Jury of Prague Festival

Jürgen Partaj

Jürgen Partaj was born in Vienna into a family of music enthusiasts and came into early contact with the Austrian choral and music scene. Initially, he was active purely in the field of classical music in solo Violin but his concert activity gradually shifted towards crossover. He had the opportunity to work with outstanding musicians such as Glen Hansard, Elina Garanca, Annette Dasch and Julian Rachlin, and with choral conductors such as Erwin Ortner, Robert Page and Simon Carrington. Jürgen Partaj graduated in law with a focus on arts law and founded a music agency in 2000 that specialized in international orchestral and choral tour management and founded the “Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival” in 2007 together with the Association Via Musica – a festival for youth choirs and youth orchestras from all over the world. As intendant and artistic director till 2017, he annually created over 200 music events in Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria.
With the establishment and the artistic direction of the youth choir “Neue Wiener Stimmen” in 2010 Jürgen Partaj was able to make a lasting impression in his hometown. Despite its short existence, the Neue Wiener Stimmen was elected as “Choir of the Year 2016” by the Chorforum Wien.

In November 2019 Jürgen Partaj became the Director of the “Wiener Hofmusikkapelle“ (Vienna Imperial Court Music Ensemble) – a music institution since 1498 which now consists of the Vienna Boys Choir, members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera men’s choir, the Choralschola, renowned organists and conductors. He works with the Austrian Composers Society and teaches at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

 

Jakub Martinec

Dr. Jakub Martinec is Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Choral Music at Memorial University in Canada. Dr. Martinec holds a Ph.D. in music education from the University of Western Ontario and his research focuses on a comparison of European and North American perspectives on choral conducting as well as investigations of early Czech choral literature, and pedagogical strategies for teaching male singers. Born in the Czech Republic, he was the artistic director of the renowned Czech Boys Choir. Dr. Martinec has recorded for national TV and Radio in the Czech Republic, and has directed on numerous CD‘s and DVD’s – his recording of Britten‘s A Ceremony of Carols received a Recording of the Month award by the London-based Classical Music Web in 2004. Dr. Martinec has performed with eminent orchestras, ensembles and musical personalities
in some of the world’s most famous concert halls and cathedrals , including Meistersingerhalle, Nürnberg, Germany (2005, 2009, 2011, 2017), Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, USA (2004), Winspear Hall in Edmonton, Canada (2006), Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada (2012), the Pantheon and the Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome for the leaders of the Vatican (2009, 2010), Truro Cathedral, UK (2013) and regularly at the Rudolfinum Dvorak Hall and Smetana Hall in Prague. With his choirs, he performed the opening concert of choral cycle of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (2006), and has appeared at numerous international music festivals including The Prague Spring Festival (2004, 2005), European Festival of Youth  Choirs „Giuseppe Zelioli“ (2003, 2012), AmericaFest International Festival for Boys’ & Men’ Choirs including the VIth World Choral Symposium in Minneapolis (2002), Festival d’Ambronay (2006), Mitte Europa (2008, 2009, 2013), and the highly acclaimed World Festival of Singing for Men and Boys (Prague, Hradec Kralove, 2004, 2008). Dr. Martinec is also often asked to be a guest clinician, adjudicator and presenter, e.g. Cornwall Male Choral Festival, UK (2013, 2019, 2021), Pemulwuy, Australia (2014), European Festival of Youth Choirs „Giuseppe Zelioli“, Italy (2014, 2016, 2018), Podium, Canada (2014), ACE – Asian Conference on Education, Japan (2015), ISME, UK (2016), Education Research Symposium – Merton College, Oxford, UK (2018), ACDA conferences in Wisconsin (2012) and Florida (2020), etc. Since 2019, Dr. Martinec served as a choral columnist for the Canadian Music Educator Journal and in September 2020, Dr. Martinec received the prestigious RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant award for his contributions to choral singing in Canada through his research at Memorial University. In December 2020, Dr. Martinec was awarded the President’s Award for Exceptional Community Service from the Memorial’s president Dr. Vianne Timmons..

 

 

Tristan Meister

 Tristan Meister is a freelance conductor and lecturer in Choral Conducting at the Universities of Music in Mannheim and Frankfurt am Main. He received his first musical education as a member of the Limburg Cathedral Boys’ Choir and studied choral conducting with Georg Grün, Harald Jers and Frieder Bernius as well as orchestral conducting with Klaus Arp at the University of Music in Mannheim. He is the founder and musical director of the Ensemble Vocapella Limburg and his recordings with this group include the first complete recording of Max Reger’s male voice choruses. He also founded the semi-professional chamber choir Vox Quadrata, with which he published the world’s first recording of Friedrich Gernsheims choral music in 2022. He conducts the Beethovenchor Ludwigshafen and the Wormser Kammerensemble and is in addition the artistic director of the Jugendchor Hochtaunus and the singing school of Cantus Juvenum Karlsruhe.
With his ensembles Tristan Meister won first prizes at several competitions like the German Choir Competition and the International Choir Competition in Varna, where he was awarded the special prize for the best conductor of the competition. He is frequently invited to festivals at home and abroad, among others to the World Choral Expo 2019 in Lisboa, as well as to the Abu Gosh Festival 2022 in Israel or the ACDA National Conference in Cincinnati 2023. He works with orchestras like the Baden-Baden Philharmonics, the Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester or the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, leads workshops for singers and conductors, is editor of several choirbooks and juror at national and international choral competitions.

 

 

Elżbieta Wtorkowska

Elżbieta Wtorkowska is a Professor of Music and the rector at the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszczy. She is also a vocal consultant for the chorus of “Opera Nova” in Bydgoszcz, a lecturer at the Postgraduate Choirmaster and Voice Production Training Programme, and has been a lecturer at the Studies for Conductors of Polonia Choirs in Koszalin since 1992. She is a member of the Artistic Council of the Society “Wspólnota Polska.” Wtorkowska has given lectures and conducted master classes in voice and choral workshops in various countries, including Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, the United States, and Great Britain.
Since 1981, she has led the “Canzona” Girls’ Choir in Murowana Goślina, Poland, and since 2001, the Female Choir “Canzona-Absolwent.” Wtorkowska also serves as artistic and subject support for the Boys Chamber Choir “Canzona.” She is the initiator and director of the International Choral Festival of Rev. Edmund Szymański in Murowana Goślina (2007-2018).
Additionally, she has taught vocal workshops for various types of choirs in Poland and abroad and has been a guest lecturer at numerous seminars for vocalists, speech therapists, teachers, and choir conductors.

 

 

Federico Bardazzi

Federico Bardazzi is an expert in early and Baroque music and a conductor of the operatic repertoire from its beginnings to Puccini. After studying cello, chamber music, composition, and conducting in Italy and France, he leads the Ensemble San Felice, focusing on music from the medieval period to the present. Bardazzi dedicates himself to Bach’s repertoire, has directed significant works and Handel’s Messiah in Italy and Europe, and has also presented rare 17th-century compositions and modern performances of historical works.

His work on the revival of medieval music has been recognized across Europe, including projects dedicated to the music of Dante Alighieri. He was the director of the Maggio Fiorentino Formazione educational courses, collaborated with musical institutions in Tuscany, and founded the Opera Network to support young artists. His recordings with the Ensemble San Felice have been broadcast internationally.

Bardazzi is a professor of chamber and Baroque music, focuses on the study of Gregorian chant, and leads international courses and masterclasses. He is also the president of the Florence International Choir Festival and the artistic director of the In-canto gregoriano project, dedicated to the liturgical repertoire.

This summary captures the key aspects of Federico Bardazzi’s career and contributions to the field of music.