PARTICIPANTS 2024

Rahela Durič Barić originates from Maribor (Slovenia). After graduating in violin, she decided to study choir and orchestra conducting with Prof. Johannes Prinz and Prof. Wolfgang Dörner at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz (Austria). She finished her masters with honors in 2013. In 2015 as part of the International Competition for young Conductors in Turin, she received the Noel Minet prize and funding for ‘A promising young conductor’. Since 2016 she has been working as an assistant professor for choral conducting at the University for Music and Performing Arts Graz. In 2019 She received the first prize, the audience prize and the prize for the best conductor according to the choir at the international competition for choral conductors in Koper, Slovenia. Since October 2021 she took over the renowned choir Akademski pevski zbor Tone Tomšič in Ljubljana with which she won the first prize, second prize and a special prize for the best performance of a contemporary piece at the international competition in Spittal (Austria) in 2023. She is also leading and running several courses, singing weeks and seminars in choir schools in Austria, Slovenia and Italy.

Tristan Ignacio is the founder and conductor of Imusicapella. He graduated with a Bachelor  degree of Science in Tourism at the University of Santo Tomas. He was a recipient of the Gawad Heneral Emilio Aguinaldo by the Province of Cavite as well as the Col. Jose S. Tagle Award by the city of Imus for his achievements in choral music. He was also given the 2012 and 2019 Ani ng Dangal Awards by the National commission for Culture and the Arts.

He is also the winner of:
– Andrea Georgi Prize, the best conductor prize in Gorizia, Italy (2018)
– Giuseppe Radole Prize, a conductor’s prize for the best interpretation of a sacred polyphonic piece in Gorizia, Italy (2018)
– Special Prize for an Excellent Conducting Performance in Debrecen, Hungary (2018)
– Günther Mittergradneger Prize, a conductor’s prize for the best interpretation of a contemporary choral work in Spittal, Austria (2015)
– Best Conductor Prize for his Outstanding Artistic Performance in Lindenholzhausen, Germany (2011)
– Viva Maria Strecker Daelen Prize, the best conductor prize for the best interpretation of a contemporary choral work in Marktoberdorf, Germany (2007)

Darena Popova graduated from the State Academy of Music, Sofia, Bulgaria in 1984, with a major in choir conducting in the class of Prof. Vassil Arnaudov. From 1983 she was the choir and choir conductor of the Operetta in Lom, from 1986 – the conductor of Mixed choir “Struma” in Pernik, from 1988 – conductor of Chamber choir “Kolegium Kantikum” in Pernik. Between 1996 and 1998 she is the conductor of the Children’s Choir at the National Palace of Children in Sofia. Since 1998 Darena Popova is a conductor of Academic Choir “Angel Manolov”, Sofia, since 2005 − of the folklore formation “Chemerika” and since 2017 – of the folklore formation “Dilmana” in Sofia.

Darena Popova is a member of Europa Cantat. She has won: multiple “Best conductor” awards, two “Best Conductor Prize “José Hódar” in Torrevieja, Spain, from 2005 and 2009; Gold plaque “Mati Bulgaria” in 2008; the “Best Conductor − an Award for Maestro” prize in 2015 at the Balkan Championship of Folklore “Live Water” in Hisarya, Bulgaria; National Prize “The Bringers of Enlightenment” in 2018, “Person of the Year” in the category “Guardian of Tradition” in 2019, “Golden Age Badge” in 2023 awarded by the Ministry of Culture, “Badge of Honor” awarded by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria and “Maestro” Award in 2024 from Veliko Tarnovo.

Bernie Sherlock is a leading choral conductor. She is founder-conductor of the chamber choir New Dublin Voices and artistic director of the Irish Youth Choirs. She is a guest conductor with Chamber Choir Ireland and former co-conductor of EuroChoir. She has won prizes for her conducting at competitions in Finland, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, Slovenia, Wales and Ireland. Bernie has given workshops and adjudicated conducting and choral competitions around Europe and in the US, Canada and China. Her work in oratorio spans over 25 years, notably with the Choral Society in Trinity College, Dublin and the Culwick Choral Society.

Bernie is a founding board-member of the World Choral Conductors Network and a representative for Ireland on the World Choir Council. She teaches at the TU Dublin Conservatoire where she is director of the masters programme in choral conducting and conducts the TU Chamber Choir. After her music degree in Trinity College Dublin she studied conducting for two years in Hungary, followed by Masters and Doctorate degrees in Dublin. For 12 years she was artistic director of the International Choral Conducting Summer School run by Sing Ireland at the University of Limerick.

Ega O. Azarya began delving into music by studying classical piano. Later, while still a student of Architecture at Parahyangan Catholic University, he also studied classical vocal under Ivan Yohan, Dody Soetanto, and Mrs. Dorcas Soenaryo.

As a member of the Parahyangan Catholic University Choir, Ega has participated in various festivals and competitions across various European countries under the direction of Avip Priatna, Paulus H. Yoedianto, and Ivan Yohan. As a baritone-bass soloist, Ega has performed with the Concordia Orchestra and the Jakarta City Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2013, he has been teaching classical vocal at Musicasa Sanggar and Studio in Jakarta.

In 2016, Ega participated in the International Choir Conducting Masterclass in Debrecen, Hungary, under the guidance of Peter Broadbent (England) and Mate Szabo Sipos (Hungary). He also studied choir and orchestra conducting under Budi Utomo Prabowo and Stojan Kuret (Slovenia). Additionally, he has participated in intensive workshops led by Mark Anthony Carpio (Philippines), Jonathan Velasco (Philippines), and Bengt Ollen (Sweden).

Until 2019, Ega remained actively involved in coaching and conducting the Unpar Student Choir. With the Tarumanagara University Choir, he won a Gold Medal at the Bali International Choir Festival 2013. As the conductor and music director of The Archipelago Singers, he has won First Place in Spain (Cantonigros and Torrevieja, 2014), the Philippines (2015), Bulgaria (2016). In 2019, the choir won the Grand Prix and Ega the Conductor Prize at the Busan Choral Festival and Competition in Busan, South Korea. In August 2023, he led The Archipelago Singers to win the 3rd Prize in two categories at an international competition in Arezzo, Italy.

Chi Hin Danny Wu is a young choral musician and conductor based in Hong Kong who has made extensive performance appearances both locally and overseas in countries across America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. He started his choral training with the Hong Kong Children’s Choir and received vocal training under Caleb Woo. At the age of 17, he was awarded the Ms Barbara Fei Vocal Solo Prize (Open) for Male Voice. In 2018, he was selected as the chairperson of the internationally acclaimed Diocesan Boys’ School Choir, which captured multiple championships at the World Choir Games 2018 in Tshwane, South Africa. Under the mentorship of Felix Shuen, Wu began leading choral and instrumental ensembles.

Wu is a co-founder and conductor of The Mad Singers. Under his direction, The Mad Singers captured numerous awards in international competitions including the Taipei International Choral Competition, the Penabur International Choir Festival, the World Choir Festival, the Leonardo Da Vinci International Choral Festival, and the JSFest Competition.

Christien WONG is a passionate, budding young conductor in Hong Kong. As a Co-Founder of The Mad Singers, he led and conducted the choir to participate in the Taipei International Choral Competition 2023. He was awarded the Best Conductor Award, and the Choir has been awarded 4 Gold Awards and the Grand Prix Champion. The Choir was then qualified to join the World Choral Championship in Rimini, Italy. As the Best Conductor, Christien was also invited to participate in the 4th International Competition for Choral Conductor Romano Gandolfi, to be held in 2025. Christien has also led the Choir to receive Gold Awards in the World Choir Festival, 2022 Penabur International Choir Festival, JSFest Competition.

As an experienced vocalist he has received the title “Best Male Soloist” at the Leonardo Da Vinci International Choir Festival 2021. He has also performed St. John’s Passion produced by SingFest HK under New Vision Arts Festival, and was selected as a Cast – Gavroche in the Hong Kong Youth Choir’s production of the musical Les Misérables.

Jurģis Cābulis (1992) is the artistic director and chief conductor of the youth choir Kamēr…, the artistic director of the Riga Cathedral Choir School Mixed Choir, as well as head of the conducting department, and the conductor of the Riga Chamber Choir Ave Sol. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in choral conducting at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music under Andris Veismanis and Kaspars Ādamsons. Jurģis has been recipient of high-standing awards in the 5th Jāzeps Vītols international Choral Conductors Competition (2014); Juozas Naujalis International Competition for Choral Conductors (2017) and was a semi-finalist for the prestigious Eric Ericsson Award (2021). In 2019, he recorded the choral music album AETERNUM by J. Jančevskis with the Riga Cathedral Choir School Mixed Choir, under the distinguished British classical music record label Hyperion Records. In 2021, Jurģis Cābulis won the Latvian Grand Music Award for the best concert of the year, AMAO OMI.

David Bandelj studied piano and viola at the Emil Komel Slovenian music education center in Gorizia, graduated and obtained a PhD in comparative literature at the University of Ljubljana, studied choral conducting with Hilarij Lavrenčič and Walter Lo Nigro, and specialized with illustrious teachers (Werner Pfaff, Stojan Kuret, Marcus Detterbeck, Ambrož Čopi, Alessandro Kirschner, Nina Kompare, Voces8). Having approached the study of the organ as a self-taught person, he perfected his knowledge with the maestro Marco Colella and is the titular organist in the church of S. John the Baptiste in Gorizia. Since 2013, he has been the conductor of the Emil Komel youth choir of Gorizia, with which he has achieved important national and international recognition. Several times he has been a member of juries in choral competitions, has held workshops for youth choirs, and has collaborated as a conductor with the ArsAtelier orchestra and the Nova string orchestra. He has published several collections of poetry and literary essays and is a literature teacher at the Trubar – Gregorčič high school with Slovenian as teaching language in Gorizia.