With a great pleasure we intruduce Jury members of the upcoming International Choir Festival MUNDUS CANTAT SOPOT 2019.
Prof. Marcin Tomczak (Gdańsk, Poland)
is full profesor, choir maestro, conductor and research worker at the Music Academy named after S. Moniuszko in Gdansk and at the University of Gdansk. In the years 1999-2005 he acted as deputy dean of the Faculty of Choral conductorship. In the years 2005-2012 professor Tomczak was pro-vice chancellor of the Gdansk Music Academy for artistic and student affairs. In the years 2012-2016 he was the Head of the Chair of choral conductorship. Since 2016 he has been the director of the Institute for Choral and Oratory-Cantata Music. He is lecturer at Post-graduate Choral Maestro and Voice Emission Studies at the Music Academy named after Feliks Nowowiejski in Bydgoszcz.
Since 1992 he has been director of the Gdansk University Academic Choir. With this group he toured Poland and also made many tours abroad, performing in Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Spain, Germany, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, Italy, USA, South Korea, China, Argentina and Ecuador. Under his leadership the choir won foremost national and international rewards, among others Five Grand Prix: in Vien (Austria), Pardubice (Czech Republic), Vilnius (Lithuania), Ohrid (The Republic of Macedonia) and Barczewo(Poland).
Maestro Tomczak is the winner of numerous individual conductor’s rewards (Poland, Korea, Czech Republic). He has won many university rewards as well as national and Pomeranian region awards. Among others he became the laureate of the Honorary Award of the Society of Friends of the Arts for artistic creativity in the field of music (2002) and the laureate of the Mayor of Gdansk Award in culture Splendor Gedanensis (2005). He has cooperated with world famous artists: Krzysztof Penderecki, Jan AP Kaczmarek (world premiere of “Cantata for Freedom”, Symphony “Emigra”), with Leszek Możdżer (the premiere of “Missa Gladiatoria”, with Ennio Morricone, and Jean Michelle Jarre, as well as Mikis Teodorakis, (the audio-recording of the opera “Metamorphoses of Dionysus”) and symphonic orchestras at Gdansk Music Academy and at Bremen University.
As conductor professor Tomczak cooperated with many orchestras: Polish Baltic Philharmonic, Koszalin Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, Academic Symphony Orchestra of Gdansk Music Academy and Symphony Orchestra of Bremen University. As a guest conductor he led the concert of Polish music in Korea given by Guacheon City Women’s Choir. He has run workshops on Polish choral music in Romania and Korea.
On Numerous occasions he was invited to be member of the jury at foreign festivals and competitions (Greece, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Italy). He has been the artistic director and chairman of the Jury Of the International Choral Festival Mundus Cantat since 2007.
Anjana Abraham (Kochi, Kerala, India)
Anjana Abraham is founder and artistic director of Anpal Centre for Creative Arts Education. A choral conductor, singer (mezzo soprano), and educator, she enjoys working with Church, school and community choirs. Abraham has been granted honorary membership of The Association of Croatian Choral Directors, and the honorary title of Maestra Mentor. She has also been invited as adjudicator at international choral competitions.Abraham graduated with a Master of Music in Music Education from The Boston Conservatory (M.M.Ed ’17), where she was awarded the Promising New Music Teacher Award 2016 and the Music Education Award 2017. During her undergraduate studies at Singapore Management University, Abraham was the 2009 recipient of the University Student Life Arts Excellence Award.Her love for music has taken her on travels to Poland, Russia, Indonesia, Czech Republic, Singapore, Croatia and the U.S.A.
Maestro Paul Phenix (Lodon, United Kingdom)
Paul Phoenix, Grammy Award-winning tenor and founder of PurpleVocals. Paul’s long career in the music business began in the 1970’s, when he became a Chorister in St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir in the City of London. He sang in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee service in 1977 and recorded the Ivor Novello award-winning theme Nunc Dimittisby Geoffrey Burgon, in the BBC adaptation of John Le Carre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy in 1979, for which he was later awarded a gold disc. His musical education continued at the Royal Northern College of Music, in Manchester, England, between 1986 and 1991 where he studied voice and academic studies, spending his spare time singing in various styles and guises – as a member of Manchester Cathedral Choir, fronting a Big Band as well as recording with a Dutch group called Janus. There followed a six year period during which he continued to diversify, singing as a soloist in oratorio, taking part in pop and classical sessions, coaching the choristers of Westminster Under School and performing with the Monteverdi Choir. In 1997, Paul successfully auditioned for the King’s Singers, and joined in September of that year. Averaging more than 120 concerts annually,He has sung in many of the world’s greatest concert halls, from Sydney Opera House to Carnegie Hall in New York, and travelled as far as Chile and New Zealand, Russia, China and South Africa, with too many places to mention in between!2014 marked his ‘retirement’ from the King’s Singers and the launch of Purple Vocals: “Perform and Engage”, Paul’s coaching and engagement consultancy. His work as ‘PurpleVocals’ takes him around the world, with visits to Colombia (playing the role of ‘Aristeo’ in a brand new production of ‘Orfeo’, with the renowned ensemble ‘L’Arpeggiata) China, (coaching and speaking in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Shenyang) across Europe, the USA (coaching and performing the role of ‘Evangelist’ in Bach’s ‘St. Matthew Passion’ under the the direction of Craig Jessop, with the American Festival Chorus, and as guest coach with the Philadelphia Boys Choir). Late 2016 and 2017 see him coaching and performing in Germany (as guest soloist with the WDR Orchestra in the Köln Philharmonie), Finland, Italy, Iceland, Switzerland, Hong Kong, China and the USA.
Prof. Branko Stark (Split, Croatia)
Branko Stark is a multifaceted expert: a composer, choral director, voice teacher, phoniatrist and logopedist. He graduated from the Music Academy in Zagreb. He also studied music pedagogy, phonetics and speech pathology.He is employed by the Arts Academy (University of Split-Croatia) where he teaches vocal technique, singing and acting voice. He is visiting professor at many faculties in Croatia and abroad. His speciality is voice theory, vocal and speech stylistics and scientific-pedagogic research in these subjects. He is an author of many publications in this field. He has created over two hundred compositions. For his composing, conduction and music producing work he has obtained numerous awards.He holds seminars, master classes, lectures and workshops for choral conductors and singers worldwide (Europe, USA, Russia, China, South America and many Asian countries). Maestro is also a prominent adjudicator, he has taken part in more than 100 international choral competitions on every continent.He is the President of the Croatian Choral Directors Association, the head of the Vocal Academy, and a member of the Advisory Board of the International Council of the World Choir Games.
Prof. Waldemar Górski (Gdansk, Poland)
The conductor and organizer of musical life. He is the Instrumental and Choral Conducting Gdansk Academy of Music graduate. In 2000 he obtained the first degree qualifications in conducting both vocal and vocal-instrumental bands, and in 2006 the PhD degree of conducting at the Music Academy in Krakow. In 2011, he received nomination from the President of Poland to the title of professor of musical arts. Since the beginning, first as an assistant lecturer and then as the professor he has been professionally bound with the Gdansk Music Academy. He was a deputy dean and the dean of the Academy of Music IVth Department, has also been a reviewer of numerous publications and dissertations. He has been collaborating with many choirs and orchestras performing in Poland and in many countries abroad. He has often been awarded by the President, local authorities and ministries.
