The 2024 Jury
Our international jury (round 3 and the Grand Final)
Peter Broadbent MBE
(United Kingdom) — Chair Peter Broadbent is one of Britain’s leading choral conductors, known for his consistent commitment to contemporary music. In 1988, he formed the Joyful Company of Singers, which rapidly established itself as one of Europe’s leading chamber choirs, winning an impressive list of National and International Competitions. Performances have included many of the major UK festivals, including the BBC Proms, and they have given concerts and broadcasts throughout Europe and in the USA. The JCS repertoire includes over 40 first performances, and its discography extends to over 25 CDs, with recording continuing to be an important part of its activity. The most recent recordings include the complete choral songs of Havergal Brian for Toccata records, and in September conducted JCS in a recording of music by John Casken. He works as a guest conductor throughout Europe, including concerts and broadcasts with the BBC Singers, the National Chamber Choir in Dublin, and has conducted the Kodály Philharmonic Orchestra and the Kodály Chorus in Debrecen. Peter Broadbent was the first Director of Training for the Association of British Choral Directors, he gives masterclasses in Europe and adjudicates at international competitions. He was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit for promoting and strengthening British-Hungarian cultural relations, and in the 2022 New Year’s Honours he was awarded the MBE for his services to music. |
Dr. John Dickson
(USA) John Dickson is Professor Emeritus and former Director of Choral Studies at Louisiana State University. Recently retired after forty-four years of collegiate teaching, he continues his conducting through workshops and festivals, and his teaching through guest lectureships at various universities. He is the Musical and Artistic Director of the Louisville Master Chorale, and the founding Artistic director and now Emeritus Conductor of Coro Vocati, one of Atlanta’s most accomplished professional chamber choirs. As a conducting pedagogue, he has presented masterclasses before the Association of British Choral Directors, the American Choral Directors Association, the Royal Northern Music Conservatory (Manchester), and the Russian State Music Conservatories of St. Petersburg and Moscow. He has conducted festivals and workshops in England, Wales, Scotland, Finland, France, Italy, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, Mexico, Canada, and throughout the U. S. For three decades his choirs have been featured at conventions of the ACDA, ABCD, Texas Music Educators Association, and the National Collegiate Choral Organization. Most recently, Dr. Dickson has participated in guest artist residencies at Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and the University of Kentucky. Appointed as a Visiting Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge University in 1992, Dr. Dickson sang with Sir David Willcocks and The Bach Choir; a second post-doctoral fellowship in 1998 allowed him to serve as principal rehearsal conductor under musical director David Hill. He is the Founding Director of the Oxbridge C. S. Lewis Choral Institute. |
Prof. Lone Larsen
(Sweden) Lone Larsen, is an innovative conductor with a strong musical integrity. As a professor in choral conducting, she is a role model for young conductors. She continues to challenge existing concert forms with the aim of creating surprise and engaging the audience. Lone Larsen invites all singers and musicians to a creative, playful platform of making music. She is highly sought-after as an inspiring leader of workshops and concert projects in different countries. Born in Denmark, Lone Larsen is educated at the Nordjysk Academy of Music in Aalborg. 1998, she moved to Sweden where she undertook a diploma in choral conducting at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. From 2005 to 2007 Lone Larsen was based in New York, where she completed additional studies in orchestra conducting at the Juilliard School of Music. In 1999, Lone Larsen founded VoNo, a prize-winning vocal ensemble from Stockholm consisting of 12 professional singers who want to find new expressions in ensemble singing. VoNo has developed a unique method of communicating with the audience through both improvisation and vocal art. www.vono.se Since 2016 Lone has worked at Folkoperan in Stockholm as conductor, artistic project leader and chorus master in different projects. She has been one of the leaders of Choral Art at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada 2018 – 2020. In Norway, Lone has been the artistic director of the ensemble Vokal Nord, with a focus on music influenced by joik/ sami music and baroque music, from 2012- 2015. In 2008 Lone Larsen was appointed Choral Conductor of the Year in Sweden. Lone is professor in choral conducting in Stockholm and she continues to work internationally with many fine ensembles such as DR Vokal ensemblet, Svenska Radiokören, Drottningholms Barockensemble, Pro Coro Canada, Pratum Integrum, Eric Ericson Chamber Choir etc. |
Ragnar Rasmussen
(Norway) Ragnar Rasmussen is a choral conductor, professor and composer, based at NTNU Music in Trondheim, Norway. He is currently the conductor / artistic director of the Norwegian vocal ensemble Nidaros Vokal, and the international Utopia & Reality Chamber Choir, He was born in the North-East part of Norway, and grew up surrounded by many different cultural expressions from the Arctic. This has influenced him greatly, both as a performer and a composer. In 1999-2011 he was artistic director of the chamber choir Vokal Nord (Tromsø). In 2008-2010 he was the conductor of Norway's National Youth Choir. In 2010 he was conductor of the World Youth Choir. In the years 2011-2018, he was the conductor/artistic director of the professional Norwegian ensembles 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. As a guest conductor, 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. Ragnar Rasmussen is currently a board member of the Norwegian Composers Association. |
Dr. Sarah Tenant-Flowers
(United Kingdom)
In the field of choral conducting Sarah is an internationally recognised performer and teacher. The versatile array of professional and amateur groups, both chamber and large-scale, with which she has worked includes the Hilliard Ensemble, Chamber Choir Ireland, Singscape, Cape Town Philharmonic Choir, the Friedenkirche Chor of Düsseldorf, English Baroque and Reading Bach Choirs, Harlow Chorus, Commotio, VoxCantab and Dubai Opera Festival Chorus. As guest chorusmaster she has prepared numerous choirs including the BBC Symphony Chorus for Proms performances under Andrew Davis and Ed Gardner, and the Granada International Chorus for Harry Christophers (The Sixteen), whilst being equally at home with community ensembles such as Nottingham and Warwick University choruses and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s SOVocal. The many instrumental ensembles with which Sarah has worked include period bands Fieri Consort, City of London Chamber Orchestra, and His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts as well as the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, Cape Town Philharmonic, City of London Sinfonia and the Britten Sinfonia.
Formerly General Manager of The Sixteen and a founder Director of the Association of British Choral Directors (ABCD), Sarah is in huge demand as a conducting teacher. She directed the choral conducting course at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and currently lectures both there and at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire as well as tutoring for Trinity College Oxford, Sing for Pleasure, and ABCD. Internationally, Sarah has tutored in Dubai, Ireland, Germany and The Netherlands and was conducting mentor to actor Bradley Walsh on BBC2’s TV series ‘Maestro’.
Sarah also directs and sings professionally in the UK’s flagship female voice consort Papagena, The group has made acclaimed recordings for the SOMM label and recent concerts have included performances at the Edinburgh, Christchurch, Three Choirs and Ryedale festivals and collaborations with the Orchestra of the Swan in Stratford and Birmingham.
(United Kingdom)
In the field of choral conducting Sarah is an internationally recognised performer and teacher. The versatile array of professional and amateur groups, both chamber and large-scale, with which she has worked includes the Hilliard Ensemble, Chamber Choir Ireland, Singscape, Cape Town Philharmonic Choir, the Friedenkirche Chor of Düsseldorf, English Baroque and Reading Bach Choirs, Harlow Chorus, Commotio, VoxCantab and Dubai Opera Festival Chorus. As guest chorusmaster she has prepared numerous choirs including the BBC Symphony Chorus for Proms performances under Andrew Davis and Ed Gardner, and the Granada International Chorus for Harry Christophers (The Sixteen), whilst being equally at home with community ensembles such as Nottingham and Warwick University choruses and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s SOVocal. The many instrumental ensembles with which Sarah has worked include period bands Fieri Consort, City of London Chamber Orchestra, and His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts as well as the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, Cape Town Philharmonic, City of London Sinfonia and the Britten Sinfonia.
Formerly General Manager of The Sixteen and a founder Director of the Association of British Choral Directors (ABCD), Sarah is in huge demand as a conducting teacher. She directed the choral conducting course at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and currently lectures both there and at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire as well as tutoring for Trinity College Oxford, Sing for Pleasure, and ABCD. Internationally, Sarah has tutored in Dubai, Ireland, Germany and The Netherlands and was conducting mentor to actor Bradley Walsh on BBC2’s TV series ‘Maestro’.
Sarah also directs and sings professionally in the UK’s flagship female voice consort Papagena, The group has made acclaimed recordings for the SOMM label and recent concerts have included performances at the Edinburgh, Christchurch, Three Choirs and Ryedale festivals and collaborations with the Orchestra of the Swan in Stratford and Birmingham.
Our national jury (rounds 1-2)
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“On behalf of the entire team, we are honoured to welcome this distinguished panel of expert jurors to this year's competition. Their expertise and leadership in the field of choral conducting enriches the festival and we appreciate their support in helping us to nurture the next generation of artistic talent.”
- James Davey, Co-Founder and Trustee of the LICCC, |
