Encouraging the creation of youth and children's choirs, giving practical inputs and tools to choral conductors and leaders
Conducting children's and youth choirs can be challenging. It requires creativity, enthusiasm, joy, and excellence. The three invited conductors, each with different, personal, and successful works, will present their ideas, strategies, and philosophies on how to choose repertoire, work on rehearsal techniques, and prepare concerts and projects for this type of ensemble.
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In addition to teaching and conducting Leioa Kantika Korala children's choir and SJB mixed youth choir at the Leioa Municipal Music Conservatory, Basilio Astulez conducts Vocalia Taldea, an award-winning female chamber ensemble (Toulouse, Torrevieja, Maasmechelen, Arezzo, Tours, and Cork). He has recorded 12 albums and toured in Europe, North America, and Asia with these choirs.
Since 2018, Basilio has taught choral conducting at the Musikene Higher Conservatory of the Basque Country where he leads the Basque Youth Choir (EHGA), recently awarded with three first prizes in the International Choral Contest of Tolosa. Graduating with a degree in Fine Arts at the University of the Basque Country and studying music in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basilio trained as a conductor in the Herria Euskal Choral Federation, attending courses and seminars with Johan Duyick and Javier Busto. Between 1996 and 2004, Basilio conducted Coro Alaitz Abesbatza in Vitoria-Gasteiz with which he won several national and international awards, including the Gran Premio Nacional de Canto Coral (Spain) in 2000. In 2014, he performed with Leioa Kantika Korala at the 10th World Symposium on Choral Music in Seoul, South Korea. Basilio currently teaches choral conducting for educational institutions, universities and choral federations; he is a frequent clinician for choral competitions; and he leads choral singing courses and masterclasses all over the world.
Zimfira Poloz is an award-winning conductor, educator, and internationally acclaimed adjudicator. As Artistic Director of the Toronto Children’s Chorus, she leads 300 singers across eight ensembles, shaping young choral artists. She also teaches at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music and serves on the Interkultur World Choir Council and the World Alliance of Children’s Choirs.
Previously, Zimfira led the award-winning Hamilton Children’s Choir for two decades, alongside Young Voices Toronto. Her choral journey began in Kazakhstan, where she founded the country’s first choir school in 1985. A sought-after conductor and clinician, she has led and adjudicated choirs in over 30 countries, including at the World Symposium on Choral Music, America Cantat, Europa Cantat, and the World Choir Games.
Passionate about choral music’s transformative power, Zimfira is committed to artistic excellence, vocal integrity, and inspiring the next generation of musicians worldwide.
Ken has had a rich and diverse career, blending music-making, cultural diplomacy, and education. He has had extensive leadership roles in both the arts and public sector. He was recently named one of the top 100 most influential people in Africa in the creative category for the year 2024, by the New African Magazine.
In Kenya, he has sung with and conducted both the Nairobi Music Society and Nairobi Orchestra. He mentor’s several up-and-coming classical musicians and is regularly consulted by choral conductors around Kenya for repertoire and technical skills.
Motivated by his membership in the World Youth Choir in the early years of his career and his time in the U. S. singing with Jubilate, Ken founded the Nairobi Chamber Chorus with a vision of enabling young Kenyans to participate in a high-quality musical forum from which they can build their careers and expand their realm of knowledge and interest in the arts. Since its inception, more than three hundred young Kenyans have gone through Nairobi Chamber Chorus and many are now leading musicians in Kenya, performing and teaching music across the country and beyond. Under his leadership, Nairobi Chamber Chorus has performed to audiences across the globe
Official magazine of the International Federation for Choral Music, the International Choral Magazine is published quarterly in the four official languages of IFCM: English, French, German and Spanish. It is distributed in more than 80 countries on the five continents and is the official voice of choral music around the world. Publication temporarily suspended.
Read moreOur focus at the moment is to unite the choral calendars of international choral organisations. Meanwhile please consult the calendar of choral events published by the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat here.
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