Associazione Corale Goriziana C.A. Seghizzi is pleased to present the jury of the 60th International Choral Singing Competition “Seghizzi.”

 

Artistic Director and Jury President

EUGENIUSZ KUS (POLONIA)

Born in 1940 in Gniezno, Poland, he began his musical education at the Academy of Music at the University of Poznań, continuing it later at the Academy of Music in Warsaw, the Königs Konservatorium de L’Aia in Rotterdam, and the University of Music in Vienna. In 1974, he was appointed director of the House of Culture in the Stettin region. To this position, he added the role of director of the most important cultural center in Pomerania, located in Stettin Castle, managing international activities in art, culture, and music from 1992 to 2007.

He was the founder and conductor of the University Choir of Stettin (1969-2005), with which he performed concerts in almost all European countries and twice in the USA. In 1984, he founded the vocal-instrumental ensemble “Camerata Nova,” specializing in Baroque music and compositions and operas by contemporary composers. The ensemble has given many concerts in Europe, the USA, Brazil, and China, featuring works by Vivaldi, J.S. Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Duruflé, Kodály, among others. He has conducted and continues to lead other professional orchestras with a broad repertoire from the eighteenth century to contemporary works. Kus has served as a jury member for numerous international music competitions in Italy, Germany, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, China, and more. He is the founder and artistic director of the International Choir Festival in Stettin and the music festival in Kolobrzeg. Additionally, he serves as the musical director of the International Festival of Organ and Chamber Music in Kamien Pomorski.

He is a member of the National Council for Music in Poland. He was awarded the “Medal of Merit” by the Presidents of the Republic of Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany. Since 2010, he has been a lecturer at the Academy of Arts in Stettin, following his tenure as a professor (from 2003 to 2010) at the Academy of Music in Poznań. In 2016, the Seghizzi Association decided to award the 12th International Seghizzi Prize “A Life for Music and Choral Conducting” to the musician Eugeniusz Kus, not only for his indisputable artistic and professional merits but also in recognition of his many years of collaboration with the international solo chamber singing competition Seghizzi and the International Choral Singing Competition, where he served as president and jury member.

Jury Commission

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FRANCISCO JOSE HERRERO CABRERA (SPAGNA)

Francisco José Herrero, graduated in Art History from the University of La Laguna, has been the conductor of the Camerata Lacunensis choir since 2000, a chamber choir from La Laguna that has won over 30 awards in national and international competitions. Herrero has also directed the “Coral Ajijide,” the choir of Guia de Isora, working to promote choral music in the south of Tenerife. He performs playing the baroque organ and harpsichord as a member of the historical instrumental groups “Aires de Hesperia,” “La Floresta,” and “Capilla Nivariense,” with which he performed in Mexico (Cajititlán, Capilla de Guadalupe, Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Tlaxcala, Puebla, Guadalajara, and Mexico City) and in Guatemala (Antigua) in 2006 and 2007. As a tenor, he has performed with “Camerata Lacunensis,” with whom he has recorded two albums.

In 2011, during the 50th International Choir Competition Seghizzi, Herrero performed with the “Camerata Lacunensis” choir, obtaining good recognitions in various categories of the competition, including the third place in the Spiritual and Gospel category, and was one of the finalists of the Grand Prix Seghizzi.

EDDI DE NADAI (ITALIA)

Eddi De Nadai, formerly Maestro Collaborator at the Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Staatsoper in Hannover, Verdi in Trieste, Lyric Experimental in Spoleto, Sociale in Trento, graduated in piano and harpsichord at the Venice Conservatory, studied conducting with Romolo Gessi, Donato Renzetti, Lior Shambadal and Deyan Pavlov.

He was guest conductor at the Izmir Opera House and, from 2009 to 2013, at the Bolshoi Theater in Tashkent. He carries out an intense activity collaborating with prestigious orchestras (Orchestra of Padua and Veneto, City of Ferrara, Mitteleuropa Orchestra, Slovenian Radio and Television, Cordoba Symphony, Orpheus Kammerorchester Wien, Bacau Philharmonic, Odessa Philharmonic, Kiev String’s Orchestra, Albanian Radio and Television, Opera of Belgrade and Ljubljana, Astana Opera) and important soloists such as Bruno Canino, Rocco Filippini, Enrico Pieranunzi, Luciana D’Intino, Katia Ricciarelli, directing a vast symphonic and operatic repertoire in Italy and abroad.

Recently he conducted Nabucco and Aida at the Taormina Opera Stars, Madama Butterfly at the Pucciniano Festival in Torre del Lago, The little sweep by Britten at the Verdi Theater in Pisa, La Cecchina by Piccinni and Maria de Buenos Aires in Piazzolla at the Teatro Comunale in Treviso. He inaugurated MittelFest 2016 in Cividale with the world premiere of Menocchio by R. Miani. He conducted the world premiere of Mauro Montalbetti’s Still Requies at the Milan Triennale and at the Teatro Grande in Brescia.

He is the founder and artistic director of the Orpheus Ensemble, which is dedicated to instrumental literature of the twentieth century.

He is also the creator and artistic director of the project “All Opera, guys! for the dissemination of the contemporary operatic repertoire for children, now in its fourteenth edition: in recent years he has created and directed The New Dress of the Emperor by Paolo Furlani, Arcibaldo Sonivari by Mario Pagotto, The little sweep by Benjamin Britten, La Fuggitiva by Lucio Gregoretti , New Year’s Eve by Renato Miani, The Wizard of Oz by Pierangelo Valtinoni, Christmas Tale by Carlo Galante. Il Vestito nuovo dell’Imperatore di Paolo Furlani,  Arcibaldo Sonivari di Mario Pagotto, The little sweep di Benjamin Britten, La Fuggitiva di Lucio Gregoretti, La notte di San Silvestro di Renato Miani, Il Mago di Oz di Pierangelo Valtinoni, Racconto di Natale di Carlo Galante.

Collaborator with internationally renowned singers, he has given concerts for prestigious institutions and important festivals throughout Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, Argentina, Mexico and the United States.

From 2002 to 2010 he was official pianist at the Gorizia International Vocal Chamber Music Competition

He is a teacher at the Milan Conservatory.

PETRA GRASSI (ITALIA)

Petra Grassi is one of the most interesting and awarded choir conductors in Europe of her generation. She has received several awards in Choir Conductors competitions: the Choir Award for Best Conductor at the World Choral Conducting Competition in 2019 in Hong Kong, 1st prize at the choir directors’ competition “Zvok moji rok” in 2016 in Ljubljana, 3rd prize at the international choir directors’ competition organized by the European Choral Association in 2016 in Turin, and 1st prize at the choir directors’ competition “Le mani in suono” in 2015 in Arezzo. After graduating in piano and music education from the Conservatory of Trieste, she then graduated with honors in Choral Conducting at the Conservatory of Trento, where she is currently a professor of choral conducting and composition.

With the choirs she has conducted, she has consistently achieved first prizes in national and international choral competitions, also winning awards for Best Conductor (Maribor, Vittorio Veneto, Arezzo, Malcesine, Corovivo, Sozvočenja-Slovenia, Bad Ischl-Austria, Olomouc-Czech Republic). From 2016 to 2020, she was appointed as the principal conductor of the Youth Choir of Friuli Venezia Giulia. With the Chamber Choir VIKRA, she won the 59th GRAND PRIX “C. A. Seghizzi,” an international choral competition in Gorizia, along with the award for Best Conductor. She was invited to join the group of young conductors of TENSO, the European network of professional choirs, where she had the opportunity to collaborate with various European professional choirs. She serves as the regular guest conductor of the semi-professional choir DEKOR Chamber Choir in Ljubljana. For three years, she co-directed the Italian Youth Choir (2020–2022). She has been a guest conductor for the professional choir Slovenian Philharmonic Choir. Since 2023, she has been a member of the artistic committee of FENIARCO.

SEBASTJAN VRHOVNIK (SLOVENIA)

Sebastjan Vrhovnik, after completing his studies at the Conservatory of Music, enrolled in the Academy of Music in Ljubljana in 2004, specializing in music pedagogy. He graduated with honors under the guidance of Prof. Marko Vatovec and obtained a master’s degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, where he studied choir conducting with Johannes Prinz.

Since 2014, he has been a professor of choir conducting at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, conducting many choir courses both domestically and internationally. Currently, he works as the director of the Chamber Choir of the University of Ljubljana’s Academy of Music, the mixed choir of Glasbena matica Ljubljana, and is a permanent guest conductor of the Choir of the Slovenian Philharmonic. He has also directed the mixed choir Chamber Choir of RTV Slovenia, the opera choir of Maribor, the female vocal group ČarniCe, the Slovenian Children’s Choir, the Choir Dekor, and the mixed choir Tone Tomsič of Ljubljana, as well as the mixed choir of Kamnik. With these choirs, he has received numerous awards and prizes at national and international competitions (Maribor, Slovenia, in 2001, 2003, and 2006; Spittal, Austria, in 2005; Mernes, Germany, in 2006) and recorded the CD “Most” (Bridge). Sebastjan Vrhovnik has established himself in the Slovenian and international concert scene, participating in various competitions and consistently achieving significant success. His choirs are known for their excellent vocal quality, creating unique interpretations. Vrhovnik’s repertoire choices have brought a breath of freshness to the Slovenian choral music scene.

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