JURY 2025
Ragnar Rasmussen is a choral conductor, university professor and composer, based at NTNU Music in Trondheim, Norway. He is currently the conductor/artistic director Nidaros Vokal (N), and the international Utopia & Reality Chamber Choir (EU). He is former conductor of Norway’s National Youth Choir and the World Youth Choir, Vokal Nord, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra Chamber Choir and Kilden Vocal Ensemble in Kristiansand. In 2007/08 he was visiting professor at the University of Ljubljana. He regularly gives lectures at music academies, seminars for choirs and choral conductors, judges choir- and choir conductor competitions, as well as guest conducting professional choirs.
He has worked with ensembles such as the BBC Singers, State Choir Latvija, Estonian National Male Choir, Turkish State Choir, The Slovene Philharmonic Orchestra and choir, The RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra (UK), Concerto Farinelli (Germany), Arctic Symphony Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and many more.
The 23-24 season brings him from Svalbard (NOR) in the north to Jakarta (IND) in the south, via i.a. Istabul/Ankara (Turkey), Poznan (Poland), Preveza (Greece), Barcelona (Spain), Derry (Northern Ireland), Arezzo/Siena (Italy), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Copenhagen (Denmark), Hong Kong, London (UK) and many beautiful concert arenas around Norway.
Upon graduating with highest honors in choral conduction Dario Tabbia studied with Fosco Corti and has been hosted by musical institutions conducting in Belgium, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Tunisia and Hungary. He has been the conductor of the RAI symphonic choir of Turin. In 1994 he has founded the vocal ensemble Daltrocanto, with whom he has participated in some of the most prestigious ancient music festivals. In 2008 he has founded the Coro da camera di Torino, of which he is still the conductor. Conducting the Italian Youth Choir has led him to win two first prizes and a special price at the Florilège Vocal de Tours in 2014. He regularly holds masterclasses for choral conductors and he is often invited as member of the jury in several international choral competitions. With the Coro da camera di Torino he has won national an international competitions and in 2023 the Grand Prix in Arezzo. He has recorded for important labels such as Opus 111, Nuova Era, Stradivarius, Arts, Symphonia and Bongiovanni. These recordings have earned him significant mentions and prizes from international press. In 2006 he has revised the book on choral conduction “Il respiro è già canto” by Fosco Corti, published by Feniarco, and the following year he has founded the school for choral conductors by the same name, where he teaches choral conduction and concertation, that has seen over one hundred and sixty Italian conductors graduating. He is the author of the book “The choir conductor” published by Feniarco. Since 1983 he has been teaching choral music at the “G. Verdi” Conservatory of Turin.
Urša Lah completed her studies at the Ljubljana Music Academy (Slovenia) and at the University of Tromsø (Norway) with the highest grade. As conductor and artistic leader of Mixed Youth Choir Veter, APZ Tone Tomšič University of Ljubljana and the National Radio Chamber Choir, she has been involved in many première performances, and won many first prizes, golden plaques, special prizes and conducting awards at national and prestigious international choral competitions, including the final for the Grand Prix of Europe (Debrecen, 2008). In recognition of her valuable work with choirs, Urša received the highest award of the Municipality of Ljubljana for cultural achievement in 2008, and in 2009 the award of Public Fund of the Republic of Slovenia for Cultural Activities.
Since autumn 2009 Urša Lah lives in Norway. During the years 2010 – 2025 she taught choral conducting and ensemble leading at the UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø and at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. She was the artistic leader and conductor of more choirs and worked as a choirmaster for Artic Philharmonic Orchestra and Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra. Currently she is employed as a choir master for Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera and conducts the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra Opera Chorus and TSO children choir.
She is a lecturer in educational seminars for choral conductors, mentor in international conducting masterclasses, a frequent member of adjudicating panels at international choral and conducting competitions, a guest conductor of professional choirs and recognised ensembles and artistic leader of the international Utopia & Reality Chamber Choir.
Yana Deliradeva is a choral conductor, music teacher and educator on choral conducting at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts “Prof. Asen Diamandiev” in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She is the conductor of Detska Kitka Choir, one of the leading children’s and youth ensembles in Bulgaria. She works on attracting more people from the public to collaborate with artists from different spheres. She is recognized for her support of young conductors and implementing new methods and practices in the rehearsal process.
Yana leads conducting workshops at the International Youth Choral Festival Let the Future Sing in Stockholm, Sweden (2015), the International Choir Festival “Chernomorski zvutsi” in Balchik (2023), the International Choral Festival “Singing Bridges” in Novi Sad, Serbia (2024) and at the International Children and Youth Choral Gala Days “Dobri Voinikov” in Shumen (2025).
Two-times award-winner of the “Prof. Veneta Vicheva” award for conducting, the conducting award from the Competition Vox Lucensis in Lucca, Italy and the award for best conductor at the International Choir Festival “Chernomorski zvutsi” in Balchik. She was previously a representative of the Bulgarian Choir Union between 2011 and 2019. Yana Deliradeva has also been a jury member at different Bulgarian and international choral festivals and competitions.
Galina Stanisheva is a choral conductor with a long-standing contribution to Bulgarian musical culture. She graduated with distinction from the National School of Arts “Dobri Hristov” in Varna and continued her education at the Academy of Music, Dance, and Fine Arts “Prof. Asen Diamandiev” in Plovdiv, where she earned a Master’s degree in Music Education. She studied choral conducting under Assoc. Prof. Krikor Tchetinian and classical vocal technique with Prof. Valentina Aleksandrova, specializing in classical singing.
Her professional career began in 1993 at the Municipal Center for Children’s Activities in Varna. Since 2002, she has been an integral part of the Varna Youth Opera and the Dobri Hristov Children’s Choir, where she works as a vocal coach and solfège instructor. In 2014, she assumed the role of conductor of the children’s ensemble, and since 2016, she has conducted the choir’s concert ensemble. Under her direction, the choir has participated in prestigious international festivals and competitions, winning four first prizes in Moscow, Vienna, and Ohrid, along with numerous other accolades.
In addition, Stanisheva actively initiates and organizes collaborative projects with choirs and orchestras both in Bulgaria and abroad. Among her significant artistic partnerships is her collaboration with the Chamber Ensemble “Simphonieta” under the baton of composer prof. Milko Kolarov, with whom the choir has performed at the Varna Summer International Music Festival. In recognition of her artistic and pedagogical contributions, she has been awarded “Teacher of the Year” by the Varna Municipal Children’s Complex (2013), the Silver Lyre (2018) and Golden Lyre (2023) by the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers, and the Varna Award – Teacher of the Year (2022).