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Kåre Hanken
Kåre Hanken holds a Master Degree in Church Music from the Music Conservatory in Oslo, Norway, and obtained further qualifications in Organ and Choral Conducting in Denmark, Sweden and the USA. Spanning almost four decades, he started his career as an organist in Ålesund, before becoming Principal of the city’s music school. From 1987 -1998 Kåre Hanken taught choral conducting at the Institute for Music and Theatre of the University of Oslo, and he has been part time lecturer at the Norwegian Academy of Music. |
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At present he is Secretary General of The Norwegian Choir Association. During his time in Ålesund, he conducted the Ålesund Church Choir and Ålesund Chamber Choirs. Under his baton, these Choirs performed all over Scandinavia, as well as in Germany, England and the USA. At the University of Oslo he became the conductor of the Schola Cantorum, which has achieved international acclaim with concerts all over Western Europe, the Baltic States, The Nordic countries, South Africa and Japan. In 1998 the Choir was afforded the honour by the Norwegian Department of Foreign Affairs to represent Norway in the Pre-Olympic Culture Program in Japan.
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| He is in great demand as a guest conductor and adjudicator at national and international choir competitions, and has served on the jury of the first Choir Olympics in 2000, held in Linz, Austria. In 2006 he will be in the jury of the Choir Olympics which will be arranged in Xiamen, China. Kåre Hanken is also a well-known choral conducting specialist and has held master-classes in conducting at universities and academies in Latvia, Estonia, South Africa, Japan and the USA. |
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In 1998 he established an extensive choral conducting educational program at the University of Port Elizabeth, which he serves the broader communities of the Eastern Cape Province. He also supervises and lectures at the Masters Degree and Doctoral Programs in Practical Choral Conducting at the University of Port Elizabeth. These programs are in cooperation with the Norwegian Academy of Music. At present he is part-time lecturer in choral conducting at Stellebosch University, South Africa. In 1999 he was awarded an Honorary Professorship by the University of Port Elizabeth in honour of his contributions to the development of choral singing in the Eastern Cape and South Africa. |
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Gábor Hollerung, festival choir conductor
Gábor Hollerung was born in Budapest in 1954. He studied choral and orchestral conducting at the Liszt Academy of Music and attended the master classes of Eric Ericson, Kurt Masur and László Somogyi. From 1979 he was the assistant conductor of the Miskolc Symphony Orchestra. He taught choral conducting and music theory at the music faculty of the University of Pécs, where he also conducted the female choir of the university. Parallel to this
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he was the conductor of the semi-professional symphony orchestra of the KPVDSZ. He has been the principal conductor of the Dohnányi Orchestra Budafok since 1989. Thanks to their rapid development under his hands, the amateur ensemble received a professional status in 1993, becoming the youngest professional symphony orchestra in Hungary.
He has been the Music Director of the Budapest Academic Choral Society since 1980. He enjoyed a unique series of successes, winning first prizes at all recognized European choir competitions including the Grand Prix of the Béla Bartók International Choir Competition in Debrecen (Hungary). Under his leadership the BACS was awarded the title "Choir of the World' at the Llangollen International Choir Competition (Wales). He was awarded the prize for best conductor in Debrecen in 1984.
Since May 2001 he has been music director of Honvéd Ensemble and conductor of its worldwide unique professional male choir. In 2002 he became Chief Guest Conductor of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Musical Advisor of the Philharmonia Singers Tel Aviv.
He has toured all over the world with his ensembles. They gave many concerts in England, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Australia and Mexico. His choir was among the 30 best choirs of the world to be invited to the 4th IFCM World Symposium on Choral Music in Sydney (Australia).
In addition to his European engagements as a guest conductor he is regularly invited to Israel, to Taiwan and to the Unite States. He appeared at such reputed concert halls as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, De Doelen Rotterdam (the Netherlands), the Royal College of Music London (England), Frankfurter Alte Oper (Germany), Wiener Konzerthaus (Austria), Palau de Música Valencia (Spain), the Henry Crown Symphonic Hall Jerusalem (Israel), the Sydney Opera House (Australia), the Taipei National Concert Hall (Taiwan), and this year in Rio de Janeiro, just to name but a few. He is engaged in training young conductors and he has regularly given master classes on conducting since 1986 both in Hungary and abroad e.g.: Belgium, Finland, Germany, Taiwan and Israel. He led a master class at the IFCM European Symposium in Ljubljana in 1995. He will conduct the orchestra I Pomeriggi Musicali (Milan) in January 2005.
In 1988 he initiated the foundation of a choir competition with a revolutionary new artistic concept in Budapest, which has grown to be an internationally renowned event series during the past decade. A whole family of choral events was born following the example of the Budapest International Choir Competition under the name "MUISCA MUNDI" in Italy, Germany, Israel, and the United States. The highlight of the series is the Choir Olympics in (Linz 2000, Pusan – South-Korea 2002, Bremen 2004). Gábor Hollerung is one of the artistic directors of INTERKULTUR International Music Competitions Foundation, the "MUSICA MUNDI" international choir competitions and of the Choir Olympics. He is the president of the Association of Hungarian Choir Competitions and Festivals founded in 1998. From 2004 he is the director of a very noted music festival in Hungary, the Zemplén Festival.
In 2002 he was awarded the Knight-cross Order of the Republic by the President of the Republic of Hungary and in 2004 he was given Liszt Award. |
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Jerry McCoy
Dr. Jerry McCoy is Director of Choral Studies and Professor of Music at the University of North Texas where he conducts the A Cappella Choir, the North Texas Chamber Choir and the Grand Chorus, teaches graduate choral conducting and advanced choral techniques, and guides the choral studies program. He is music director of Schola Cantorum of |
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of Texas, President-Elect and National Convention Chair for the American Choral Directors Association, and a member of the editorial board of the Choral Scholar. For six years he was founder/music director of the Texas Choral Artist, a professional chamber choir based in Dallas, Texas.
Dr. McCoy has been a guest conductor for the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, the New England Symphonic Ensemble, the Texas Camerata, the renowned Santa Fe Desert Chorale, the Daegu (Korea) City Choir, the Wichita (Kansas) Chamber Chorale, and the Wichita Falls (Texas) Symphony Orchestra. He sang and recorded with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers in New York City and throughout southern France, and with the Banff (Canada) Festival Chamber Choir led by distinguished Swedish conductor Eric Ericson.
He has served as guest clinician in Sweden for Musik I Vasternorland, the University of Luleå Musikhögskolan, and the Luleå Kammerkor, as well as The Association of British Choral Directors, Coro Dialecto Urbano (Caracas, Venezuela), Keim Yung University (Daegu, Korea), and the Korean Chorus Center (Seoul, Korea). Dr. McCoy is one of America’s most well-respected guest clinicians, having conducted all-state, regional, and festival choirs and performance clinics in thirty-six states across the nation. Guest engagements for 2008-2009 include appearances in Austria, China, Alabama, California, Colorado, Kansas, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, and Texas.
Distinguished appearances by his choirs include refereed performances for the national conventions of the National Collegiate Choral Organization (October 2008); the American Choral Directors Association in 2005 (Los Angeles), 1999 (Chicago) and 1997 (San Diego); the 2000 national convention of the Association of British Choral Directors (Chester, England); and the national MENC convention in 1992 (New Orleans). Dr. McCoy’s choirs have toured Europe three times, giving concerts at the Salzburger Dom, St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Dublin), St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral (London), Chester Cathedral (Chester) and St. Nicolas Church (Prague). Dr. McCoy recently served ad chorus master for a performance of the Mozart Requiem performed by the Texas Ballet Theatre, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and the Schola Cantorum of Texas.
His commercial recordings include releases by Klavier Records (Carmina Burana with the UNT Grand Chorus and Wind Symphony, Eugene Corporon, conductor) and GIA Music Publications (Musick’s Empire featuring the UNT A Cappella Choir and the North Texas Chamber Choir, and two companion recordings for Teaching Music Through Performance in Choir), as well as five compact discs produced and released through the UNT College of Music (O Gladsome Light –The UNT Choirs Live in Concert!, peace I leave with you and Imaginings) and the OSU Department of Music (An OSU Christmas and Cantus Gloriosus). |
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Conductor／Marjukka Riihimäki
Marjukka Riihimäki has made an impressive career as choir conductor. She has creatively explored and developed new methods for choral expression with all of her choirs. She works as music lecturer at Sibelius Upper Secondary School in Helsinki conducting its choirs. In addition, she conducts women’s choirs Philomela and Klemetti Institute Women’s Choir as well as chamber choir Grex Musicus. She is recognized for her creative ideas and ability to lead her choirs to captivating performances.
Marjukka has lead her choirs to success in several competitions and choral reviews. For example, she has won the Grand Prix with two choirs in the international chorus review of the Tampere in Chorus Festival. In 2001 the Grand Prix was awarded to Philomela, and in 2005 to Grex Musicus.
Marjukka Riihimäki frequently works as teacher and jury member at international choral festivals. She tours frequently with her choirs, continuously exploring new possibilities of choral music expression.
Marjukka’s motto is: “You need to give yourself 100% to the music”, and she surely lives by that motto herself. |
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