sciences music teaching program in 2012. He had the opportunity to work with several choral conductors both in Turkey and from abroad. He has been working in HUASC since 2005. Currently, he conducts Conservatory Secondary and High School Choirs, Muammer Sun mixed choirs. He has been organising young choral conductors’ academy for 5 years now and also conducts varied projects.Çiğdem and Atilla have been working together particularly in children’s and youth choirs since 2005. Principally, they have founded laboratory choirs to advance singers and young educators and conceived basic fields of application for both groups. They have committed books and essays to paper, supported social responsibility projects and incentively registered throughout the region thanks to the efficiency and projects.

Maria Grazia Bellia (Italy)

Maria Grazia Bellia is a choir conductor, researcher, trainer and teacher. She has a degree in piano and in pedagogy and sciences of education and training at the La Sapienza University of Rome. She created the Coroscenico didactic project which promotes an inclusive choral practice accessible to everybody. She has collaborated with G. Marini for the italian spread of the Venezuelan Manos Blancas project, an integrated choir for children and young people with several deficits. She founded and conducts the Noteincantate children's choir of the Donna Olimpia popular music school in Rome and the Mani Bianche Choir of Rome. She is a trainer in international refresher courses organized by SIEM. She works as an external expert and as a trainer at several music, primary and junior high schools, and actively collaborates with the Italian Orff-Schulwerk project. She is a trainer for MIUR and in many courses at national level, including the training course in Research Methodology for teaching and musical interpretation organised by the Incanto Center in Bologna in collaboration with the Royal College of Music of London . She currently teaches music pedagogy at the V. Bellini Higher Institute of Music Studies in Catania. She has published for the editors EdT, LIM and La Scuola and in the magazines UPPA, Musica Domani and Choraliter.  

Marco Berrini (Italy)

Debora Bria (Italy)

Debora Bria, studied at the Conservatories G. Verdi of Turin and L. Cherubini of Florence, where she obtained a pianistic diploma under the guidance of G. Sacchetti. She studied composition under A. Ruo Rui, has attended ancient music masterclasses with E. Fadini, experimental didactics with D. Bartolini, 900s pianist music with G. Cascioli, choir conducting with L. Donati and M. Mora at “Fondazione G. d’ Arezzo”. She obtained an important award at the National Competition for children and youth choirs “Il Garda in Coro” of Malcesine as the best emergent conductor (2009) and as the best conductor in 2013. Moreover, she also won the prize as best conductor at the International Choir Competition, Riva del Garda 2016. She is the conductor and founder of the Artemusica Choir of Valperga, Tourin, with which she has an intensive activity and makes record productions. She also played duo pianistic works with C. Beltramo. She’s often invited to take part in the competion juries and to teach in choral singing workshops and seminars.

Maria Canton (Italy) 

She began her musical studies at the G. Rossini Academy of Music of Santa Giustina Bellunese and later at the A. Steffani Castelfranco Veneto and B. Marcello Venice Conservatories, where she graduated with honors in piano under the guidance of M. Somenzi. She studied choral music with the masters G. Durighello and G. Mazzucato and choir conducting at the F. Bonporti Conservatory of Trento with L. Donati. She attended courses in choral music at the Music School of Testaccio in Rome under the guidance of A. Scutiero, N. Conci, F. Barchi and P. Caraba. Soloist and piano accompanist in duo and trio, she has obtained several acclaims from critics and public as a pianist of Trio Piazzolla. She has conducted several choral groups, currently conducting the female choir, the children’s choir, the youth choir and the men's choir of the Francesco Sandi Music School in Feltre. She works with other choral groups including the children’s choir R. Goitre, the chamber choir Trentino, the choir Gioventù In Cantata of Marostica, the choir Giovani Voci Bassano. She has been teaching a voice and music theory course in Feltre since 2014. She is part of the Calendra Group, born in 2015, as a pianist, accordionist and singer, with whom she participated in the Folkest2015 Folk Music Festival. She is a piano teacher, musical training and choir rehearsing.

Ciro Caravano (Italy) 

Born in Salerno, he began playing piano at the age of four, finding out that he had the absolute pitch. From 1991 to today he collaborates as a music programmer, arranger and vocal coach alongside C. Mattone. In 1992 he created the Neri per Caso vocal group, playing the role of singer, conductor, producer and arranger, winning several platinum records and international awards, as well as the Sanremo Festival in 1995 (New Proposals section) and the gold record as producer with The Grass of the Basix. He deals with record productions, realizations and arrangements for Italian and international artists such as C. Baglioni, G. Paoli, the Pooh, L. Bertè, O. Vanoni, DeeDee Bridgewater, R. Crawford and N. Furtado. He has collaborated with masters such as Ferrio and Vessicchio, conducting many orchestras (Umbrian Symphony Orchestra, Roma Sinfonietta, Dimi, Naples Conservatory Orchestra). He writes soundtracks for Rai, Mediaset, De Laurentiis, Lunarossa, Disney, G. Giannini, and others. From 2006 to 2014 he conducted the Uniso Choir and in 2015 he founded the CoroPop of Salerno, made up of 80 elements. Since 2010 he has taught singing at the CSC in Cinecittà, which also teaches him in the LAB of Music for Film, directed by m ° Morricone. In April 2016, he directed 13,000 singers in Piazza Incantata (a MIUR / FENIARCO / RAI project). He conducts several stages of choral pop music in Italy and Latin America.

Mateja Černic (Italy) 

She graduated at the biennial of the choir conduction at F.A. Bonporti Conservatory of Trento with L. Donati. Moreover she graduated in Education at the University of Ljubljana in 2008, in Slovenian Language and Comparative Literature in 2013 and in Music Didactics in 2014 at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, where she studied choral conducting with M. Vatovec. She has participated in several seminars of choral conducting with R. Rassmussen, P. Schreier, G. Grün, Holten, G. Graden, N. Corti. In 2017 she was obtained the third place in the national competition for choir conductors "Le mani in suono" and she entered the final at the Slovenian National Competition Zvok mojih rok (2016). She sang the Academic Choir T. Tomšič of Ljubljana, the Italian Youth Choir, the A. Schömberg Chor of Vienna and the chamber choir Utopia & Reality and the UT Insieme Vocale Consonante. Since 2007 she has been conducting the women's choir Bodeča Neža with which she has won several awards (Neerpelt 2010, Vittorio Veneto 2011, Maribor 2012, Cantonigros 2012, Arezzo 2013, Baden 2014, Maasmechelen 2015, Quartiano 2016, Cork 2017) and since 2014 she has been conducting the mixed choir Goriški komorni zbor of Nova Gorica with which she won the first place at the Slovenian Regional Competition in 2017 and the Zlatna Lipa Tuhelj Competition in Croazia (2018). She regularly participates as a judge in international and national choral competitions and as a teacher of direction and vocality at various stages and training courses.

Marco Cordiano (Italy) 

Born in Turin, after completing his classical high school studies, he accomplished his musical studies in Turin and in Alessandria, obtaining a diploma in piano, composition, orchestral conducting and music education. He also obtained a diploma in conducting at the Pescara Music Academy studying with D. Renzetti. He currently holds the chair of the theory of harmony and analysis at the G. Nicolini Conservatory of Piacenza. The primary state school R. D'Azeglio, where he has been teaching since 1997, won the first prize of the Compagnia di Sanpaolo of Turin for musical programming and in 2014 was invited to the Quirinale to perform with two classes during the opening ceremony of the school year in the presence of the President of the Republic broadcast live on the national RAI networks. He has composed three musical theater pieces for children, staged repeatedly within the Micron review, as well as several choral and instrumental pieces for educational purposes. He published with Curci a collection of three books for the school called "Facciamo musica". He is the author of two sections of Playlist, a textbook for high schools, published by Lattes. He conducts the Mikron children choir and accompanies as a pianist the juvenile Mikron choir conducted by Paola De Faveri.

Maria Cortelletti (Italy)

Graduated in piano at the V. Gianferrari Conservatory of Trento, she participated in several courses of direction and vocality with M. Piatti, M. Deflorian, S. Korn, M. Lanaro, M. Bolzoni, B. Gini, L. Golino, G. Graden, D. Tabbia, C. Bertella, D. Tomasini, E. Rota and F. Fussi. Since 1999 she has been organizing music courses aimed at children and young people.Since 2002 she has been conducting the vocal choir Vogliam Cantare and since 2007 the vocal group with the same name. With both formations she has participated in numerous national competitions, often qualifying among the first places. She is a member of the Artistic Technical Committee of the Trentino Cori Federation, focusing in particular on the children’s and youth choirs. She held a seminar on the children’s and youth choirs for the Accademia P. Righele. Author of children’s, in collaboration with Giovanna De Feo, has published the book Cantascuola by Junior Bergamo and Christmas without borders, published by Paoline. She collaborated with the Scuola Materna magazine of the Scuola Brescia, with Didascalie, Coralità and La Cartellina. She currently holds the chair of music at the secondary school of first degree F. A. Bonporti of Trento.

Camilla Di Lorenzo (Italy)

Choir concuctor, teacher and psychologist, Camilla studied piano at the F. Torrefranca Conservatory of Vibo Valentia, she studies the teaching methods for children (Orff Schulwerk, Dalcroze, Crib Music), and obtaines a Fellowship diploma in Choral Conducting in London, she participates to choral conducting courses with M. Berrini, D. Tabbia, R. Paraninfo, C. Pavese, specializing in children vocal music with N. Conci, B. Liguori Valenti, J.M. Sciutto and T. Visioli. She teaches choral singing, piano, theory and propaedeutics in several schools of Rome including the SPM Donna Olimpia. She is a professor of choral singing at the Academy of dramatic art Cassiopeia in Rome and conductor of many children’s and young choral ensembles with which she has won several prizes and awards; to mention the youth choir With Us and the Jewish Choir of Rome Ha Kol, with which she plays an intense concert activity. She is jury member in competitions and auditions, vocal coach in theatrical performances, lecturer on campus and youth choral meetings, she has carried out vocal training for children’s, youth and adult choirs, training seminars on Orff-Schulwerk teaching for primary and high junior school teachers. Passionate and a student of sign language, she performs concerts in which the songs are sung and scored in Lis.

Rahela Durič (Slovenia/Austria)

She was born in 1988 in Maribor. She is assistant choir conductor of J. Prinz at the University for music and performing arts in Graz (Austria). She studied violin in Maribor (Slovenia) and choir conducting with J. Prinz and orchestra with W. Dörner in Graz. She received a special award from the Noël Minet Foundation as promising young director during the International Competition for Young Choral Conductors held in Turin in 2015. Since 2014 she works as a collaborator of the association Superar di Graz in a special project for children emigrated to schools with a very high percentage of foreign children, offering them a free, regular and quality music education, based in particular on choral singing. In 2015, when the issue of refugees began to become very influential, she dealt with the project called Meet4music, in collaboration with the Graz University, with the aim of promoting social integration through music. In this framework she has directed open singing sessions until June 2018. Rahela not only teaches choir conducting direction to future conductors but also deals with the training of music teachers at the University of Graz. She currently directs four choral ensembles and is a highly appreciated teacher in Austria, Slovenia and Italy.
[www.raheladuric.com]

Alessandro Fortunato and Marina Del Giudice (Italy)

Born in 1985 Alessandro Fortunato obtained a pianistic degree in organ and piano. He got master's degree in music therapy attending courses of pedagogy and musical teaching at the Orff Institute of Salzburg. He attended the course in choral liturgical conduction at the Italian Episcopal Conference and he studied at the Milan Choral Academy with M. Berrini, L. Donati, D. Fratelli, L. Leo, G. Mazzucato, L. Marzola and P. Neumann. In 2018 he studied at the Accademia Chigiana with Maestro L. Donati. Since 2006 he is the conductor of the vocal ensemble Apulia Cantat with whom he has successfully participated in several choral competitions including Matera 2013, Fermo 2015, Arezzo 2018. Marina del Giudice obtained a pianistic degree at N. Piccinni Conservatory of Bari. Then she began her singing studies and started a biannual renaissance and baroque school with L. Serafini. She graduated in choir conducting at Milano Choral Academy and at the biannual superior Arcopu school for choir conductors of the primary school with L. Leo. She sang with the Italian Youth Choir under the guide of L. Donati and D. Tabbia, and in G. M. Rossi choir with M. Berrini. She also sang in the Florilegium Vocis with S. Manzo and in the Apulia Cantat. She’s the conductor of CrescerCantandoPuglia children choir and of the female choir Parthenia. 

Both the conductors collaborate with several regional primary schools as external teachers in literacy and musical propaedeutics. In 2012 they founded the association CrescerCantandoPuglia in which they teach piano, choral exercises and musical literacy for children aged 6 up to 15 years.  

Sofia Gioldasi (Greece)

She has studied choral conducting at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (bachelor & master of Music). She received individual coaching from B. Astulez and A. Nethsingha and specialised in the combination of choral singing, body movement and stage action in children’s and youth choirs. She also holds a bachelor in Musicology/Music Education. As a member of the Nationaal Vrouwen Jeugdkoor she gave performances under the direction of important conductors. Between 2011-2013 she conducted the A. Schönberg Kamerkoor in Leiden. From 2011 to 2014 Sofia held the position of permanent conductor of the choirs of the Nieuw Amsterdams Kinderkoor. With the NAK, Sofia performed in the most important concert halls in the Netherlands. She won Silver Prize at the 9th Cantemus International Choir Competition in Hungary, recorded for the Dutch National Radio and Television, collaborated with T. Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and performed at the inauguration ceremony of the Dutch King Willem-Alexander. She has been a jury member in international choral competitions and she is frequently asked to lead workshops in Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Italy and the Netherlands. In 2015 she moved back to Greece where she is currently the conductor of the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki Mixed and Youth Choirs, the Voci Contra Tempo Female Vocal Ensemble and the American Farm School Children’s Choir, all based in Thessaloniki.

Michael Gohl (Swiss) 

He is a choir and orchestra conductor, as well as an experienced music pedagogue. choral and orchestra conducting at the Musikhochschule Zürich with André Charlet and later with internationally renowned masters such as Helmuth Rilling and Antal Dorati. His abilities to lead people of all ages to the richness and the value of music have led him to be regularly in demand as a guest and conductor of Open Singing in international festivals, as well as at several editions of the Europa Cantat festival, at the World Symposium on Choral Music, Les Choralies or the Zimriya of Jerusalem.Symphony orchestras throughout Switzerland and Germany invited him to realize his projects for a new and young public. He conducted the Jugendchor Zürich, considered one of the best youth choir in Switzerland, for many years. Michael Gohl is also the director of the Zollikon music school, teaches at the Zürich University of Arts and is the author of numerous songbooks.In 2016 and 2017, for the international festival MiTo Settembre Musica and in collaboration with Feniarco, he conducted the Open Singing involving thousands of people in Milan and in Tourin.

Merel Martens (The Netherlands)

She is a fulltime choir leader, arranger, teacher and coach. Merel followed the Bachelor program Music Education at the Codarts Conservatory in Rotterdam (The Netherlands). She went on to study the Bachelor program Choral Direction Light Music with conductor T. Krammer and she graduated in 2011. In May 2015 she received a Master’s degree in vocal leadership from the Royal Academy of Music (Danemark), studying with J.D. Hjernoe, with the highest possible honors. She is also influenced by colleagues such as P. Karlsson (ex-Real Group) and R. Treece (co-writer Vocabularies - B. McFerrin). Merel’s name is connected to the award winning vocal groups Pitch Control, MAZE and VOÏSZ Vocal Projects in the Netherlands. In addition, she is vocal coach for the professional group The Junction (The Netherlands), Perpetuum Jazzile (Slovenia), Vocalocity (Israle) and The Keystones (France). In September 2014 Merel founded the Dutch Organic Choir: a group based on rotated leadership and style-free original, partly improvised vocal music. Since November 2015, Merel has brought the Intelligent Choir method to two Dutch conservatories, educating choir leaders during courses and a master's degree in this fairly new discipline. She can often be found at international festivals presenting her method and her vision when it comes to choir leading.
[www.merelmartens.eu]

Elide Melchioni (Italy)

She was born in Bologna in 1970 and she graduated in bassoon at the G. Martini Conservatory in Bologna and in Ethnomusicology at DAMS of Bologna. Then she obtained the specialization for secondary musical teaching (SSIS) and the master tutor. The strong ethnomusicology passion brings her to care to the singing and popolular vocal issues: she sang for many years in the Latinobalcanica Ensemble and since 1998 he has conducted choirs of popular inspiration, until she creates one, the Farthan Choir, with which she obtained the victory in two categories at the Vittorio Veneto Choral Competition (2018). In addition to the bassoon, he plays the Emilian bagpipe and the ocarinas. She has recorded several CDs for Tactus and other labels and has participated in live radio and television broadcasting (La stanza della Musica and Beats on Radio3, BBC-London, The music of Rai Tre, Moby Dick on Radio2), and prestigious festivals including Radio Europa Festival and Glastonbury (UK). She has worked as a historical-scientific consultant at the docufilm Gitanistan in competition at the Biografilm Festival 2014 in Bologna. She has been delegated for the province of Bologna in Aerco and is currently a member of the Artistic Commission. She teaches in courses and workshops of vocal training and of youth and popular choral repertoire. She teaches at the G. Reni musical junior high school in Bologna.

Elia Orlando (Italy)

He approaches music through the study of the guitar as self-taught. After finishing high school he decided to start his academic career by graduating at the G. Lettimi Conservatory in Rimini. Studying guitar he became interested in the composition, an interest that led him to enroll at the three-year choral music in Bologna, and then to graduate with P.P. Scattolin. He continues his musical studies graduating at the two-year Choir Conducting in Rovigo with M. Peguri and specializing in the Superior School for Conductors of Arezzo with L. Donati. He is actually artistic director of the Choral Association Euphonios, an important reality that numbers almost 100 members divided into four choirs with a lively concert activity. In addition to many concerts in Italy and abroad with Euphonios Vocal Ensemble, he won prizes in national choral competitions and in 2017 participates at the World Tour of H. Zimmer performing at the Mediolanum Forum in Milan. In the two-year period 2014-15 he is one of the three conductors of the Tuscany Youth Choir, with which he performs at Expo Milano 2015. Since 2016 he collaborates with the Camerata Strumentale Città di Prato performing with the Choir City of Prato of which he is the trainer conductor. After graduating at the two-year teaching course in Modena, in 2016 he won the school competition, becoming a musical instrument teacher.

Anna Passarini (Italy)

She started her musical studies at the Conservatory A. Steffani of Castelfranco Veneto (Tv), studing classic guitar. She has graduated in german and russian language at the interpreter and translation school in Trieste, with a final exam about the comparison between the orthodox liturgical singing and the catholic one. She continued her musical studies in didactics and choral conducting at the Conservatory F. A. Bonporti of Trento, with L. Corbacchini and L. Donati. She works as a collaborator of many associations about primary school projects, newborns training and propedeutic guitar course. She’s part of some instrumental and choral groups, with sacred and liturgical repertoire, as InUnum Ensemble, choir of Guido Chigi Saracini Cathedral (Siena), UT Insieme vocale-consonante with whom she won the European Grand Prix for choral singing in Varna (2016). She’s the conductor of some children’s and youth choirs in the Italian regions of Veneto (San Pancrazio choir, Gruppo Kalèidos) and Trentino (Ensemble femminile Poièo). Moreover, she collaborates with F. Sandi music school of Feltre and Il Diapason of Trento for the basic choral and musical education.

José María Sciutto (Argentina - Italy) 

Choir and orchestra conductor, he has a large concert activity in symphonic-choral productions and contemporary Latin-American music and as a teacher in university master classes for the formation of choir and orchestra conductors. He is the author of choral infant pedagogy method that enjoys a wide application in Latin America and in Italy. He has conducted many orchestras in Italy, Argentina and Romania. He has also conducted the Costa Rica Symphony Orchestra, Costa Rica Juvenil, the Conservatory Orchestra of the Dominican Republic and the Juvenil Orchestra of La Florida State University. Since 1992 he has been teaching at the L. D'Annunzio Conservatory of Pescara. He is Artistic Director of the Music for Peace programme of the O.N.U., consultant for the Latin American Institute of Rome and for the Center for Music of the Americas of Florida State University; he is a member of the American Conductors Association and the FullBright Program. He has been a member of juries in international soloist and choir competitions. From 2001 to 2005 he was conductor of the Lyrical Choir and collaborator in the Artistic Direction of the V. Basso Opera House of Ascoli Piceno. From 2005 to 2010 he was the conductor of the Children’s choir and and the Laboratory of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. He is currently Director of the Choral Singing School and conductor of the children’s choir of the Opera Theatre of Rome.

Luigina Stevenin (Italy) 

Graduated in clarinet, she improved her choral conducting studies with M. Berrini, L. Donati, T. Visioli, G. Abbà, N. Conci, M. Lanaro, S. Korn and M. Mora. In 2007 she obtained the certificate of specialisation of choral conducting, third european level. Since 1992 she has been teaching choral training at the musical institute of Valle d’Aosta. She has an intensive choral activity as expert in didactic and children voices. She is the founder of the MusiCantando project for primary schools of Valle d’Aosta. Since 2007 she is the conductor of Canto Leggero choir of the M.I. Viglino Foundation for Music Culture, composed of 40 singers with who she played many concerts and obtained important collaborations with artists as R. Lema, Elisa, Bil Aka Kora. In May 2017 the choir won the first prize and a special prize at the national choir competition F. Gaffurio of Quartiano (youth choir section). She has been the conductor of the training choir in the workshop on composition attended by E. Ugalde at the European seminar for young composers organised by Feniarco in Aosta (2016 and 2018 editions).

Matteo Valbusa (Italy) 

After high school classic studies, he graduated in Cultural Heritage Sciences, in Choir Conducting with P.P. Scattolin and L. Donati and in Orchestral Conducting with G. Andretta. He specialized at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki (Finland) and in the courses of the Accademia Chigiana of Siena. He studied the different musical styles with G. Acciai, M. Berrini, N. Corti, L. Golino, S. Kuret, M. Lanaro, S. Parkman, R. Rasmussen, A. Tasso and J. Yngwe. He has conducted the Orchestra of Padua and Veneto and other important Venetian orchestras. He conducts Insieme Corale Ecclesia Nova and the Male Choir La Stele in a repertoire ranging from ancient polyphony to contemporary music: with them he has won prizes in national and international choral competitions. In 2011 he won the Third prize at the International Competition for Budapest choir conductors. In 2009 he won the award for the best performance of Renaissance music at the International Competition for choir conductors of Ljubljana. He is part of the Artistic Commission of ASAC Veneto, and he is a lecturer coordinator of the Choral Conduction Academy Piergiorgio Righele. He is often invited to hold master classes and conferences and to take part in juries in important choir competitions. He is artistic director of the International Festival VOCE! of Bosco Chiesanuova.
[www.matteovalbusa.it]

Panda van Proosdij (The Netherlands)

Panda van Proosdij (NL) studied at the Rotterdam Dance Academy (The Netherlands) and various theatre courses in New York (Usa) and Wiesbaden (Germany). She is a guest teacher at Codarts, Music Theatre in Rotterdam and works with The Netherlands Children and Female Youth Choir as movement coach and director. She has been working on her method / philosophy “Voice & Physique” for ten years now. This way of working is about supporting the voice by creating a good physical awareness and a way to let movement contribute to the quality of singing. She gives workshops and masterclasses “Voice & Physique” all over the world and creates choireography for different choirs and their events. This term was created by Panda to underline the work that concerns the movement supporting the singing. In 2014 she created the choireography of the winning program of the Aarhus Pigekor during “The World Choir Games” in Riga (Latvia). As an atelier lecturer, she has worked in several festivals promoted by the European Choral Association-Europa Cantat including the Turin edition of 2012 and the recent appointment in Tallinn (Estonia), by AMJ Eurotreff (2007 and 2017) and other important institutions.She has won several awards and conducts musicals, light opera performances and musical theater. In 2016 he created her company Pandora Werktheater based in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) [www.pandavanproosdij.nl]

Mathilde Vittu (France) 

French musician Mathilde Vittu has a number of strings to her bow, including violin and viola (modern and baroque), choral and orchestral conducting, musicology, composition and arrangement, having received many awards and diplomas from the Paris National Superior Conservatory of Music and the Ministery of Culture. She has performed in prestigious concert halls in France and abroad. She has published books and papers mainly about french baroque music and about the relations between traditional and western music. Interested by arabic culture and music, she taught for a year at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat (Sultanate of Oman) and in 2013-2014 at the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Palestine. She is also a lecturer at the Regional Influence Conservatory of Paris and at the Paris Boulogne-Billancourt Higher Education Pole.Since September 2014, she is being Professor of Musicology at the Paris Conservatoire and Director of the Childrens’ Choirs Amwaj in Palestine (Hebron, Bethlehem).