Julia Selina Blank (Germany)

Julia Selina Blank is an award-winning choral conductor based in Norway. In recent years, she has established herself as a sought-after musical leader across Europe. She regularly appears as a guest conductor and choir director, collaborating with ensembles such as the Rundfunkchor Berlin, Netherlands Radio Choir, Bavarian Radio Chorus, MDR Radio Choir, WDR Radio Choir, NDR Vocal Ensemble, RIAS Kammerchor, Swedish Radio Choir, Slovenian Philharmonic Choir, Coro RTVE Madrid, Chorwerk Ruhr, and the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir. From 2024 to 2025, she served as conductor and artistic director of the Norwegian National Youth Choir. She is co-founder and chief conductor of the JSB Ensemble Oslo, where she develops projects that combine early and Baroque repertoire with challenging contemporary works. The ensemble, composed of leading Norwegian ensemble singers, frequently performs one-on-a-part repertoire. Blank has worked extensively with amateur choirs and currently directs the award-winning chamber choir Kammerkoret NOVA (Oslo), which released the a cappella album Human/Nature in 2025, featuring Romantic and contemporary music by female composers. She is active internationally as a pedagogue and workshop leader in choral conducting and is regularly invited to serve on juries of international competitions. She was awarded second prize at the Eric Ericson Award (2021), as well as first prize at the World Choral Conducting Competition (Hong Kong, 2019) and the London International Choral Conducting Competition (2018). For several years, she was a member of the German Conductors’ Forum. She studied choral conducting with M. Gläser (Munich), F. Malmberg (Stockholm), and G. Pedersen (Oslo).

[Photo credits: Ingvild Constance Festervoll Melien OR I. C. Festervoll Melien]

Risto Joost (Estonia)

Risto Joost is one of the most outstanding and versatile conductors of his generation, active in both opera and symphonic repertoire, with a wide-ranging interest from Baroque to contemporary music, including numerous premieres. He is music director and chief conductor of the Vanemuine Theatre (since 2020/21) and has been a conductor at the Estonian National Opera since 2009. From the 2024/25 season, he serves as chief conductor of the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn. Recent and upcoming engagements include collaborations with the Helsinki Philharmonic, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Kuopio Symphony Orchestra and Liepāja Symphony Orchestra. At the Vanemuine Theatre, he conducts major symphonic and operatic works, including Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie, Traviata by G. Verdi, and Le sacre du printemps by I. Stravinskij. Between 2026 and 2029, he will lead a new production of Wagner’s Der ring des Nibelungen. His recent opera highlights include Turandot, Giulio Cesare, Cyrano de Bergerac (E. Tamberg) and Die Zauberflöte. As a guest conductor, he has appeared with leading orchestras such as the MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig, SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, Bergen Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Strasbourg Philharmonic, and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has also conducted renowned choirs including the RIAS Kammerchor, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Swedish Radio Choir, Ars Nova Copenhagen, Latvian Radio Choir, and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir. He was chief conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Choir (2011–2015), artistic director of the MDR Leipzig Radio Choir (2015–2019), chief conductor of the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra (2013–2019), and artistic director of the Tallinn Philharmonic and Birgitta Festival (2018–2019). His discography includes acclaimed recordings of works by A. Pärt, T. Kõrvits, and others. Joost studied conducting and singing at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm (J. Panula class). He is a laureate of the J. Panula and N. Malko competitions and has received several awards, including the Estonian Music Endowment Award and the G. Ernesaks Foundation scholarship.

[Photo credits: Mait Jüriado]

Karmina Šilec (Slovenia)

Karmina Šilec is a multidisciplinary artist. She creates projects with opera and drama houses, festivals, and ensembles worldwide, and her productions have been presented at leading international venues and festivals. Her awards include the International R. Edler Prize for exceptional contribution to the global choral movement (2004), two Music Theatre Now International Awards (2008, 2021), the Prešeren Fund Award (2000), and the International D. Matić Marović Award (2023), as well as more than 20 top prizes at international choral competitions. She is active as an artistic advisor for choral music, a university professor of conducting, a guest conductor, and a jury member at major international competitions and festivals, including the E. Ericson competition, the M. Hubad Conductors Competition, the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing, and the International Gallus Competition.
Her artistic work is characterized by a continuous exploration of new music, ranging from medieval repertoire to the most recent experimental and progressive works. She composes for choirs and vocal ensembles, theatre, installation art, and electronic/experimental projects. Šilec often engages with politically and socially charged themes. Her work reflects a wide spectrum of concerns, driven by the need to respond to contemporary social and political transformations. Her creative process focuses on ambiguity and multilayered meaning, merging theatrical elements into an emancipated compositional form that opens multiple semantic perspectives.
She is the artistic director of the internationally renowned ensemble Carmina Slovenica, the ensemble !Kebataola!, and the new music theatre Choregie.

[Photo credits: Dorian. S. Petek]

Capuano Gianluca (Italy)

Winner of the 42nd Premio Abbiati as best conductor (2022), Gianluca Capuano has been Music Director of Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco since 2019. Born in Milan, he graduated in organ, composition, and orchestral conducting at the Conservatory of his hometown and further specialized in early music performance practice at the Scuola Civica di Milano. Alongside his musical studies, he pursued academic studies in philosophy, graduating with honours from the University of Milan. He is internationally active as a conductor, organist, and continuo player, collaborating with artists such as M. Chance, E. Kirkby, C. Bartoli, M. E. Cencic, P. Jaroussky, D. Fasolis, L. and V. Ghielmi. In 2006, he founded the ensemble Il canto di Orfeo, dedicated to the European Baroque repertoire on period instruments. With this group, he has taken part in major productions, including Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine in Cremona and opera productions at Teatro alla Scala in Milan. He is regularly invited to leading opera houses and festivals, including Oper Köln, Semperoper Dresden, Salzburg Festival, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and Opéra de Monte-Carlo. His repertoire includes Norma, La Cenerentola, Giulio Cesare, Alcina, Il barbiere di Siviglia, L’elisir d’amore, Orfeo ed Euridice, and La clemenza di Tito. He maintains a close collaboration with Les Musiciens du Prince, with whom he performs extensively on international tours. In the symphonic field, he has worked with major European orchestras and recorded for the Decca label. Recent and upcoming engagements include productions at Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zürich, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and the Salzburg Festival, as well as European tours with Les Musiciens du Prince.

[Photo credits: OMC-2]

Maria Dal Bianco (Italy)