Choose your Ateliers
Europa Cantat festivals are famous for their Ateliers. When registering, you will choose a conductor you would like your singers to work with every day of the festival. Each conductor has prepared a programme for the festival – they will vary in difficulty, genres and intended age groups. They will work on that programme with your singers during the festival and will present it in concert on the last day. During registration, you will be asked to name two choices – your first choice will be your preferred one, and your second choice will be a back-up. We will do our best to allocate your singers to one of your choices, but surely, we will need some time to satisfy everyone. The choirs are distributed into ateliers by the festival’s Steering Committee.
Keep in mind their difficulty
Please note that level A is the easiest, level B – of medium difficulty and level C – the most difficult. If you choose a level C atelier, please be prepared to study the music at home, before the festival starts!
What about the age?
You will see that each atelier has an age range – the majority of your choir should fit it, however, if you have a couple of singers who don’t, it’s not a problem! Please feel free to contact us if you’re unsure whether your choir fits the atelier you’re interested in.
Looking at the Stars
ELISENDA CARRASCO
Spain (Catalonia)
Shorter atelier – 4 days
Difficulty level: A
Age: 7-13
Voices: SA
Epic Pop
CHRISTIAN RONSFELD
Denmark/Germany
Difficulty level: A
Age: 12-18
Voices: SSAA
Smart Singing
VALERIJA SKAPIENE
Lithuania
Difficulty level: B
Age: 12-16
Voices: SSAA
Sounds of Nature
MAUD HAMON-LOISANCE
France
Difficulty level: B
Age: 12-18
Voices: SAB/SATB
Oblivion
BASILIO ASTULEZ
Spain (Basque Country)
Difficulty level: C
Age: 12-16
Voices: SSAA
Oblivion
BASILIO ASTULEZ
Spain (Basque Country)
Difficulty level: C
Age: 12-16
Voices: SSAA
Concept: Basilio Astulez has a special way of making choir singers move on stage. Preparing for his theatrical, highly choreographed performances, singers learn to enchant audiences and are always awarded with loud applause. In this atelier, singers will perform contemporary music. The pieces will be connected with pre-recorded sounds, which will transport the choir far away from rehearsal rooms and concert halls. This atelier is perfect for children who are physically active and ready to take their singing to the next level!
Preparation: Singers will have to prepare this atelier’s programme at home so that they can work on movements during the festival.
Costumes: This atelier will require participants to bring certain items of clothing for the final performance. More details will be announced later.
About the conductor: Basilio Astulez teaches Choral Singing at the Leioa Municipal Music Conservatory, where he founded the Leioa Kantika Korala youth choir in 2000 and the SJB mixed choir in 2007. This recently-founded choir school has over 200 singers aged between 9 and 25 and has already won many Spanish and European awards (Tolosa, Torrevieja, Gorizia, Neerpelt, National Grand Prix). As the conductor of these choirs, he has recorded 12 records and toured in Europe, America and Asia. He currently teaches Choral Conducting for educational institutions, universities and choral federations in Spain and is frequently asked to be a member of the jury for various competitions and to run choral singing courses and seminars in Spain and abroad.
Epic Pop
CHRISTIAN RONSFELD
Denmark/Germany
Difficulty level: A
Age: 12-18
Voices: SSAA
Concept: This atelier is here to help your singers fall in love with singing all over again! Chris knows very well how to choose unforgettable music for his performances – and make his singers hum their melodies long afterwards.
Costumes: This atelier will require participants to bring certain items of clothing for the final performance. More details will be announced later.
Repertoire: Have a look at the list of songs Christian chose for his atelier below! You will be able to get their scores directly from us if you choose this atelier.
About the conductor: Christian Fris-Ronsfeld is the artistic director of the Danish girls choir Mariagerfjord Pigekor and Mariagerfjord Choir School, which is one of the most remarkable schools for contemporary music in Europe, consisting of as many as 16 choirs! Besides, he is leading the Danish National Pop Youth Choir Syng together with his wife Tine Fris-Ronsfeld. Christian is frequently invited as a workshop leader at festivals and choir events in Europe and USA. His choir arrangements are sung by groups all over Europe and published by Schott and Helbling edition.
Earth, Sea and Sky
ELISE BRADLEY
Canada
Difficulty level: A
Age: 10-14
Voices: SA
Concept: Sing your way around the world with an eclectic array of music including repertoire of the first nations of Canada and New Zealand! Elise Bradley’s precise work and impeccable technique make her performances breathtaking for the audience and extremely rewarding for the singers, regardless of their age. This atelier is perfect for children who are curious explorers!
Costumes: This atelier will require participants to bring certain items of clothing for the final performance. More details will be announced later.
About the conductor: Elise Bradley is the Artistic Director of the famous Toronto Children’s Chorus. Now celebrating its 41st season and its twelfth year under the leadership of Artistic Director Elise Bradley, the Toronto Children’s Chorus has won many competitions, recorded professionally, and represented Toronto on 30 international and seven national tours. The Chorus is internationally recognized for its high standard of performance and its challenging treble repertoire that spans diverse cultures, languages, and traditions. Elise was recently named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM), a Royal Honour awarded in recognition of her services to Music during her three decades as a teacher and award-winning conductor in her homeland.
Looking at the Stars
ELISENDA CARRASCO
Spain (Catalonia)
Difficulty level: A
Age: 7-13
Voices: SA
Concept: This is a special atelier for our youngest singers, as it will only last half of the festival (4 days), with its final concert on 19 July. The singers will learn some classical and traditional lullabies and perform them in the magnificent concert hall of St Catherine’s Church – a baroque building in Vilnius, where the best musicians from around Lithuania come to have their concerts. This atelier is made for singers who might like a shorter stay but still want a magnificent concert!
Costumes: This atelier will require participants to bring simple items of clothing for the final performance. More details will be announced later.
About the conductor: Elisenda Carrasco has been teaching and conducting for over thirty years. For seventeen years, she has also been the artistic and musical director of the Cor infantil de l’Orfeó Català of the famous Palau de la Música Catalana. Elisanda regularly collaborates with the Educational Service of Barcelona’s Auditori conducting and creating concerts for children and she’s the artistic co-director of Cantània, a singing project where more than 50.000 children every year are involved.
Price: Since this atelier is shorter, its participants will pay a smaller fee – please check our Prices page.
Singing is Fun!
HIRVO SURVA
Estonia
Difficulty level: A
Age: 10-16
Voices: SA
Concept: This atelier is designed for those who would like to have fun but don’t have the full week! It will last half of the festival (4 days), with its final concert on 19 July. Singers will perform music from various time periods and various genres. They will not only sing, but move as well, proving how versatile and exciting a children’s choir performance can be!
Costumes: This atelier will require participants to bring simple items of clothing for the final performance. More details will be announced later.
About the conductor: Hirvo Surva is the Chief Chorus Master of the Estonian National Opera Chorus, Chief Conductor of the Estonian National Opera Boys’ Choir, the Estonian United Boys’ Choir Kalev and the Revalia Male Chamber Choir. Since 2001, he has been the Chairman of the Association of Estonian Choral Conductors. In 2006 and 2010, he was a visiting Resident Professor at the University of Oregon in the US and since 2008 he works as a teacher in Tallinn Music High School. He also teaches choral conductors as a Docent at Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.
Price: Since this atelier is shorter, its participants will pay a smaller fee – to be announced later.
Sacred & Profane Love
PETRA GRASSI
Italy/Slovenia
Difficulty level: C
Age: 12-18
Voices: SSAA
Concept: Inspired by a painting by Titian, this atelier wants to discover the many facets of the representation of love during the life of a woman. The singers explore how composers in different historical periods spoke of love in their music from renaissance and contemporary language to the melodies of popular tradition. The programme will feature premiering works by contemporary Slovenian authors as well as pearls of ancient Italian music. This atelier is great for singers who would like to express their femininity in an all-female atelier by singing and dancing.
Preparation: Singers will have to prepare this atelier’s programme at home so that they can work on movements during the festival.
Costumes: This atelier will require participants to bring certain items of clothing for the final performance. More details will be announced later.
About the conductor: Petra Grassi was born in Trieste (Italy) as a member of the Slovenian minority.
Petra has won many conducting awards around the world: the Choir prize at the World Choral conducting competition in Hong Kong in 2019, the 1st prize at the National competition for choral conductors “Zvok
moji rok“ in Ljubljana (Slovenia) in 2016, the 1st prize at the National Choral Conducting Competition “Le mani in suono” in Arezzo (Italy) in 2015 and many others. In 2020, Petra starts conducting the Italian National Youth Choir. Petra works with a number of highly successful groups in Italy: as a guest conductor, she has performed with the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir, and as the chief conductor of the Dekor Chamber Choir, she led the group to the Absolute 1st Prize at the national choral competition “Naša pesem” in Maribor (Slovenia), among others.
Sounds of Nature,
Tribute to Mother Earth
MAUD HAMON-LOISANCE
France
Difficulty level: B
Age: 12-18
Voices: SAB/SATB
Concept: If you would like to see your singers grow as personalities, this atelier is perfect for them. It will strive to promote individual fulfillment through group work and use interdisciplinary techniques to speak about issues that are extremely important today. The singers will learn music discussing the relationship of humans and nature and will prepare a powerful performance dedicated to Mother Earth. Please note that this is an atelier for mixed choirs!
Costumes: This atelier will require participants to bring certain items of clothing for the final performance. More details will be announced later.
About the conductor: Maud Hamon-Loisance has been conducting children, student and adult choirs for 15 years, and taught choral conducting at the Conservatoire of Grenoble from 2011 to 2019. She recently became the new artistic and pedagogical director of the children’s choir Maîtrise de Bretagne at the Conservatoire of Rennes. In 2018, she created the Regional Youth Choir Inspirations. Maud also works with female and male choirs – at the 2014 Guido d’Arezzo and the 2016 Gorrizia competitions (Italy), she was awarded prizes with the Métaphores female choir and the Oxymore male choir.
Smart Singing
VALERIJA SKAPIENE
Lithuania
Difficulty level: B
Age: 12-16
Voices: SSAA
Concept: This atelier will explore ways in which choral music is related to other skills essential for compassionate, smart and open-minded modern individuals. Every song in this atelier will be connected to a completely new skill that the children will learn: they will speak sign language and dance salsa, make music with their smart phones and their feet, meditate and draw. This is the atelier for singers who want something extra from their music!
Costumes: This atelier will require participants to bring certain items of clothing for the final performance. More details will be announced later.
About the conductor: Valerija is the artistic director of private music school and children’s choir Ugnele and the founder of the United Lithuanian Children’s Choir. With Ugnele, Valerija has toured in twenty-two countries around the world and won numerous awards, the most recent being at choir competitions in Bali, Gorizia and Ohrid. Valerija also teaches choir conducting at Vilnius J. Tallat-Kelpsa Music Conservatoire and publishes books teaching children music theory through associations. In 2018, she was named the best Lithuanian children’s choir conductor by the Lithuanian National Culture Centre.
info@EuropaCantatJunior.org
europacantatjuniorCulture Centre in
cooperation with
European Choral Association
