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Judge

Kisun Lee

South Korea | President of the Jury

Lee Kisun is a well-known conductor that thoroughly expresses each composers’ intention and the depth of music. Lee majored in choral conducting achieving both a bachelor's and master's at the Juilliard School of Music, returning to Korea in 1988.
Afterward, Lee worked as a professor at Chongsin University and as a music director at the Sungnam Municipal Chorus. Lee then dedicated himself to train junior scholars as well as actively engage in professional chores in Korea, to become a leading example.
Dr. Lee had an interest not only in choral music but also in orchestral music that he conducted a number of domestic and international orchestras. In 2003, he studied abroad at The University of Arizona where he received a doctor's degree in orchestral conducting. After returning, Lee worked as a music director at the Goyang Civic Choir and the Daegu City Choir.
In December of 2019, he was appointed as the 10th art director of the Busan Metropolitan Chorus and ascended the Busan Metropolitan Chorus to the summit of culture in Korea. Dr. Lee emphasized diffuse performances of new music which he would introduced at least one third of at every performance.
Lee not only introduced the essence of choral music through the Modern Music Series but also a different variety of large-scale choral works to audiences such as Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem and W. Walton’s Belshazzar's Feast. Through his long study and experience, Lee obtained an exceptional interpretation of music and created exclusive sounds that are glossy and deep. These characteristics of Lee's found favor in audiences' evaluation because it included inspiration and impression.
HanKuy Lim

South Korea | Jury

Dr. Hankuy Lim, the Artistic Director of the Cheonan City Choir, previously served as the music director for various prestigious choirs, including the Namyangju City Choir, Gwangju City Choir, and Goyang City Choir, over a span of fifteen years. He has also been invited as a guest conductor for numerous distinguished choirs in Korea, notably the National Choir of Korea, and has participated in conducting workshops as a clinician across the United States, Singapore, Poland, and South Korea. Additionally, he has held academic positions at the Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Chugye University of the Arts in Korea. Since 2021, he has been the Artistic Director of the Cheonan City Choir, a professional ensemble of 44 full-time singers supported by the Cheonan City government. He is also an adjunct professor of choral conducting at Kookmin University. As a member of the Westminster Choir, Dr. Lim has performed with renownedorchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke's, and the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, under the direction of esteemed conductors like Kurt Masur, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and Lorin Maazel. These performances took place in prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. From 1996 to 1998, Dr. Lim served as the Assistant Conductor of the Philadelphia Singing City Choir under Joseph Flummerfelt, where he prepared the choir for performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra and led numerous other concerts. Dr. Lim earned his Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Seoul National University in Korea. He pursued further vocal studies in Milan, Italy, under distinguished voice teachers, before moving to the United States, where he obtained a Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from Westminster Choir College, studying with Joseph Flummerfelt. He later earned a Doctorate in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Memphis
Jennifer Tham

Singapore | Jury

Jennifer lives in the world of possibilities—the countless ways in which a theatre of voices can offer a word, a thought, a sound. She directs the SYC Ensemble Singers (Singapore), a choir devoted to the work of living composers, and brings the same contemporary sensibility to high school and university choirs, and other choirs she has been invited to conduct, in Canada, France, Hungary, Japan and Taiwan. For her role in shaping Singapore’s cultural landscape, she was awarded the Cultural Medallion, the nation’s highest arts accolade, by the President of the Republic of Singapore. 
Jennifer has chaired and spoken on panels at conferences and symposia in Singapore, Argentina, Denmark, Estonia and Sweden; and was Artistic Director of the Asia South Pacific Symposium on Choral Music (Singapore, 2001) and its offshoots, the First Aid for Choirs clinics (2002-2017) and Kodaly Seminar Asia series (2009-2016) for music pedagogues.
She taught choral conducting and pedagogy at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, and gives short courses and workshops on repertoire, conducting, and rehearsal technique, equipping conductors around the world with tools for growing a choir.
She most recently gave workshops on Games Choirs Play at the 2023 World Symposium on Choral Music, Istanbul, Turkey.For the International Federation for Choral Music, Jennifer co-coordinates the Asia Pacific Working Committee which organises the Asia Pacific Choral Summit and manages the Asia Pacific Youth choir.
She represents Singapore on the World Choir Council, serving on jury at the World Choir Games since 2004, and at independent international choir festivals since 2003.
Matthew Russell

USA | Jury

Dr. Matthew N. Russell earned his DMA in conducting from The Ohio State University and the BS and MM (choral/vocal music education and conducting) from The Pennsylvania State University. Currently, Dr. Russell serves as Associate Professor of Music and Music Education at Norfolk State University and Minister of Music at New Horizons Presbyterian Church in Norfolk, VA. His research interests include generative music learning and teaching, choral repertoire, and conducting pedagogy. Having conducted and taught choirs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, and Virginia and serving as Music Director-Educator for the Chamber Singers of the Virginia Children’s Chorus program for six years, Dr. Russell is an active festival conductor and adjudicator. His guest conducting includes the 2024 VMEA/VCDA District 2 SATB Chorus, the 2024 Norfolk Public Schools All-City Middle School Chorus, the 2023 VEMEA All-Virginia Elementary Chorus, the 2022 PMEA District 4 Festival Chorus, the Alabama State University HS Honors Choir, and the Presbytery of Eastern Virginia’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Choir. He will conduct the VMEA/VCDA District 4 SATB Chorus in February 2025. Dr. Russell has adjudicated choirs for Festivals of Music and VMEA/VCDA Districts 2, 4, and 11. Matthew is also active as an organist, pianist, singer, and collaborative artist and served on the leadership team Virginia Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association as newsletter editor and Southeastern Region Coordinator for several years.
Nam-Kyu Jung

S.Korea | Jury

[Current]
- Conductor of Wonju City Choir
- Conductor of Korean Men's Choir
- Conductor of Vocalensemble Seoul
- Executive Director, Korea Choral Directors Association

[Career]
- Artistic director of the PyeongChang Olympics.
- Chairman of the Korea Choral Directors Association (KCDA).

[Education]
-Kangwon National University
-Hochschule für Musik und dastellende Kunst in Wien, composition
Master Prof.Ivan Eröd, Prof.Dieter Kaufmann
-Konservatorium der Stadt Wien Conducting
Master Prof.Christov Stanischef

[Guest Conducting]
National, Seoul, Goyang, Suwon, Bucheon(2), Jeonju, Suncheon, Gunsan, Iksan, Gwangju,
Daejeon, Anyang, Chuncheon City Choir(2)

[Choral works]
He has more than 80 choral works, including 20 motets, and 30 original works,
and has published two choral songbooks.
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