JURY 2024
Professor of art in the artistic discipline of conducting. Rector of the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. In addition, head of the Postgraduate Studies in Choral Conducting and Voice Emission at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz and vocal consultant for the “Opera Nova” Choir in Bydgoszcz. Since 1993, she has been a lecturer at the Polonia Choral Conductors’ Study within the Polonia Choral Academy in Koszalin. She has conducted seminars and choral workshops for conductors and choirs in Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania and the Czech Republic, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, Australia and Mexico. In 1981 she founded the “Canzona” Girls’ Choir in Murowana Goślina, and in 2001 the “Canzona-Absolwent” Female Choir. Currently, she leads the female ensemble, and has artistic and substantive supervision over the girls’ choir led by Dr. Adrianna Wtorkowska-Kubinska. With the “Canzona” choirs, she has given concerts in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Russia, the Czech Republic in Slovakia in Hungary, Lithuania, Finland, Austria, Ukraine, England, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy. He is the initiator and artistic director of the Rev. Edmund Szymanski International Choral Festival in Murowana Goślina, which has been held annually since 2007. He guest lectures at seminars for vocalists, teachers and choral conductors in Poland and abroad.
Conductor Philip Seward’s credits include musical directing/conducting several musicals, concerts, and reviews in venues from the Royal George, Court Theatre, Utah Musical Theatre, to Merkin Hall (New York City), as well as serving several seasons as the conductor of the Lira Ensemble of Chicago. He is also the Music Director/Conductor for Epiphany United Church of Christ in Chicago.
Dr. Seward is anticipating the premiere of his new opera A House Divided in 2024 and his award-winning compositions include stage works The Rose Prologues, Hans Brinker, Les Dames à trois…et piano, How to Date a Coloratura, Juliet, High Fidelity, and Stone Soup (commissioned by the Lyric Opera of Chicago). His many choral work include Blessing in honor of Pope John Paul II’s twenty-fifth year which premiered on WFMT radio and Sonnet in Chicago’s Symphony Center. Other choral works composed for the Edgewater Singers may be heard on their album An Edgewater Holiday — available on iTunes, Spotify and other digital outlets.
Dr. Seward heads the Music Lab at writingmusicaltheatre.com in conjunction with the New Musicals Institute in Los Angeles. He holds a DMA from the University of Salford (UK), a Masters degree from Northwestern University, and double bachelor degrees from Wabash College (Theatre and Music). He also serves on the Music Faculty at Columbia College Chicago as Coordinator of Curriculum and Vocal Composition where he conducts the Musical Theatre Performance Ensemble.
Conductor, choirmaster, pedagogue, graduate of the Stanislaw Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdansk, majoring in choral conducting in the class of Prof. Zbigniew Bruna. She graduated from the Postgraduate Study of Choral Conducting and Voice Emission in Bydgoszcz. In 2019, she received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting from the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. She honed her skills at courses and workshops under the guidance of distinguished pedagogues. She is the founder, conductor and artistic director of the “Camerata Musicale” mixed choir, which has been active since 2011 at the Kashubian Philharmonic in Wejherowo. Since 2015, he has led the children’s choir of Elementary School No. 9 in Wejherowo. With the ensembles she leads, she takes an active part in the cultural life of the town of Wejherowo, gives concerts in the country and abroad, and is successful in choir competitions and festivals, winning prestigious prizes and awards (several gold bands, three Grand Prix awards, special prizes for the interpretation of choral compositions and awards for the best conductor). She has twice been awarded the Prize of the Mayor of Wejherowo for her contribution to the promotion of culture in the city, as well as the Remus Prize, awarded by the Wejherowo Poviat Board for outstanding achievements in artistic creation and dissemination and protection of culture. As a specialist in vocal, choral and Kashubian music, she has been repeatedly invited to jury work work in music competitions, cooperate with other choirs and conduct vocal workshops – including the West Pomeranian Choral Workshop in Kolobrzeg, the International Choral Workshop in Calella (Spain). She conducted a series of lectures on voice emission with students of the Naval Academy in Gdynia. She cooperated with the listeners of the University of the Third Age from Wejherowo by conducting music classes. On her initiative, the first edition of the Inter-school Sea Song Contest in Wejherowo was held in 2022. She is also co-organizer of the Inter-school Patriotic Song Contest in Wejherowo. For several years she was associated with the Museum of Kashubian-Pomeranian Writing and Music in Wejherowo, where she ran the Music Department, organizing numerous cultural events and publishing works. She is the initiator and artistic director of the 50+ National Choral Festival, which has been organized since 2016 in Wejherowo. She currently works as a music teacher and choir conductor at Gen. Józef Wybicki Elementary School in Wejherowo.
Choral conductor, university lecturer. She is a graduate of the I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznan where she received her Master of Arts degree in 1990. In 1990-1992 she continued her education at the Postgraduate Study of Voice Emission, and in 1994-1996 at the Postgraduate Study of Choirmaster at the F. Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. In 1991 she created the Chamber Choir of the Academy of Agriculture (since 2009 the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin), which she leads to this day. The ensemble has repeatedly won Polish and international competitions and choral festivals. Since 2003, she has served as a vocal consultant working with actors of the “Pleciuga” Puppet Theater in Szczecin. From 2003 to 2013, she has repeatedly organized and obtained funding from, among others: the “Youth” program to organize International Choral Workshops held in Poland, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia and Denmark. In 2004 she was awarded a Doctor of Musical Art degree and in 2011 a Doctor of Musical Art degree from the I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznan. From 2007 to 2010, she served as regional coordinator of the National Program “Singing Poland” covering the activities of school choirs in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Awarded the Bronze Medal “Gloria Artis” for services to Polish culture, the Silver Medal “For meritorious service to the State”, the University of Szczecin Medal “SIS QUI ES – Pro Publico Bono” and the silver badge of “Pomeranian Griffin” awarded by the Marshal of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. Artistic director of the International Choral Music Festival in Ejszyszki, Lithuania Passion Festival in Szczecin and the International Music Festival “Yes Sounds New Warpno” . In 2013, she was selected by the City Hall of Szczecin with her team to carry out the program “Szczecin_with all my heart I recommend AMBASADOR”