Chorus Review

Registration for the choir review 2023 is closed

Queens of Qoro Quando (FI), 2019

Chorus Review 2023

The International Chorus Review is the mainstay of the festival, lasting three days. At the concluding concert, the jury will distribute a total of 10,000 € in awards. The jury may also award a Grand Prix to a particularly distinguished choir. All choirs will be sent a diploma with one to three bronze, silver or gold stamps awarded by the jury, together with a written assessment from the jury, by mail after the chorus review.

All choirs performing without electronic amplification are allowed to participate in the Chorus Review, regardless of their type or size. Registration for the 2023 edition of the Chorus Review is closed. The participating choirs will find information about accommodation discounts on the participation page.

Participation

Jury

Chair: Jennifer Tham (FI)
Jury members: Basilio Astulez (ES), Kaija Viitasalo (FI), Timo Nuoranne (FI), Orla Flanagan (IE)

Jennifer Tham

Jennifer Tham directs the SYC Ensemble Singers (Singapore), a choir devoted to the work of living composers, and was awarded the Cultural Medallion, the nation’s highest arts accolade, for her role in shaping Singapore’s cultural landscape. She taught choral pedagogy and conducting at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Singapore) and has chaired and spoken on panels at conferences and symposia in Singapore, Argentina, Denmark, Estonia and Sweden. She was Artistic Director of the Asia South Pacific Symposium on Choral Music and co-coordinates the IFCM Asia Pacific Working Committee. She represents Singapore on the World Choir Council, serving on jury at the World Choir Games and independent festivals since 2003.

Basilio Astulez

Basilio Astulez teaches Choral Singing at the Leioa Municipal Music Conservatory, where he founded the Leioa Kantika Korala children´s choir in 2000. He conducts also Vocalia Taldea choir, a multi-awarded and renowned female ensemble. As the conductor of these choirs, he has recorded 12 records and toured in Europe, America and Asia. He currently teaches Choral Conducting for educational institutions in Spain and is frequently asked to be a member of the jury for many competitions and to run choral singing courses and seminars all over the world. He also teaches Choir Conducting at the Musikene Higher Conservatory of the Basque Country since 2018 and leads EHGA, the Basque Youth Choir, recently awarded with three first prizes in the International Choral Contest of Tolosa.

Kaija Viitasalo

Kaija Viitasalo is known as a visionary in revitalising music for women’s choirs and as an accomplished music educator. She has conducted the KYN women’s choir since autumn 1989, leading the group to the cutting edge of the choral art in Finland and internationally. She received a conductor award at the Klemetti Competition in 2007 and at the Tampere Vocal Music Festival in 2011. She was awarded the golden merit badge of the Women’s Choir Association in 2018 and was named Choir Conductor of the Year by the Finnish Choir Conductors’ Association in 2021. In summer 2022, the board of the Finnish Amateur Musicians’ Association (Sulasol) awarded her the Klemetti Prize. Kaija Viitasalo has been a jury member at choral and composition competitions. She is employed as a Lecturer in Music at the Viikki Teacher Training School of the University of Helsinki.

Timo Nuoranne

Timo Nuoranne has held the post of Professor of Choir Conducting at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf since 2014. He studied choir conducting at the Sibelius Academy and at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. He was Lecturer in Choir Conducting at the Department of Church Music at the Sibelius Academy from 1996 to 2014, conductor of the Finnish Radio Chamber Choir from 1997 to 2004 and conductor of the Tampere Philharmonic Chorus from 2005 to 2013. He has also previously been conductor of the Suomen Laulu mixed choir, the Jubilate chamber choir and Chamber Choir Gloria. He has appeared as guest conductor with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the Flemish Radio Choir in Belgium, the RIAS-Kammerchor in Germany and the Cappella Romana in Portland, Oregon, among others. From 2002 to 2006, he was artistic director of the Elisabeth Singers in Hiroshima, Japan.

Orla Flanagan

Orla Flanagan is Assistant Professor of Music at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. She studied conducting at the Kodály Institute in Hungary and holds a doctorate from the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Orla conducts the mixed-voice choir Mornington Singers, winners of the Grand Prix at the 2019 International Baltic Sea Choir Competition in Latvia. As a conductor, Orla has also gained numerous awards at international competitions, including the MacCurtain & McSwiney Award for programming at Cork International Choral Festival on three occasions, and a special prize for interpretation at the 10th International Choral Competition, Maribor, Slovenia. Orla’s work with professional choral ensembles includes Milltown Chamber Choir, EnsemBéal, Resurgam, and the National Chamber Choir of Ireland. In 2020 Orla was appointed as Artistic Director of the Sing Ireland International Choral Conducting Summer School.

History

Choirs awarded with three gold stamps
Kipinät (Finland)
2019
Kipinät (Finland)
Queens of Qoro Quando (Finland)
Kipinät (Finland)
Christophorus-Kantorei (Germany)
2017
2 gold stamps (no choirs of three gold stamps)
Christophorus-Kantorei (Germany)
Junges Consortium Berlin (Germany)
Kamarikuoro Värinä (Suomi)
Oriana (Ukraine)
Vaskivuoren lukion kamarikuoro (Finland)
Christophorus-Kantorei (Germany)
Estonian Radio Children’s Choir (Estonia)
2015
Estonian Radio Children’s Choir (Estonia)
Spira Ensemble (Finland)
Turun konservatorion kamarikuoro (Finland)
Grand Prix: Spira Ensemble
Estonian Radio Children’s Choir (Estonia)
Musica-kuoro (Finland)
2013
Musica-kuoro (Finland)
Spigo (Latvia)
Musica-kuoro (Finland)
Aino-kuoro (Finland)
2011
Aino-kuoro (Finland)
Kamarikuoro Kaamos (Finland)
Kauppakorkeakoulun Ylioppilaskunnan Naislaulajat (Finland)
Grand Prix: Kamarikuoro Kaamos
Aino-kuoro (Finland)
Hämäläis-Osakunnan Laulajat (Finland)
2009
Akademiska Sångföreningen (Finland)
Hämäläis-Osakunnan Laulajat (Finland)
Slavonic Tractor (Finland)
Hämäläis-Osakunnan Laulajat (Finland)
Laurus Nuorisokuoro (Suomi)
2007
2 gold stamps (no choirs of three gold stamps):
Vox Aurea (Finland)
Akademiska damkören Lyran (Finland)
Laurus Nuorisokuoro (Finland)
Sibelius-lukion kamarikuoro (Finland)
Laurus Nuorisokuoro (Suomi)

2005

Grex Musicus (Finland)
Grand Prix: Grex Musicus (Finland)

2003

Vox Aurea (Finland)
Tone Tomšic (Slovenia)

2001

Bryansk City Academic Choir (Russia)
Ljubljanski Madrigalisti (Slovenia)
Lyran (Finland)
Philomela (Finland)
Grand Prix: Philomela (Finland)

1999

Anglo-Chinese Junior College Choir (Singapore)
Jubilate (Finland)
Grand Prix: Anglo-Chinese Junior College Choir (Singapore)

1997

Kampin laulu (Finland)

1995

De La Salle University Chorale (The Philippines)
Grand Prix: De La Salle University Chorale (The Philippines)

1993

Tallinnan Vanhankaupungin poikakuoro (Estonia)
Kiimingin Kiurut (Finland)
Grand Prix: Tallinnan Vanhankaupungin poikakuoro (Estonia)

1991

Museum Musicum (Lithuania)

1987

Collegium Musicum (Poland)

1985

2 gold stamps:
Jubilate (Finland)
Hyvinkään Nuorten Kamarikuoro (Finland)
Semmelweis (Hungary)

1983

Csili (Hungary)
Polyteknikkojen Kamarikuoro (Finland)
Tallinnan Polyteknisen Instituutin Kuoro (Estonia)

1981

Turun Konservatorion Nuorisokuoro (Finland)
Jubilate (Finland)
Norjan Radion Studiokuoro (Norway)

1979

Eestin Tiedeakatemian Naiskuoro (Estonia)
Imatran Seurakunnan Kamarikuoro (Finland)
Jyväskylän Studiokuoro (Finland)
Kouvolan Musiikkiluokkien Kuoro (Finland)
Lahden Kamarikuoro (Finland)

1977

Polyteknikkojen Kuoro (Finland)
Kaleva-kuoro (Estonia)
Miskolcin 6. kansakoulun musiikkiosaston kuoro (Hungary)

1975

Tuiran Kamarikuoro (Finland)