Voices of Tomorrow: National Youth Choirs

Yuval Weinberg is the chief conductor of the SWR Vokalensemble in Stuttgart. He studied choral conducting at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’ in Berlin and the Norwegian Academy of Music. Yuval has won multiple awards, including Best Conductor at the 2017 International Chamber Choir Competition Marktoberdorf and the Gary Bertini Prize in 2016. Yuval frequently guest conducts leading ensembles like the Bavarian Radio Choir, Rundfunkchor Berlin and Det norske Solistkor, and he is a sought-after instructor for conducting masterclasses and youth choirs across Europe, such as Eurochoir (2019-2022) and the Norwegian national youth choir (2017-2019).

Management: Mireia Barrera Cor Jove Nacional de Catalunya (CJNC) is an initiative of Moviment Coral Català and Corals Joves de Catalunya, with the support of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Diputació de Barcelona, Barcelona City Council and Institut Ramon Llull. It was created to provide excellent training for the country's most talented young singers, under the direction of renowned national and international choral conductors. The choir also acts as an ambassador for Catalan choral excellence beyond its borders. Catalonia's rich choral fabric - over 1,000 choirs and more than 30,000 singers - provides the ideal foundation for this project. The CJNC is made up of singers aged 18 to 28, selected by audition. The choir meets periodically throughout the year, taking care not to interfere with the singers' regular commitments. Each session concludes with a series of concerts throughout Catalonia. For the period 2023-2027, the choir's principal conductor is Mireia Barrera.

Direction: Francisca Pizarro

The Dutch Student Chamber Choir (NSK) is a project choir of around 36 talented amateur singers from the Dutch student world. Each fall, they come together for an intensive month of rehearsals, culminating in a tour across the Netherlands.

NSK offers students the chance to perform challenging, modern-classical chamber choir repertoire, providing a professional-level experience. Every year, NSK invites a young professional composer to write a piece for the choir and to rehearse it with them.

Participants also benefit from the support of a vocal coach during the project, an opportunity to grow in their vocal skills. NSK is known for its unique approach, incorporating theatrical and visual elements into its performances, making it a trailblazer in the Dutch classical choir scene.

For many, joining NSK is an incredibly rewarding and memorable experience.

Direction: Esteban Urzelai Eizagirre The EHGA (Euskal Herriko Gazte Abesbatza - Basque Youth Choir)¸ was created by the Basque Confederation of Choirs in 2016 with a selection of 40 of the best young voices from the Basque Country. The conductors that are chozen to conduct this group are, all of them, directors of recognized national and international prestige. Esteban Urzelai is the conductor for the 2024-2025 season and Xabier Mendez the assistant conductor. In 2021 it faces its international projection with the participation in the Arezzo Festival (Italy) and the participation in the Tolosa International Choir Competition in which it was the absolute winner of the Contest at the Polyphony and Folklore modalities, as well as the Grand Prize of the Contest awarded by the representation of Tolosa in the Grand Prix for European Choral Singing in Debrecen (Hungary) 2023. In 2022 EHGA was invited to take part of the Cantemus Festival 2022 (Hungary). Likewise, he has performed concerts with the Euskadi Music Schools Youth Orchestra (EIO) and with the Euskadi Youth Orchestra (EGO) in the best concert halls of the Basque Country. The objectives of this youth choir have been, since its inception, to bring Basque culture closer to youth, to train this selection of young people as choir singers with a professionally demanding level, to be ambassadors of our culture in the Basque Country and beyond of our borders with a team of the highest level. But above all, to serve as a choral reference for the young basque singers who may dream that in the not too distant future EHGA will be the previous step to a Professional Choir of Euskal Herria.

Direction : Dominique Tille Soutenu par le ministère de la Culture, le Chœur National des Jeunes est composé d’une trentaine de choristes âgés de 16 à 28 ans auditionnés dans toute la France. Il est porté par l’association À Cœur Joie, premier réseau choral français. Le Chœur a pour objectif de soutenir, représenter et partager la vitalité du jeune chant choral français. Ce projet musical et artistique à rayonnement international propose un répertoire a cappella et éclectique, renouvelé chaque année, pour aller à la rencontre de toutes les musiques. "Direction : Dominique Tille Soutenu par le ministère de la Culture, le Chœur National des Jeunes est composé d’une trentaine de choristes âgés de 16 à 28 ans auditionnés dans toute la France. Il est porté par l’association À Cœur Joie, premier réseau choral français. Le Chœur a pour objectif de soutenir, représenter et partager la vitalité du jeune chant choral français. Ce projet musical et artistique à rayonnement international propose un répertoire a cappella et éclectique, renouvelé chaque année, pour aller à la rencontre de toutes les musiques."