Associazione Corale Goriziana C.A. Seghizzi is pleased to introduce the jury of the 21st International Composition Contest “Seghizzi”.

Artistic Director and Jury's President

Pietro Ferrario

Born in Busto Arsizio (VA) in 1967, he began his musical studies with Mariateresa Nebuloni. After completing scientific studies, he graduated in piano, composition, organ, choral music, and choir conducting from the conservatories of Brescia, Milan, and Alessandria, studying with Luigi Molfino and Bruno Bettinelli. He furthered his studies in composition with Azio Corghi, film music with E. Morricone, organ with L. Rogg, G. Parodi, and others, and choir conducting with G. Graden and T. Kaljuste. He performs as a pianist, organist, and choir conductor.

He is the author of various piano, organ, choral, symphonic-choral compositions, performed and recorded in Italy and abroad (Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, Australia, China, the United States, New Zealand, Argentina, Israel, Japan, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Norway, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Indonesia, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Latvia) by important ensembles and renowned international performers (such as recently the King’s Singers) in major musical seasons (such as in 2019 at Carnegie Hall in New York and the ACDA National Convention in Kansas City) and in major European choral competitions.

He has composed commissioned works for Fondazione Toscanini di Parma, Settimane Musicali di Stresa, Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano, and Landesakademie Ochsenhausen. In 2004, he won the 1st prize in the 1st International Choral Composition Trophy “Seghizzi” in Gorizia; in 2008, 1st prize at the International Composition Competition “Bettinelli” in Milan, in 2016, 1st prize at the National Composition Competition “Canta Petrarca” in Arezzo. In 2020, he won 1st prize at the International Choral Composition Competition AERCO.

He has published works for Ricordi, Carrara, Rugginenti, Sonzogno, Feniarco, Edizioni Musicali Europee, Sonitus, and the German publishers Carus-Verlag and Ferrimontana. He has been invited to serve on juries for important international choral and composition competitions in Italy and abroad. Since 1997, he has conducted the Choir of the Basilica of Cuggiono and the vocal ensemble Calycanthus, the latter founded by him (1st prize at the International Competition Riva del Garda 2003, 1st prize at the National Competition in Arezzo 2005, Grand Prize Efrem Casagrande Vittorio Veneto 2006, Feniarco award for the best Italian choir in Gorizia 2008, 1st prize mixed vocal groups in Biella 2012, 2nd prize ex-aequo (1st not awarded) at the 9th National Competition Lago Maggiore in Verbania 2018 mixed choir category), with which he has performed in important music festivals in Italy and abroad, giving premieres of works by Miškinis, Dubra, Corghi, Bianchera, and Italian premieres of works by Sixten and Antognini. He has also recorded two CDs for Bottega Discantica and SMC Records.

As a pianist, notable recent performances include the Études-Tableaux op.39 by Rachmaninoff, all 27 Studies by Chopin, all Studies by Liszt (12 Transcendental, 6 concert studies, 6 Paganini studies), in addition to a program entirely based on his own piano compositions. He is the titular organist of the prestigious 1841 Carrera organ at the church SS. Gervaso and Protaso in Parabiago (MI). He has taught various subjects at the conservatories of Vicenza, Cagliari, Sassari, Cesena, and Parma. Since 2021, he has been a tenured professor of theory, rhythm, musical perception, and ear training at the “G. Rossini” Conservatory in Pesaro.

Jury

Eugeniusz Kus

Prof. Dr. Hab. Eugeniusz Kus, born in Poland, graduated from the Music Academy (University) in Poznań/Poland and afterwards continued skill’s training at the music academies in Warsaw Poland, Haque and Rotterdam/Netherland and Vienna/Austria. From 1969 until 2005 artistic director of the Szczecin University Choir and since 1984 leading professional chamber choir and orchestra “Camerata Nova”. These ensembles conducted by him performed at the festivals and concerts in most European countries as well as in USA, China and Brasil (about two thousand concerts). With his group and as the guest conductor he performed many of the most significant vocal-instrumental and instrumental works; from passions and masses by J.S,Bach till the contemporary music. He has frequently been invited to participate in workshops and international juries at the choir , compositions and vocal contests in Poland, Italy, Greece, Germany, Bulgaria, Spain, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, China, Hong Kong and Korea. For many years he worked as a director of the bigest Szczecin Culture Centre in the Pomeranian Princes Castle in Szczecin. He initiates and organises many festivals, workshops and concerts.

At presents he works as a director of chamber choir and orchestra “Camerata Nova”, artistic director of a well know Polish music festivals in Kamien Pomorski and Szczecin (International Organ and Chamber Music Festivals ) director of the International Choir Festival in Szczecin. For many years he has been teaching choir and orchestra conducting, and currently is still a Professor of the Academy of Art in Szczecin. For his artistic achievements he was repeatedly honoured with Szczecin City Council awards and he was also decorated with the Orders of Merit by both the Polish and German Presidents.

Nana Forte

She graduated in Composition from the Academy of Music in Ljubljana in 2005. She continued her postgraduate studies at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden and at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin. Forte has composed exclusively instrumental pieces, chamber music, orchestral, choral works, and operas. She is one of the few young Slovenian composers who pay great attention to the creation of choral compositions. During her studies, she collaborated with numerous Slovenian choirs and conductors, receiving several awards for her choral composition activity.

Her works are performed in concerts and festivals worldwide (Austria, Italy, Hungary, Finland, UK, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden, USA, Korea, Singapore, etc.) and have been broadcasted by various European classical music radio stations.

In 2007, she was selected to represent Slovenia in the “European Ensemble Academy” project, organized by the Deutscher Musikrat during the German presidency of the European Union. Her composition “Chiming” (“Pritrkavanje”), composed for a chamber ensemble specifically for this event, was performed in Dortmund, Bremen, Ljubljana, Rome, and Brussels.

In August 2007, her orchestral composition “Genesis” was performed at the “Young Euro Classic” festival in Berlin with the Orchestra of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, conductor George Pehlivanian, and soloists Jože Kotar (clarinet) and Borut Zagoranski (accordion). In the same year, she also presented her choral composition “Libera me” at the Music Biennale in Zagreb, Croatia.

“Libera me” for two mixed choirs was the compulsory piece at the finals of the 5th International Competition for Young Choir Conductors “Europa Cantat” in Ljubljana in 2009 and was performed by Slovenian and European choirs (APZ Tone Tomšič of the University of Ljubljana, Norwegian Youth Choir, Swedish Radio Choir, Bavarian Radio Choir, SYC Ensemble Singers, Allmänna Sången, Via-nova-chor, etc.).

In 2011, she participated in the MusMA (Music Masters on Air) project, a collaboration of 10 festivals in partnership with their 10 radio stations, where she represented Slovenia. For this occasion, she was commissioned a new composition for piano. Her composition “A broken car” was successfully performed in six European music festivals in Belgium, Italy, Serbia, Portugal, Hungary, and Slovenia.

Her choral piece “Sancta Trinitas” was performed during the concert tour of the World Youth Choir 2017 in Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia.

In July 2017, her piece “En ego campana” for double mixed choir was performed at the Baltic Sea Festival with the Swedish Radio Choir and conductor Peter Dijkstra.

She participated in the ISCM World Music Days 2017 in Vancouver. Her orchestral composition “Zaklinjanje” (Incantation) was performed by the Victoria Symphony Orchestra.

In recent years, she has also explored the field of opera and musical theater. Her operatic debut “Paradies oder nach Eden” was first performed in 2016 at the Vorarlberger Landestheater in Bregenz, Austria.

She lives and works in Slovenia.

Website: http://www.nanaforte.com/

Claudio Ferrara

He was born in Santiago, Chile, on April 6, 1990. In the USA, he pursued the academic program in “Music Theory and Composition,” and upon returning to Italy, he earned the diploma in Composition from the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome. At the same conservatory, he also obtained the bachelor’s degree in “Collaborative Pianist” and the specialized two-year program in “Direction of Vocal and Sacred Repertoire,” both with the highest honors and praise. He studied jazz at the Saint Louis School of Music in Rome and received vocal training from countertenor Mario Bassani.

As a singer, he has been part of numerous Roman choral formations and has several commercial recordings to his credit (Brilliant Classics and Edizioni Paoline). He is a founding member and first tenor of “Prima Prattica Ensemble,” a vocal quintet specializing in Renaissance repertoire.

Among his experiences as a conductor, he notably directed the Youth String Orchestra of the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia at the Christmas Concert of the Chamber of Deputies on December 20, 2020.

For his primary activity as a composer, he has received numerous accolades: he has won dozens of awards in national and international competitions (Guido d’Arezzo, Seghizzi, Turoldo, Bobbio Sacra, Preveza, Vincenzo Amato, Alma Dantis, etc.), establishing himself as one of the most recognized emerging composers in the Italian choral scene. His works, published by various publishing houses (Sonitus, Aldebaran Editions, Diaphonia Editions, Feniarco, Arcopu…), are frequently performed in Italy and abroad in public concerts and choral singing competitions (one of his pieces, “Occhi Miei Lassi,” with text by Petrarch, is a compulsory piece for mixed choirs participating in the International Choral Competition “Guido d’Arezzo” 2022). He has received numerous commissions in Italy and abroad for the creation of new choral music.

Being the son of an Italian diplomat and having spent his childhood abroad, he is fluent in English and French, in addition to Italian.

Website: www.claudioferraracomposer.com

Z. Randall Stroope

He is an American composer and orchestra conductor. As a conductor, he has recently been engaged in Hong Kong, Rome (Santa Maria sopra Minerva), Barcelona, Singapore, Berlin Cathedral (Germany), Salzburg Cathedral (Austria), Carnegie Hall (New York), and has performed during liturgical celebrations in the Vatican on eleven different occasions. He is also the Artistic Director of two summer music festivals in Europe.

Randall holds degrees in voice and piano and a doctorate in conducting. His mentor during postgraduate studies was Margaret Mills, the choir director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He studied composition with Cecil Effinger and Normand Lockwood, both students of Nadia Boulanger, the famous French teacher and composer who was also a student of Gabriel Fauré. The main publishers of his 190 works include Oxford University Press, Alliance Music Publications (Houston), Carl Fischer, Walton Music (Chicago), and Santa Barbara Music Press (California).

His choral compositions, the most well-known of which are “Conversion of Saul,” “Lamentaciones de Jeremias,” “Amor de mi Alma,” “Christi Mutter,” “We Beheld Once Again the Stars,” “Judaskuss,” “Go Lovely Rose,” “The Pasture,” “Revelation,” “Homeland,” “I Am Not Yours,” “Caritas et Amor,” “Song to the Moon,” and “Inscription of Hope,” have sold over four million copies. His choral cycle, “Four Sonnets of Garcilaso de la Vega” (which includes “Amor de mi alma”), is one of his most performed works.

His more elaborate and complex works include “Hodie! (This Day)” for mixed choir, brass, organ, and percussion, “Carmina Pax” (a half-hour work premiered in 2018) for mixed choir, orchestra, solo white voice, and baritone, “American Rhapsody” for mixed choir and brass quintet or strings, and his song cycle for solo voice, “Love’s Waning Seasons.” He has also published many instrumental works, including “Fanfara” for brass, percussion, and organ, and “Amor de mi alma” for woodwind ensemble.

Recordings of his works can be heard on platforms such as Spotify, YouTube, and on his website (https://www.zrstroope.com/).

As a guest conductor, Randall has directed 24 international summer music festivals in Italy, Germany, Canada, Ireland, Spain, and England. He conducted summer masterclasses for Feniarco in Italy in 2016 and 2018.

He is the founder and director of “The New American Voices,” a professional ensemble dedicated to concerts and recordings based in Dallas/Fort Worth. In June 2024, the ensemble will embark on a European tour in Italy (Milan and Parma), Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

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