17/05/2020
Competition Jury
PHILIP LAWSON (United Kingdom) - President of the Jury
For 18 years Philip Lawson was a baritone with The King’s Singers, and was for most of that time also their principal arranger. Having replaced founder-member Simon Carrington in 1993, he performed more than 2,000 concerts with the group and appeared on many CDs, DVDs and on radio and TV programmes worldwide. Philip contributed more than 50 arrangements to the repertoire of The King’s Singers, including 10 for the 2008 CD “Simple Gifts” which went on to win the GRAMMY for Best Classical Crossover Album in 2009. Before joining the group Philip was Director of Music at a school in Salisbury, England, and a Lay Clerk in the cathedral choir there, and had previously worked in London as a freelance baritone, performing regularly with The BBC Singers, The Taverner Choir, The Sixteen and the choirs of St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey. He now has a writing and consultancy contract with the American publisher Hal Leonard Corporation for whom he holds the title of European Choral Ambassador. Philip has over 200 published arrangements and compositions, and leads regular choral workshops in Europe and the USA. He has also twice been Professor of Choral Arranging at the European Seminar for Young Composers in Aosta, Italy, sponsored by Europa Cantat, and Professor of Choral Conducting at the Curso Canto Choral in Segovia, Spain. He is on the staff of Wells Cathedral Specialist Music School, Salisbury Cathedral School and the University of Bristol as a vocal performance teacher and since 2016 has been Musical Director of The Romsey Singers.
ANNA UNGUREANU (Romania) - Member of the Jury
Anna Ungureanu is the main conductor of the “Madrigal-Marin Constantin” National Chamber Choir, a musician with almost a decade of experience alongside Maestro Marin Constantin. Specialised in the conducting art under the careful observation of the renowned musicians Marin Constantin and Ion Marin, Anna Ungureanu performed concerts in Romania, Germany, Russia, Japan, Turkey, Serbia, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Poland, China, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Great Britain, Portugal, Israel and France. She is member of several national and international jury boards in well-known choir festivals and contests. Starting with 2011, Anna Ungureanu, D.M.A., the leading conductor of the “Madrigal-Marin Constantin” National Chamber Choir, has also became the Artistic Director of the Cantus Mundi National Programme, an artistic and educational movement that was in the same year initiated by Maestro Ion Marin, aiming to stimulate, support and promote social integration through choral music in all educational institutions across Romania. The professional experience gained in almost nine years spent alongside the founder of the Madrigal Choir, Maestro Marin Constantin, recommends her as a disciple and follower of the legendary musician.
ALEXANDER SOLOVYEV (Russian Federation) - Member of the Jury
Alexander Solovyev is a famous conductor, teacher, musical and public figure. Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Chamber Choir of the Moscow Conservatory, Tula State Choir; Dean of the Department for Foreign Students’ Affairs, member of the Academic Council, Professor of the Department of Choral conducting of the Moscow State Conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky and the Moscow State Institute of Music named after A. G. Schnittke. Art Director of the Moscow Conservatory festivals: "International Autumn choral festival named after Boris Tevlin", "Dedicated to the Victory Day...", "The Sealed Angel", "Born in Russia", musical director of the all – Russian festival of arts "Leo Tolstoy through the eyes of musicians". The official representative of Russia, a member of the World Choir Council "World Choir Games" and the jury of the choir competitions of the international association "Interkultur". Co-founder and chairman of the jury of the Open Contest of Young Musicians "Vivat Musica!". Alexander Solovyev is a member of the Moscow Musical Society and the International Union of Musical Figures (Chairman - Professor Alexander Sokolov), the Union of Composers of the Russian Federation (Chairman of the Board – Andrey Krichevsky), and the All-Russian Choral Society (Chairman – Valeriy Gergiev); the main guest conductor of Educational Bridge Project Festival Choir (Boston, USA), guest conductor of Taipei Philharmonic Chorus (Taiwan / China), State Chorus of Abkhazia. Alexander Solovyev acts as a conductor of special projects on the stages of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia; for his great contribution to the development of culture he was awarded with the Certificate of Honor of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. Alexander Solovyev was awarded a grant from the President of the Russian Federation in the field of culture and art; was awarded the title of laureate of the Moscow City Prize in the field of literature and art in the nomination "Enlightenment Activities", was awarded the Prizes of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in the field of culture and art in the nomination "Cultural and Educational Projects". Among the awards is the title of Master of Chorus and Honorary Member of the Association of Choir Directors of Croatia, etc. Discography: "Anthology of Contemporary Choral Music by Russian Composers" and "Requiem by Mozart" under the "Melodiya" music label; "A. Schnittke. The history of Dr. Faust. Requiem", "Formula of Success"," Long-timed " under the “Moscow Conservatory Records " music label etc. Maestro Solovyev has repeatedly acted as the conductor of well-known performing groups in Russia: the Symphony Orchestra of the Moscow Conservatory, the Central Symphony Orchestra of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Chamber Orchestra "Musica Viva", the Kaluga Youth Symphony Orchestra named after S. Richter, the Tula Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. Alexander Solovyev is the author of scientific articles and publications on contemporary choral performing arts. The composer of the anthology of choral music compositions of contemporary authors "The Chamber Choir performs”. "Repertoire of the Choirmaster XXI century” He is an editor-composer of the monograph "Boris Tevlin. Materials and documents" (carried out jointly with E. Krivitskaya). Among his students from China, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, USA there are laureates of national and international competitions. Since 2018 – Alexander Solovyev Honorary Professor of Heihe University (China). He conducts active educational and public activities as the President of the Creative Initiatives Development Fund, the head of the Association of Folk and Choral Collectives of the Guild of Academic Performance of the Union of Composers of the Russian Federation.
MATTEO SALVEMINI (Italy) - Member of the Jury
Conductor of the ‘A. Galli’ Choir since 2006, Matteo Salvemini has worked, as conductor in several theaters such as the Rossini in Lugo di Romagna, the Sferisterio Arena in Macerata, the Teatro delle Muse in Ancona, the Petruzzelli Theater in Bari. As a conductor has collaborated with the City of Ravenna Orchestra, the Regional Philharmonic Orchestra of Veneto, the Orchestra of the Olympic Theater of Vicenza, the Maderna Orchestra of Forlì and others. Musician with multifaceted preparation and experience; from the lyric and symphonic repertoire, to the piano collaboration with the singers, to the arrangement and orchestral instrumentation. Graduated in Choral Conducting at the ‘Pollini’ Conservatory of Padua; he studied conducting with Piero Bellugi and Isaac Karabtschevskij; Composition at the Nino Rota Conservatory in Monopoli and in Milan with the teachers W. Zaramella and P. Vaglieri; he studied piano with Valfrido Ferrari in Bari and Virginio Pavarana in Verona; he studied singing with Maria Vittoria Romano in Pescara.
BARNEY SMITH (United Kingdom) - Member of the Jury
Barnaby Smith is Artistic Director and Countertenor of the internationally renowned vocal ensemble, VOCES8 and as such is in demand as a conductor, choir trainer, singer and arranger. Barnaby completed his studies in Specialist Early Music Performance at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis where he was a pupil of Andreas Scholl. Barnaby is also an alumnus of the Britten-Pears Young Artists Programme.
With a schedule that takes him around the world, recent highlights include performances at the Royal Albert Hall (BBC Proms), the Barbican Centre, Wigmore Hall, Sydney Opera House, Bridgewater Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konzerthaus in Vienna, Tokyo Opera City, Cité de la Musique, NCPA Beijing, Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall, Victoria Concert Hall Singapore, Palacio de Bellas Artes Mexico City, Utrecht Early Music Festival, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam and La Seine Musicale Paris. As a director, repertoire highlights include Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Handel: Messiah, Dixit Dominus and Coronation Anthems, Bach: Magnificat in D and St John Passion, Haydn: Creation, Mozart: Requiem and Symphony no. 40, Vaughan-Williams: Five Mystical Songs, Dove: The Passing of the Year and new commissions by Ola Gjeilo and Jonathan Dove. Barnaby’s collaborations include Rachel Podger, Jonathan Dove, Jacob Collier, Academy of Ancient Music, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Monte Carlo Symphony and he directed the music for the Olympic Mascots Film Scores at Abbey Road Studios with the British Film Orchestra. Barnaby is also Artistic Director of the Milton Abbey International Music Festival, and co-curates and teaches on the MMus programme in Choral Studies at Cambridge University. As a soloist Barnaby has also worked under the baton of conductors including Paul McCreesh and Masaaki Suzuki.
On disc Barnaby has released commercially on Decca Classics, Universal, Sony, Warner, Naxos, Signum Classics and VOCES8 Records. He has four no.1 selling albums on the Decca Classics and VOCES8 Records labels, was delighted to receive the award for Album of the Year 2015 from Classic FM, was voted Choral Disc Choice Award by BBC Music Magazine in June 2014 and has won 10 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards.
AIVIS GRETERS (Latvia) - Member of the Jury
The principal conductor and artistic director of the choir, Aivis Greters (1993), has been a member of Kamēr... since 2009 and has served as the choir's second conductor from 2012 to 2018. He developed his taste for music in the Department of Conducting at the Riga Dome Choir School, where he studied under Valdis Bernhofs, and he continued his studies at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music under professor Jānis Lindenbergs and Andris Veismanis. During the 2015-2016 season, he refined his skills at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. Aivis has won the first prize at the Imants Kokars International Conducting Contest (2013), as well as a special prize at the Jāzeps Vītols Choir Conductor Competition in Riga (2014) and first prize at the Nordic Choir Conductor Competition in Denmark (2017). Between 2014 and 2018, he was the principal conductor of the mixed choir Dziesmuvara. Currently Aivis continues his studies with Mārtiņš Ozoliņš at the Department of Orchestra Conducting of the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music.
MARK ANTHONY CARPIO (Philippines) - Member of the Jury
Mark Anthony Carpio became the second Choirmaster of acclaimed Philippine Madrigal Singers in 2001, when he was selected to succeed its founder, National Artist of the Philippines, Andrea O. Veneracion. Mark has taken the already much-awarded choir to even greater heights, when he led them to win first prizes in the Habanera and Polyphony categories in the Certámen Internacional de Habaneras y Polifonia (Torrevieja, Spain, 2004), the Grand Prix in the 35th Florilege Vocal de Tours, France (2006), the Grand Prize in the 19th European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (Arezzo, Italy, 2007), and recently, the Grand Prix in the 64th Concorso Polifonico Guido d’Arezzo (Arezzo, Italy, 2016), making them qualify for the 29th European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (Tolosa, Spain, 2017). Under his leadership, the choir continues to fulfill a grueling schedule of yearly international concert tours, national outreach programs and its regular concert season as the resident choir of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). Mark has led the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Hands-On Choral Workshop since 2001 and has been the head of the jury of the Andrea O. Veneracion International Choral Festival since 2013. He also conducts the Sing Philippines Youth Choir, which draws its fifty members biennially from all provinces of the country, in honor of the Madrigal Singers’ founder, who established the vision of a nation singing together in harmony and united in song. Mark also directs the other Andrea O. Veneracion Sing Philippines projects, that include choral music workshops, and conductor/singer development initiatives. Known for his collaboration with emerging composers, innovative programming, and approachability, Mark is a much sought-after choral clinician and coach, frequently giving extensive and in-depth workshops all over the Philippines and around the world. He is also frequently invited as adjudicator in choral competitions and as guest conductor of several choirs around the world, including the first batch of the Indonesia Youth Choir (2015). Mark is a faculty member of the Conducting and Choral Ensemble Department of the University of the Philippines College of Music, where he earned his master’s degree in Choral Conducting and his bachelor’s degree in Piano. Nurturing young singers is a personal passion of Mark. He also directs the Consortium of Voices, a choral society of young choristers, consisting of the Kilyawan Boys Choir, Kilyawan Male Choir and the Voces Auroræ Girls Choir.
