Jury Commission – 22nd International Composition Contest “Seghizzi” – Associazione Corale Goriziana "C. A. Seghizzi"

Associazione Corale Goriziana C.A. Seghizzi presents the jury commission for the 22nd International Composition Contest.

Artistic Director and Jury President

PIETRO FERRARIO (ITALY)

He began his musical studies under Mariateresa Nebuloni, and after his academic studies he graduated in piano, composition, organ, choral music and choral conducting from the conservatories of Brescia, Milan and Alessandria, studying with Luigi Molfino and Bruno Bettinelli. He specialized in composition with Azio Corghi, in music composition for the cinema with E. Morricone, in organ studies with L. Rogg, G. Parodi and others, and in choir conducting with G. Graden and T. Kaljuste. He performs concerts as choir director, pianist and organist. As a composer, he is the author of various choral and instrumental pieces, performed and recorded in Italy and abroad (Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, Australia, China, United States, New Zealand, Argentina, Israel, Japan, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Norway, South Africa, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Indonesia, Belgium, United Kingdom, Latvia) by distinguished ensembles and established performers, in major music seasons (such as Carnegie Hall, 2019) and in major European choral competitions. He has composed on commission for major institutions such as Fondazione Toscanini in Parma, Settimane Musicali in Stresa, Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan, Landesakademie Ochsenhausen (D). In 1995 he was awarded with a certificate of meritorious achievement as organist at the T.I.M. International Competition in Turin. In 2004 he achieved 1st place in the 1st International Choral Composition Trophy “Seghizzi” in Gorizia, in 2008 1st place at the International Composition Competition “Bettinelli” in Milan, in 2016 1st place in the Canta Petrarca Choral Composition Competition in Arezzo, in 2020 1st place at the AERCO International Choral Composition Competition (with performance of the winning piece by the King’s Singers in Bologna in 2021), in 2022 1st place at the 2nd International Composition Competition for Choir and Organ “Caecilia Virgo.” He has published for Ricordi, Carrara, Rugginenti, Sonzogno, Feniarco, Edizioni Musicali Europee, Sonitus, the German Carus-Verlag and Ferrimontana and the Japanese Edition Icot. He has been invited as a jury member in major international choral and composition competitions in Italy and abroad (Gorizia, Maasmechelen, Canta Petrarca Arezzo, etc.). In 1997, he founded the Calycanthus Vocal Ensemble of Parabiago, winner of numerous national and international awards (such as Arezzo 2005 and Vittorio Veneto 2006, Feniarco award as the best Italian group in Gorizia 2008, Grand Prize in the 2nd National Choral Competition in Carpi 2023), performing concerts at important music festivals in Italy and abroad, with programs ranging from Renaissance to contemporary to a cappella pop-jazz, including world premieres of some works by Miškinis, Dubra, Corghi, Antognini and Bianchera, and recording two CDs for Bottega Discantica and SMC Records.

Since 1986 he has been performing during the liturgical service at the Prepositural Church SS. Gervaso and Protaso in Parabiago (MI), since 2000 on the restored Carrera Organ dated 1841.

He has taught various subjects (composition, choir conducting and choral composition, harmony theory and analysis, rhythmic theory and musical perception) for more than a decade at the conservatories of Vicenza, Cagliari, Sassari, Cesena, Parma, Pesaro and Alessandria. Since 2023 he has been the professor of music theory, rhythmic theory and perception at the Conservatory of Piacenza “Giuseppe Nicolini”.

Jury Commission

Eugeniusz Kus (Poland)

Born in 1940 in Gniezno, Poland, Eugeniusz Kus initiated his musical education at the Academy of Music at the University of Poznan. He continued his studies 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 Cultural Center of the Stettino region. Adding to this role, from 1992 to 2007, he also served as the director of the most significant cultural center in Pomerania, located in the castle of the Princes of Pomerania in Stettino, managing international activities in art, culture, and music. This commitment lasted uninterrupted for 33 years at a high level.

He founded and led the University Choir of Stettino (1969-2005), which performed concerts in almost all European countries and twice in the USA. In 1984, he established the vocal-instrumental ensemble “Camerata Nova,” specializing in baroque music and compositions by contemporary composers. The ensemble has given numerous concerts in Europe, the USA, Brazil, and China, featuring works by Vivaldi, J.S. Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Duruflé, Kodály. He has also conducted other professional orchestras with extensive repertoires from the 18th century to contemporary works. Kus has been a jury member in many international music competitions in Italy, Germany, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, China. He is the founder and artistic director of the International Choir Festival in Stettino and the Music Festival in Kołobrzeg. Additionally, he serves as the music director of the International Organ and Chamber Music Festival in Kamien Pomorski. He is a member of the National Council for Music in Poland and has been 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 professor at the Academy of Arts in Stettino, having previously taught at the Academy of Music in Poznan from 2003 to 2010. In 2016, the Seghizzi Association decided to award the “12th International Seghizzi Prize” for a lifetime dedicated to music and choral direction to Eugeniusz Kus. This recognition not only acknowledges his indisputable artistic and professional merits but also commemorates his many years of collaboration with the International Chamber Singing Competition Seghizzi and the International Choral Singing Competition, where he served as president and jury member.

Eva Ugalde Álvarez (Spain)

Basque composer born in 1973, Eva Ugalde began to write choral music encouraged by the Basque composer Javier Busto. Her particular language, with a familiar aesthetics and thought from and for the voice, results in her works being performed all over the world.

Eva Ugalde Álvarez is regularly invited as a jury member in national and international composition competitions, such as the European Award for Choral Composers or the International Competition of Composition Guido D’Arezzo.

In recent years, she has given masterclasses focused both on the interpretation of her own music and on composition (European Seminar Per Compositori in Italy, International Festival of Latin American Women’s Choirs in Argentina, National Assembly of Choral Singing in Mexico…), as well as conferences on composition and women (The Composition from a female perspective, University of Valencia, Conversation of women composers, online).

Several national and foreign choral groups have recorded her production, including Alaia Ensemble de Madrid (www.alaiaensemble.com), which conducted by Daniel de la Puente recorded a monograph in 2018 with 12 of her most emblematic pieces. Also the German group Singer Pur included her work “Heartland” on their CD Among Whirlwinds, a work dedicated to women composers that won the 2022 Opus Klassik award in the choral recording category. This year, her work “Stabat Mater” has been recorded in the CD Gurea by Vocalia Taldea, lidered by Basilio Astúlez.

Eva Ugalde Álvarez is the current president of the Basque Country Choral Federation and her music is available at www.cm-ediciones.com, www.evaugalde.com, and on platforms such as Spotify or YouTube.

Paolo Orlandi (Italy)

Paolo Orlandi was born in Tione di Trento on the 23^rd of November, 1989, and began studying the piano at the age of eight. After his early years under the guidance of Roberta Carlini, he graduated with Antonella Costa and deepened his studies with Laura Di Paolo. In July 2011, he gained a First-Level Academic Degree with the highest marks and honors at the F. A. Bonporti Conservatory in Trento.

In March 2014 he gained the Second-Level Academic Degree with the highest marks and honors at the Conservatory of Trento. In 2023, he got a First-Level Academic Degree in Composition with the highest marks, honors, and a special mention at the F. A. Bonporti Conservatory in Riva del Garda under Professor Massimo Priori.

He has attended piano and chamber music masterclasses with internationally renowned teachers such as Massimiliano Damerini, Roberto Prosseda, Lylia Zilberstein, Alexander Meinel, Boris Petrushansky, Filippo Gamba, Riccardo Risaliti, Roberto Cominati, and others.

He has performed extensively in chamber and choral ensembles. In 2011 he reached the semifinals in the International Piano and Orchestra Competition “Città di Cantù” performing Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G with the Mihail Jora Philharmonic Orchestra of Bacau, conducted by Maestro Ovidiu Balan. That same year, he performed with the J. Futura Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Maurizio Dini Ciacci.

From 2014 to 2016, he attended a specialization course in Music Education at the University of Padua. From 2012 to 2023, he taught piano, music theory, choir, and ensemble music at the S.M.A.G. (Scuola Musicale Alto Garda) in Riva del Garda, and he was also a pianist and collaborator at the Garda Trentino Children’s Choir, directed by Maestro Enrico Miaroma.

From 2023 to 2024, he has been teaching Harmony Theory and Analysis at the B. Marcello Conservatory in Venice. He has been awarded with prizes in several national and international choral composition contests.

Aurélien Hallopeau (France)

Born in 1995, Aurélien Hallopeau is a French composer living in Switzerland. He currently mainly writes for choir and voice, while keeping composing for other instruments. He is also an aerospace engineer and regularly performs as a baritone-bass for several ensembles.

Aurélien Hallopeau studied harmony, analysis and composition with French composer Alexandre Benéteau at Conservatoire de Courbevoie, France, and currently pursues studies in choral conducting at Conservatoire de Lausanne, Switzerland, with Romain Mayor and Dominique Tille. In September 2024, he presented his music at the inaugural Swiss Symposium on Choral Art, hosted by the Swiss Federation Europa Cantat. Also in 2024, he was composer-in-residence at Abbaye de Fontevraud and wrote a 25-minute piece for children’s choir, cello and percussion, set to be premiered in March 2025.

His choral music has been performed across Europe, the USA and Japan. He frequently collaborates with Swiss and French ensembles, including Ensemble vocal Évohé, professional ensemble L’Horizon Chimérique and Ensemble Kaléïvoxcope. Additional works were premiered in London as part of the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music, in Brussels by Ensemble vocal Aziliz and Lassenne Vocale, in Poland by VeraVoce, and in Texas, USA, by Chorus Austin.

Several of his compositions have received awards in international composition competitions, such as Petit Bestiaire (Eufonia-Bordeaux’s 2021 competition, France); Gaudeat iuventus (Concurso Coral Carmina Nova 2021, Spain); Sub tuum praesidium (Chorus Austin’s Competition 2023, USA); Surge amica mea, et veni and Rimango sol (Concorso Internazionale di Composizione Corale Seghizzi 2023, Italy); and Errance (for oboe and string trio, Concours Léopold Bellan 2023, France).

With his scientific background, Aurélien Hallopeau likes to create connections between science and music, aiming to make abstract concepts more accessible. One noticeable work is Analemme, written for 6-part choir and percussion, which incorporates excerpts from scientific texts about the Sun’s trajectory and the equinox phenomenon. This piece won an award at festival FestyVocal’s 2023 composition competition (France), and was premiered in November 2023 by Swedish choir Allmänna Sången, conducted by Maria Goundorina.

Currently, Aurélien Hallopeau is working on several new projects, including a Via Crucis for choir and bassoon, which will be premiered at Abbatiale de Romainmôtier, Switzerland, on Good Friday 2025.

For more information, please visit his website: https://aurelienhallopeau.wixsite.com/music