Toh Ban Sheng is one of Singapore’s most internationally recognized choral conductors, having led workshops, adjudicated, and guest-conducted in over 25 countries. A former Physics teacher and largely self-taught musician, he later earned dual master’s degrees in Choral Conducting and Voice from the United States. His artistry has been recognized with seven Conductor’s Prizes in Europe and Singapore’s prestigious Young Artist Award.

Toh’s choirs have achieved remarkable success on the world stage, garnering eight Grands Prix, multiple jury and category prizes, and over 70 gold awards. At home, his choirs were crowned Choir of the Year in consecutive years. He has conducted major national events, including the 800-strong National Day Combined Choir, and served as Chorus Master for acclaimed performances of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.  He was also inducted as an Honorary Member of the Choral Directors Association of Singapore.

A passionate educator and mentor, Toh has mentored music educators and young singers through national programs. With Raffles Singers, he became the first Singaporean in over 20 years to be invited to perform at the World Symposium on Choral Music in 2017.

Toh is also a published author of The Accidental Conductor and contributor to the International Choral Bulletin. He curates the Toh Ban Sheng Choral Series for Earthsongs (USA) and serves as Artistic Director of The ROS Singers and the international festival Orientale Concentus.

In 2022, he founded Resonance of Singapore Ltd., the country’s first charity organization helmed by a professional vocal ensemble, dedicated to community-building through choral music. Through his work, Toh continues to champion artistic excellence and inspire the next generation of musicians.

Ingrid Kõrvits graduated from Tallinn Music High School and the Tallinn State Conservatory, specializing in choral conducting. She is the artistic director of the Ellerhein Choir Studio and the conductor of its girls’ choir. She also works at the Tallinn School of Music and Ballet (MUBA), where she conducts children’s and youth choirs, teaches choral conducting, and serves as the head of the conducting department.

Since 2002, Ingrid Kõrvits has been one of the chief conductors at the Estonian Song Celebration. She has served on the juries of various Estonian and international competitions, including the Euroradio Choral Competition „Let the Peoples Sing“, the Seghizzi International Choral Competition in Gorizia, ltaly and „Tallinn 2025“, Estonia.

With her choirs, Ingrid Kõrvits has received numerous awards and conducting prizes at international competitions. Many of her former students have become successful young conductors. She has given lectures and led workshops at international symposia and festivals in Estonia, Hungary, Greece, the USA, and China, promoting Estonian choral music and the relative solmization method.

Ingrid has prepared her choirs for and participated in numerous collaborative projects with professional orchestras and choirs, as well as with renowned con- ductors and directors. Recent highlights include the Ellerhein Girl’s Choir performances of Artur Kapp’s oratorio „Job“ with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (ERSO), the Estonian National Male Choir, and the mixed choir Latvija, conducted by Neeme Järvi; the staged performances of Veljo Tormis‘s „Estonian Calendar Songs“ to mark the 80th anniversary of the Estonian National Male Choir; performances of Antonio Vivaldi’s „Gloria” with Hortus Musicus; performance of Arvo Pärt’s „Credo” with ERSO and Estonian National Male Choir, conducted by Paavo Järvi; and Nargenfestival Arvo Pärt Days 2025 concerts with ERSO, conductor Olari Elts, celebrating Arvo Pärt’s 90th birthday.

Under Ingrid Kõrvits‘s direction, five CDs have been released: „Ringing in the Fields” (2009) and „Magnificat“ (2015) by the Tallinn Music High School Girls’ Choir (today’s MUBA Girls’ Choir); „Songs of Light” (2017) and „Sky Songs” (2023) by the Ellerhein Girls’ Choir as well as the sheet music and CD of  Mart Saar‘s children‘s opera „The Lost Princess“ (2024).

In 2014, Ingrid Kõrvits received the Uno Järvela Conductor’s Scholarship from the Estonian National Culture Foundation. She was named Conductor of the Year by the Estonian Choral Association in 2010 and 2016, and has received the Sound Art Endowment Award from the Estonian Cultural Endowment (2005), as well as its Folk Culture Endowment Annual Award in 2010 and 2023.

Jani Sivén is an acclaimed conductor, composer and pedagogue. Since 2015, he has served as a full-time lecturer in choral conducting at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki. Sivén has worked with over 50 choirs and orchestras and served previously as the artistic director of the Chamber Choir Audite, the Tampere Philharmonic Choir, the Sinfonietta SOI Orchestra, the Helsinki Concordia Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Finnish Choral Institute, the Finnish Boys’ Choir, and the Galante Youth Choir. He has also worked as chorus master of the Helsinki Music Centre Choir. As a guest conductor, Sivén has collaborated with, among others, the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, the chamber choirs of Finnish and Latvian radios, and the Finnish National Opera Choir.

In addition to his work at the Sibelius Academy, he has served as a lecturer in orchestral and choral conducting at the Helsinki Conservatoire and as an instructor in the choral and ensemble conducting program at the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. He has also served as a visiting teacher both in Finland and abroad. 

His composition catalogue contains such works as the chamber operas Pyhä Birgitta (Saint Birgitta), Abelard & Héloïse and Troijan naiset, Metropolin tuulet (Winds of the Metropolis), a cantata commissioned for the centenary of the Nation of Southern Finland student organisation, and Fenestra Finnorum, a work commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Finnish Institute in Rome. Sivén was awarded the conductor’s prize at the Tampere Vocal Music Festival chorus review in 1999 and was named Choral Conductor of the year by The Finnish Choral Directors’ Association (FCDA) in 2000.

Krista Audere (1989) is a conductor of Latvian origin, now based in the Netherlands. She is currently the conductor of the VU-Kamerkoor, Kamerkoor Venus, and is regularly engaged as a guest conductor of the Dutch Chamber Choir, the Dutch Radio Choir and Cappella Amsterdam. As from 2024 Krista is appointed as main subject teacher Choral Conducting at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague. Starting in 2025 she is named as first ever Principal Guest Conductor of the Swedish Radio Choir.

In 2028 Krista Audere will be following Daniel Reuss as the artistic leader and chief conductor of Cappella Amsterdam.

Krista Audere is the winner of the Eric Ericson award 2021.

In the 2025/26 season she has engagements with the State Choir Latvia, the Swedish Radio Choir, the Bavarian Radio Choir, the Danish National Vocal Ensemble, the Berlin Radio Choir, RIAS Kammerchor, NDR Vokalensemble and Coro Casa da Musica.

Krista Audere (1989) graduated from Riga Dom choir school where she gained qualifications as a choir master and choral singer. She then attained the Bachelor’s degree in choral conducting at Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music while enriching her musical experience at the University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart. In 2016 Krista obtained the Masters diploma and graduated cum laude at the Amsterdam University of the Arts. As a singer she has collaborated with the Latvian Radio Choir and Cappella Amsterdam.

Krista Audere is a frequent jury member in conducting and choir competitions, as well as giving masterclasses on choral conducting.

Andris Sējāns (*1978)

is known as a singer, arranger, composer, producer, and conductor. He actively works at the sheet music publishing house Musica Baltica as the chief sheet music editor. He is one of the creators and participants of the children’s music and poetry project “Brīnumskapis” (The Miracle Cabinet). Since 2011, Andris has also been involved in the implementation of the musical-scientific project “Dabas koncertzāle” (Nature Concert Hall).

He has conducted the choir “Daile” and led his self-founded chamber choir “Chorus Sapiens”. He achieved great success with the vocal group “Cosmos” (twice receiving the Great Music Award in the “Concert of the Year” category – in 2007 for the concert program “Nakts lūgšana” (Night Prayer) created with the Latvian Radio Choir, and in 2008 for the “Cosmos” solo concerts “Turbulence”), as well as collaborating with artists and ensembles recognized in Latvia and worldwide.

Several albums on which Andris Sējāns has participated as a performer, arranger, composer, or producer, in collaboration with the group “Cosmos,” the children’s vocal ensemble “Knīpas un Knauķi,” the projects “Dabas koncertzāle,” “Brīnumskapis,” etc., have been nominated for or received the Latvian Music Records Annual Award. He has received the “Copyright Infinity Award” and has also won folk song arrangement competitions (e.g., “Jaunā dziesmu rota” (New Song Ornament) announced by the Latvian National Centre for Culture).

As a composer and arranger, Andris has collaborated with the best Latvian choirs (“Kamēr…,” “Balsis,” “Maska,” Latvian Radio Choir, VAK “Latvija,” etc.) and orchestras (Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, State Chamber Orchestra “Sinfonietta Rīga,” Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, “Orķestris Rīga,” etc.). Andris’ choral works (folk song arrangements) have been repeatedly included in the repertoire of the Latvian Song and Dance Festivals and have been performed on the Mežaparks Grand Stage by a choir of many thousands of singers.

Andris Sējāns was educated at Emīls Dārziņš Music School and Riga Cathedral Choir School. He studied and graduated from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (JVLMA) conducting department under Imants Kokars and Sigvards Kļava (bachelor’s degree in 2001), and is now a student again in the JVLMA composition department under Ēriks Ešenvalds.