Kjetil Aamann (Norway) 

Kjetil Aamann grew up in Norway and Zambia. He started his musical career in punk rock bands, and then studied musicology and music pedagogics in Norway, and took post graduate studies in choral conducting in Bulgaria and Russia. Kjetil has been teaching at music academies in Europe and Asia, and has often been juror in international competitions. He has broad experience from musical work in radio, television and theatre, as well as giving workshops at festivals. Kjetil loves to play around with different musical genres: jazz, folk music, medieval music, rock, classical and pop, often combining them to create new forms of expressions, and trying to explore different sounds, mixing voices with musical instruments and other sound sources. In addition to conducting ensembles in Norway, Kjetil is musical director of a youth opera ensemble in Beijing (Cina) where he combines elements from European and Chinese musical drama.  

Barbara Agnello

Graduated with honors in piano and music education from the L. Canepa Conservatory of Music in Sassari, she went on to specialize with several teachers including B. Mezzena, F. Rzewsky, P. Lakert, A. Apostoli, G. Piazza, C. Paduano, A. Cadario, P. Neumann. She won a scholarship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to study at the Kodaly School in Estergom (Hungary). She has spoken as a speaker at serveral conferences of the Nati per la musica project in collaboration with the Italian Pediatricians Association. She has edited the presentation of educational texts and collaborated with the L. Canepa Conservatory as an expert in music didactics and pedagogy. From 2003 to 2017 she collaborated with the theater holding the positions of collaborating conductor, archivist and inspector of the orchestra, and later, for the same institution, she conceived and curated the project La scuola in teatro aimed at the diffusion of opera-symphonic music among children and young people. She founded and conducts the Lolek Vocal Ensemble with which she has taken part in important events with the main cultural organisations in the area such as the opera season from the Ente Concerti De Carolis in Sassari (Noah's Ark by B. Britten and The Magic Flute by W.A. Mozart). She has performed many world premieres including the opera In frammenti by L. Garau for the Festival Spazio Musica in Cagliari. In 2014 she founded and conducted the children's voice choir of the i.c. Monte Rosello Basso in Sassari, a school where she is a piano teacher. With her ensembles she has participated and won important awards in several choral competitions. Since 2019 she has been a member of the Fersaco Artistic Commission.

Davide Benetti 

Camilla Di Lorenzo

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, musical education 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; including the With Us Youth Choir with which she won several first prizes in national and international competitions. She conducted the Jewish Choir of Rome from 2016 to 2021. She is jury member in competitions and auditions, vocal coach in theatre 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

Mirko Ferlan

Mirko Ferlan, after graduating in accordion from the Conservatory of Pesaro, in 2007 he received a degree in vocal and choral composition and choral conducting from the Conservatory of Trieste under the guidance of M. Sofianopulo and A. Martinolli, and in 2014 he received a master's degree in choral conducting. He has attended seminars and master classes with internationally renowned teachers (P. Hanke, F. Bernius, G. Grün, R. Rasmussen). He has collaborated as a guest conductor with the Ljubljanski Madrigalisti choir (Slovenia), the chamber choir Krog, the Arsatelier choir of Gorizia, the Friuli Venezia Giulia choir, the Vox Tergesti choir and the vocal group Bodeča Neža. He collaborates as director and teacher with several Slovenian choral associations. He is currently the director of the Igo Gruden girls' youth choir from Aurisina with which he has won several awards in recent years: in 2017 the second place overall at the national competition for youth choirs Il Garda in coro in Malcesine, in 2018 the First prize at the international competition for youth choirs European Music Festival for Young people in Neerpelt, Belgium. In 2019 the choir established itself in the regional review Corovivo 2019 by winning the diploma of excellence, the special prize to the director and the Corovivo Grand Prize as the best choir in the competition. As part of the I. Gruden he directs a children's choir workshop, a youth choir and a men's vocal group. He has directed the academic choir of the University of Koper (Akademski pevski zbor Univerze na Primorskem). He teaches accordion, theory and choral exercises at the Slovenian Center for Music Education Emil Komel in Gorica.

Tom Johnson (Belgium)

Tom Johnson is a violinist and choral conductor. For him singing is one of the most accessible forms of making music. By singing Tom reaches out to all groups in society: children and adults, choirs and schools, professionals and beginners. He hopes everyone can experience the joy of singing together. To start with the basics Tom often sings with children in schools. He is the artistic leader of Iedereen zingt, and conductor in the OpMaatOrkest. Two projects that use singing as way to connect throughout society. Singing with children demands a specific approach, Tom thinks it’s important to train the teachers and conductors of tomorrow. In september 2016 Tom was appointed a teaching position in the conducting class of SAMWD Lier. Together with Marleen de Boo he teaches conducting and is in charge of the School choir Euterpe. In 2017 he starts as professor in the bachelor music education at AP University in Antwerp. Together with Koor&Stem he gives the course Singing with children for children’s choir conductors. As an atelier and workshop leader he works for different organisations in Belgium and abroad. Because of his strong believe in singing, he founded Zingend Schip (Singing Ship) together with Sien de Smet and Margot De Ley. They start from the idea that all children can sing and perform. He conducts De Lambertijnen (children aged 8 to 12) and Carmina (youngsters aged 12 to 18), two choirs from the C-koren, the largest choir-family in Belgium, with over 300 singing members. In Mechelen Tom conducts Vocaal Ensemble Viermaliks (a mixed vocal group).

Serena Marino 

Serena Marino (1986) graduated in choral conducting at the Scuola Superiore Triennale Guido d'Arezzo and deepened her studies at the European Academy for choral conductors and the Accademia Chigiana in Siena with a diploma of merit under internationally renowned teachers. She also graduated in Renaissance and Baroque singing at the G.B. Pergolesi Conservatory in Fermo with S. Foresti and she has studied historically informed praxis with well-known specialists. She conducts the Coro Giovanile d'Abruzzo, the Gamut Choir of Pescara with which she won 2nd Prize at the 2019 Arezzo National Polyphonic Competition and the vocal ensemble Vox Aurea of Teramo. She conducted the female vocal ensemble Esacordo of Chieti (2014-2015) and the vocal ensemble Compagnia Virtuosa of Pescara (2015-2017), leading it in 2016 to the awarding of the 2nd Prize at the Arezzo National Polyphonic Competition and the Special Prize for the best program presented in the competition. She is regularly invited as a jury member in choral competitions and to teach courses in vocalism and choral conducting. She is a member of the Artistic Commission of the Abruzzo Regional Choir Association. She carries out intense concert activity also as a singer with different choral groups with which she participates in important festivals, recordings of published and unpublished compositions, and international choral competitions obtaining prestigious prizes (Arezzo, Montreux, Tours, Varna). From 2011 to 2016 he sang in the Italian Youth Choir. In 2016 he won the 28th European Grand Prix of Choral Singing, the top choral competition in the world, with UT insieme vocale-consonant conducted by L. Donati.  

Sara Matteucci

Choral conductor and musicologist, Sara Matteucci graduated with honors in History of Music from the University of Bologna and in Choral Music and Choral Conducting from the Buzzolla Conservatory in Adria. She is a professor of Choral Singing and Ensemble Vocal Music at the Boccherini Conservatory of Lucca, where she also teaches History of Musical Theater and she has been preparing and conducting the Conservatory's choir since 2009. She also specializes in children's vocal music, a subject on which she holds courses and seminars throughout Italy. She is choirmaster of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Children's Choir.From 1996 to 2021 she prepared and directed the children's voices of the S. Cecilia Chapel and the Teatro del Giglio in Lucca and from 2010 to 2016, she was also the conductor of the children's voices and youth choir of the Torre del Lago Puccini Festival. Her artistic activity has led her to work in major theaters in Italy and abroad, collaborating with maestros such as Z. Mehta, F. Luisi, D. Gatti, D. Oren, Y. Feng, H. Yoshida by taking part in numerous symphonic-choral productions as Chorus Master and in more than 250 opera productions as Chorus Master at Teatro dell'Opera in Florence, Teatro dal Verme in Milan, Teatro Puccini in Torre del Lago, Municipal Theatre in Abingdon-London, Emirates Theatre in Abu Dhabi, Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna, Teatro del Giglio in Lucca, Teatro Verdi in Pisa, Teatro Coccia in Novara, Teatro Goldoni in Livorno, Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo, etc. Artistic director of Interkultur's international choral competition Vox Lucensis (together with G. Acciai), is invited to serve on juries in European and American choral competitions. Editor of the musicological journal Code 602 (ed. Sillabe), she participates as a speaker in seminars, conferences and conventions and has numerous publications to her credit.

Elide Melchioni

An eclectic and unconventional musician, teacher and popularizer, Elide Melchioni was born and trained in Bologna. She graduated with honors in bassoon from the G. Martini Conservatory of Bologna and obtained a degree cum laude in Ethnomusicology and in music education/choir conductins. She later obtained a specialization for secondary music teaching (SSIS) and a master tutor degree. The Farthan Choir of Marzabotto (Bo) is her musical creature. An eclectic choral project, the choir is devoted to the unexplored folds of oral tradition singing, with a marked predilection for a female repertoire. With this ensemble, she is credited with creating a third way of Traditional Singing and obtains excellent awards in competitions: winner in two categories at the 2018 Vittorio Veneto Choral National Competition, 3rd place at the 2019 Lake Maggiore Polyphonic Choral Competition, 1st place in the Folk Repertoire category, 3rd place in the Vocal Groups category and special prize for the Interpretation of a Renaissance piece at the 2021 Vittorio Veneto Choral National Competition, special prize Voci del Mondo within Sud Ethnic 2022 and others. She has recorded several CDs as a singer, musician and conductor (TACTUS and independent labels). Last exciting project with the Farthan Choir, was the creation of a theatrical-musical show touring Italy with writer Carlo Lucarelli. She is part of the AERCO Artistic Commission and is artistic director of the important CantaBO festival and other events. She holds workshops dedicated to vocality and popular and youth choral repertoire for prestigious institutions (MIUR, Feniarco, AERCO, Fondazione Guido D'Arezzo, Accademia Righele, etc.). She is a teacher in junior high schools and writes as head of the Ethno and Surroundings column in the Feniarco magazine Choraliter. In 2021 she received the prestigious Tina Anselmi Prize, Women and Work - Artistic Area, UDI Bologna.

Salvina Miano

Graduated in piano and in music education, she started her study of didactics and vocalism for children's choirs with N. Conci, carrying on the idea of promoting musical education through the choir from an early age. For the musical training school I Piccoli Cantori of Barcelona Pozzo di Gotto she organises masterclasses of performance practice with internationally renowned lecturers and vocal education courses, collaborating with speech therapists expert in vocalism. She collaborates in the realisation of musical training projects and she has organised the festival for school choirs A choir in each class in Barcellona P. G., raising awareness of choral distribution in the primary schools of the city and involving over 1500 students with their teachers. With the children's choir I Piccoli Cantori she has won prizes and awards in national and international competitions: the 1st prize in categories A and B and the Grand Prize at the 9th Il Garda in Coro Competition of Malcesine (2017); the 1st prize in the children’s choirs category (2018) and the 3rd prize in the sacred programme category at the International Polyphonic Competition Guido d’Arezzo (2018). In 2022 she also won the 27th Efrem Casagrande Grand Prix at the 55th Trofei Choral Competition City of Vittorio Veneto, on that occasion also winning 1st prize in the Sacred Polyphony category, 1st prize in the children's choir category and the prize for best project. With the Piccoli Cantori she participated in the production of the CD attached to the volume of choral songs for children and youth Giro Giro Canto 8, a Rodari monograph.

Elia Orlando 

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 to the two-year course in choir conducting at the Rovigo Conservatory of Music 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.  

Glòria Coma Pedrals (Spain, Catalunya)

Glòria Coma Pedrals (Barcelona, Catalunya) has studied conducting with M. Barrera, J. Vila i Casañas, P. Cao, J. Duijck and H. Christophers. She graduated from ESMUC (Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya) with a masters-level degree in Singing and Interpretation, where she studied under M. Natividade. She has also studied piano, double bass, theatre, and dance. She has conducted the Cor Infantil Sant Esteve of Castellar del Vallès (first prize winner in the 10th Mostra de la Generalitat de Catalunya), the Cor Jove of the Escola de Música la Guineu of Barcelona (runner up in the 9th Certamen Nacional Infantil i Juvenil d’Havaneres de Torrevella). She has conducted adult choirs, including the Cor Lieder Càmera, of which she was the assistant conductor from 2005 to 2008. She has played the double bass in various ensembles and as a solo soprano she has played the parts of Barbarina and the Queen of the Night (Mozart), Lakmé (Delibes), Melissa (Händel), and also sung Pergolesi's Stabat Mater (Orquestra Barroca Catalana) and Camille Saint-Saëns' Christmas Oratorio (Orquestra Ars Musicae de Catalunya), among others. She is a singing teacher at the monastery of Sant Benet de Montserrat and the Orfeó Català. Since 2008 she is the conductor of the Cor Infantil of the Orfeó Català (third prize winner at the Cantonigròs festival) with performances at Palau de la Música Catalana and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, and in other concert halls around Europe.

Luca Scaccabarozzi

SGraduated with honors in piano and philosophy, he trained as a choir conductor at several academies with internationally renowned teachers. First prize winner in the R. Gandolfi International Competition for Choral Conductors, he has also won many prizes in national and international choral competitions leading such choirs as the Ensemble Vocale Mousiké and the Torino Vocalensemble. He collaborates as choirmaster with the Verdi Barocca Professional Ensemble and the Symphonic Choir of Milan and has worked with Ars Cantica Choir at prestigious festivals and music seasons. He has studied singing with internationally renowned teachers including C. Baldy, M. Scavazza, L. Serafini and collaborates as a singer with a number of professional groups. He is also founder and conductor of the Zephyrus choir and directs the Regina del Rosario choir in Arcore and the Le Dissonanze choir in Monza. He is invited as a guest conductor for seminars and concerts, also in collaboration with orchestras, and as a juror at national and international choral competitions. He carries out intense activity as a teacher of piano and choral conducting at several academies including the Milano Choral Academy, the Arezzo School for Choral Conductors and the Righele Academy, and periodically holds master classes and seminars for choristers and conductors.