Paul Phoenix – UK

Paul Phoenix, tenor and founder of PurpleVocals. Paul’s long career in the music business began in the 1970’s, when he became a Chorister in St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir in the City of London. He sang in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee service in 1977 and recorded the Ivor Novello award-winning theme ‘Nunc Dimittis’ by Geoffrey Burgon, in the BBC adaptation of John Le Carre’s ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ in 1979, for which he was later awarded a gold disc. His musical education continued at the Royal Northern College of Music, in Manchester, England, between 1986 and 1991 where he studied voice and academic studies, spending his spare time singing in various styles and guises – as a member of Manchester Cathedral Choir, fronting a Big Band as well as recording with a Dutch group called ‘Janus’ (with whom, in the last few months he has completed a new album!). ‘In a way, it prepared me for the musical versatility of the King’s Singers‘, says Paul, who stresses that his freelance career was well underway by the time he graduated. There followed a six year period during which he continued to diversify, singing as a soloist in oratorio, taking part in pop and classical sessions, coaching the choristers of Westminster Under School and performing with the Monteverdi Choir. In 1997, Paul successfully auditioned for the King’s Singers, and joined in September of that year. Averaging more than 120 concerts annually. 

He has sung in many of the world’s greatest concert halls, from Sydney Opera House to Carnegie Hall in New York, and travelled as far as Chile and New Zealand, Russia, China and South Africa, with too many places to mention in between! As well as a packed concert schedule, King’s Singers recordings continue to be released to critical acclaim, and Paul was co-producer on the 2009 Grammy-winning album, ‘Simple Gifts’, as well as performing on the 2011 Grammy-winning recording, Light and Gold’, featuring works by the American composer, Eric Whitacre. In 2013, the King’s Singers were also voted into the ‘Gramophone Hall of Fame’. 2014 marked his ‘retirement’ from the King’s Singers and the launch of: ‘Purple Vocals: Perform and Engage’, Paul’s coaching and engagement consultancy. ‘It’s important to me to pass on the many skills I have learned in 17 years as a King’s Singer’, explains Paul. ‘My singing career will continue as a guest soloist, but I also want to concentrate on educating, mentoring, lecturing, speaking and coaching. I feel uniquely placed to offer new perspectives and advice on the career development of young musicians, as well as coaching choirs, ensembles and their conductors and speaking about the art of ‘audience engagement’.’ His work as ‘PurpleVocals’ takes him around the world, with visits to Colombia (playing the role of ‘Aristeo’ in a brand new production of ‘Orfeo’, with the renowned ensemble ‘L’Arpeggiata) China, (coaching and speaking in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Shenyang) across Europe, the USA (coaching and performing the role of ‘Evangelist’ in Bach’s ‘St. Matthew Passion’ under the the direction of Craig Jessop, with the American Festival Chorus, and as guest coach with the Philadelphia Boys Choir). Late 2016 and 2017 see him coaching and performing in Germany (as guest soloist with the WDR Orchestra in the Köln Philharmonie), Finland, Italy, Iceland, Switzerland, Hong Kong, China and the USA. Paul lives in Cambridge, England with his wife, Helena and two sons, William and Edward. When not singing he tries to avert another mid-life crisis by riding ridiculous distances on his mountain bike in aid of a friend’s charity!

www.purplevocals.com
www.facebook.com/PaulPhoenixPurpleVocals
@realpaulphoenix


Tim Sharp – USA

Tim Sharp is Executive Director of the American Choral Directors Association and Vice President of IFCM. Dr. Sharp pursues an aggressive agenda of progressive initiatives to keep ACDA energized and relevant in the 21st century, inspiring ACDA’s membership to excellence in choral music performance, education, composition, and advocacy. Tim is also in his fifth season as Artistic Director of the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, Tulsa, where critics characterize his performances as having “stunning power” and “great passion and precision”. Before coming to ACDA, Sharp was Dean of Fine Arts at Rhodes College, Memphis, where he conducted the Rhodes Singers and MasterSingers Chorale. Earlier, he was Director of Choral Activities at Belmont University where he conducted the Belmont Chorale and Oratorio Chorus. Sharp’s publications include Mentoring in the Ensemble Arts, Precision Conducting, Up Front! Becoming the Complete Choral Conductor, Achieving Choral Blend and Balance, Memphis Music Before the Blues, Nashville Music Before Country, Jubilate! Amen!, Collaborative Creativity, and a variety of articles, essays, and CD liner notes. His most recent publication is the historical-critical edition Johannes Herbst: Hymns to be Sung at the Pianoforte. Published compositions and arrangements exhibit his interest in conceptual programming as seen in the collections Salvation is Created, An Early American Service of Lessons and Carols, the young voices series including Christmas Messiah for Young Voices, his own choral series through Gentry Publications, and A High Lonesome Bluegrass Mass, in which he regularly performs as a guest banjo player. Tim received undergraduate degree at Belmont University, and his MCM and DMA degree from The School of Church Music, Louisville, KY. His post-doctoral work has taken place at the Aspen Music School, Aspen; the NEH Medieval Studies program at Harvard University; throughout Belgium on a Rotary Scholarship; and at Cambridge University, where he is a Clare Hall Life Fellow.


Leonardo Sagliocca – Italy

Leonardo Sagliocca is an italian bass-baritone. He was born in Florence. After an audition with the world famous baritone Gino Bechi, he was encouraged by him to begin the Opera singing career and began singing studies in the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole under Elio Lippi, Donatella Debolini and Gianni Fabbrini. This school of music was founded by the world famous viola player of the “Quartetto Italiano”, Piero Farulli. After that, Leonardo Sagliocca continued his formation in the University of Music of Florence, the “Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini” under the scottish soprano Kate Lafferty Gamberucci. At the age of 23 he was noticed by the world famous italian baritone Rolando Panerai who immediately invited him to join his class of international singers and engaged him for the operas “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” by Gioachino Rossini, “La Traviata” by Giuseppe Verdi and “Gianni Schicchi” by Giacomo Puccini. In 1996 he was invited also by the great baritone Leo Nucci to sing beside him in Verdi’s “La Traviata” and to join his class. Leonardo Sagliocca won the 1998 edition of international competition “William Walton – the actor-singer”,sponsored by The Prince of Wales, Charles, which gave him the chance to improve his acting and singing talents with world famous artists like James Lockhart, Graziella Sciutti, Jonathan Papp (Royal Academy of Music, London), Harriet Lawson (Rossini Opera Festival), Corradina Caporello (Juillard School, New York) and perform the opera “Gianni Schicchi” by Giacomo Puccini in front of the Prince. During this Master Class Leonardo Sagliocca was invited for a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music of London. Other peaks of his career: In 1999 he was singing in the Dome of Genova (Genua,Italy) with the Orchestra of Teatro Carlo Felice, the main theater in Genua, under Herbert Handt. The same year he was invited by the great specialist of Rossini’s Operas, Luis Alva, to sing the role of Mustafa in the Opera “L’Italiana in Algeri” of G.Rossini in Lima, Peru. Also in 1999 he was invited in Lucca by the american former tenor and conductor Herbert Handt to sing world premiere of works by eminent composers. The most famous one,winner of the Academy Award for his career, Ennio Morricone, author of many unforgettable soundtracks of famous movies like “Days of Heaven”,”The Mission”,”The Untouchables”,”Nuovo Cinema Paradiso”. Ennio Morricone was present at the rehearsals and at the concerts,cooperating with Leonardo Sagliocca and the other musicians. In 2005 Leonardo Sagliocca is invited at a very important season, The South Bank Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the season of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Following, a “resumé” of the entire career of Leonardo Sagliocca: He began the soloist career in 1993 in Italy and all over the world, in the fields of symphonic, oratorial, operatic music and from the middle age music to the contemporary. He performed as soloist with the following Associations and Musical Institutions: Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Florence main theatre and one of the oldest Festivals of the world), Festival dei Due Mondi of Spoleto (Umbria), Sagra Musicale Umbra (Perugia), Festival Puccini di Torre del Lago (where Giacomo Puccini composed many of his masterpieces), Ravenna Festival (organized by the wife of the great italian conductor Riccardo Muti), Nuova Cappella di Palazzo (Lucca), Associazione Musicale Lucchese (Lucca), Amici della Musica Firenze (Florence), Centro Busoni (Empoli), Festival Internazionale di San Gimignano (San Gimignano,Siena), Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina (Florence), Centro Internazionale di Musica Antica (CIMA,Rome), Tuscia Opera Festival (Viterbo, Italy), Orchestra della Toscana (ORT,Florence), Estate Regina (Montecatini Terme), South Bank Centre (London Philharmonic Orchestra Festival, London), Jeszienny Salon Muszyczny, Szceczin (Poland), Musiksommer Loisachtal (Germany). He performed together with world famous artists like: Gino Bechi, Rolando Panerai, Leo Nucci, Luis Alva, Gennaro Sica, Susanna Rigacci, Victor Micallef, Giorgio Casciarri, Duccio Dal Monte, Marina Comparato, Barbara Di Castri, Filippo Adami, Leonardo De Lisi, Alfie Boe etc. He performed with the following conductors: Salvatore Accardo, Claudio Scimone, Alberto Veronesi, Lu Jia, James Lockhart, Massimo De Bernart, Jeffrey Tate, Vinko Globokar, Claudio Desderi, Filippo Maria Bressan, Herbert Handt, Alessandro Pinzauti, Marco Balderi, Jonathan Brandani, Elisabetta Maschio, Riccardo Cirri, Giuseppe Lanzetta, Federico Bardazzi, Fabio Neri, Riccardo Martinini, Federico Sardelli, Sergio Siminovich, Marco Severi, Augusto Vismara, Giovan Battista Varoli, Piero Papini, Carlo Moreno Volpini, Franz Schottky etc. He performed with the following directors: Paolo Miccichè, Luciano Alberti, Aldo Tarabella, Luca Ferraris, Riccardo Diana, Gennaro Sica, Graziella Sciutti etc. He sang for the first time in the world works by Ennio Morricone, Luca Lombardi, Franco Mannino, Fabio Cifariello Ciardi, Riccardo Riccardi always in front of the composers and under their supervision. He has also performed many recitals with piano players, small vocal groups, small orchestras and big orchestras in cities like Barcelona, Madrid, Munchen, Frankfurt, Koln, Kassel, Sczeczin, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Zurich, Lugano, New Zealand, Australia and regularly in Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Niigata). He is permanent member of high level Ensembles like the “Ensemble San Felice” of Florence,Italy, the “Nuova Cappella di Palazzo” of Lucca,Italy and the “Cappella Musicale di Santo Stefano” of Prato, Italy. He is co-founder of the “Ensemble San Felice”, a vocal and instrumental group specialized in early music, with original instruments. With the Ensemble he performed, among others, “Vespro della Beata Vergine” of C. Monteverdi, Haendel’s “Messiah” and “The Fairy Queen” by H. Purcell. He cooperated as talent scout, teacher and soloist singer with the “Maggio Fiorentino Formazione”, the formation agency of the main theater in Florence and one of the more historical and important festivals in Italy, the “Maggio Musicale Fiorentino”. He recorded actually 8 cd’s published and sold all over the world for the following labels (Tactus, Bongiovanni, Kicco Classic, Clavis, Brilliant Classics). He is also co-founder of the “Florence International Choir Festival” and invited as member of the jury in important Festivals like The Singing World in Saint Petersburg, the Choral Festivals in Bratislava, the Credo Festival in Tallinn, the Nederlands Koor Festival in Haarlem, the Mozart Festival in Prague, the Juozas Naujalis and Kaunas Cantat Festivals in Kaunas, the Monteverdi Choral Competition in Venice, the Mundus Cantat Festival in Sopot, the Silver Bells Festival in Daugavpils. He is also regularly invited as member of committee in official auditions. He was invited, in August 2014, as lecturer in the 10th World Symposium on Choral Music in Seoul, South Korea. In May 2015 has been invited for masterclasses on opera repertoire for soloists in China in very important institutions like Peking University (PKU), Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) in Beijing and Xi’an Conservatory of Music (XACOM). Last June 2016 he has been invited to give masterclasses in China in important institutions such as: East China Normal University, Shanghai International Studies University, Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, Zhongshan University, South China Normal University. Recently he performed concerts in USA in important Festivals and halls such as Castelton Festival, founded by Lorin Maazel and Strathmore. Leonardo Sagliocca is also the creator of the season “A Night at the Opera in Florence”, Italian Opera & Baroque. Young talents and international acclaimed singers from all over the world.


Andrea Portera – Italy

Andrea Portera

Its catalog of over 140 titles, the Andrea Portera’s scores explores the universe of sound through an anthropological perspective, especially in the connections that music generates with the emotion and the human unconscious: a production sui generis, where the creative process is expressed through an identity “intuitive” even before “stylistic.” Andrea Portera is responsible for Research & Development PERLART, the To section Lab (Laboratory of Psychology, Emotions & Research – spin-off of the University of Florence in partnership with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence) that deals with emotional intelligence, art and creativity. Portera is a promoter of the Cultural Manifesto Emotional Intelligence Renaissance (EIR). His compositions have received acclaim and recognition from prestigious names in the world of music: awarded by Berio, Fedele, Noseda, Rhim, Morricone, Nishimura, Corghi, Bussotti, Solbiati, Halfter, Vacchi, Sciarrino, Abbado, Osokawa, Luis De Pablo etc. Among the many awards he has received include Portera:

– First Prize at the II International Competition “Arturo Duo Vital Award” (Foundation Botin)
– First Prize at the IV International “Stresa Festival Award”
– First Prize in the International “Instruments of Peace”
– First Prize at the IV International “Camillo Togni Award”
– First Prize at the VII International “Evangelisti Award”
– First Prize in the International “Valentino Bucchi Award”
– First Prize at the International “G. Viotti Award ”
– First Prize at the III International “Ciani Award ”
– International Award “Alexander Moyzes”
– First Prize at the VII International “Carella Award”
– First in the IX ° International “Romulado Marenco Award”
– First Prize at the XXIV ° International “Castelli di Belveglio Award”
– First Prize at the II International “A.Gi.Mus” Varenna
– First Prize at the IV National “Rosolino Toscano Award”
– Second Prize at the International “Toru Takemitsu Award”
– Lutoslawski Award (Poland)
– Lepo Sumera International (Estonia)
– Franz Schubert Und Die Musik Der Moderne (Austria)
– Dutilleux Competition (France)
– TICCS (Thailand International Competition for Saxophone)
– Fondazione Guido d’Arezzo (Italy)
– in 2001 he received from the President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi the Silver Medal;
– in 2006 he received by the Department of Cultural Heritage of Brescia the Gold Medal;
– In 2011 he received by the Culture of the city of Prato “Gigliato Silver”;
– in 2012 he receives for the second time the Medal of the President Of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano.

His works have been performed by leading orchestras, in particular: Tokyo Philharmonic, RAI Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Symphonic Orchestra of the Slovak Radio, Estonian National Orchestra, National Orchestra of Greece, Orchestra Regionale Toscana (ORT), SPCO Chamber Orchestra in Minnesota, the “Musical Afternoons “Milan, Vivaldi Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Florence etc. and important chamber ensembles, including the Arditti Quartet, Ensemble Daedalus, Stresa Festival Ensemble, MDI Ensemble, Ensemble Laboratorium, New Counterpoint Ensemble, ContempoArte Ensemble, Academy Quartet, Gaudeamus Ensemble, Ensemble “August 2”, The Searchers, GAMO, Ned Ensemble, Ascanio Quartet, Quartet Aphrodite, etc. His works were directed by Noseda, Rustioni, Kawka, Iwamura, Gazon, Logiadis, Carrasco, Peleggi, Boccadoro, Montanari, Guttman, etc. The works of Andrea Portera are commissioned by major theaters and festivals, including the 57th Venice Biennale, the Stresa Festival (2009 and 2012), the 62nd International Festival of Santander, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Foundation, the 32nd season of ‘ Orchestra della Toscana, Sounds Reflections, Composium 2007 Tokyo Opera City, Rebus at the Teatro Dal Verme, ITU MIAM-Center for Advanced Studies in music in Istanbul, Antalya Piano Festival, etc. In 2008 the Fiesole School of Music dedicated to the composer event monographic Music and Culture, dedicated, above, to Kurtag, Berio, Sciarrino, Fedele, Vacchi, Bussotti, Andriessen. For the theater he has collaborated with various artists, actors, choreographers, writing music for Stefano Massini, Sandro Lombardo, Michele Placido, Ottavia Piccolo, Milena Vukotic, Maddalena Crippa; with choreographers Marga Nativo and Keith Ferrone has developed, in collaboration with the Adi Da Samraji Foundation, the music for the ballet Not Two Is Peace. Just forty is regularly invited to juries of international competitions (Arturo Duo Vital International, International Carella, Luigi Nono competition, Call For International Scores, Music for Peace for the visit of the Dalai Lama in Italy, Morricone Awards, Florence International Choir Competition etc. ) and as a teacher of master classes in composition (European Academy of the Quartet, Mill Artes, Geneva Conservatory, Univesità of Architecture in Genoa, Italian Academy Youth Orchestra, the Lyon Superior Conservatory etc.). Portera has an intense teaching at the Fiesole School of Music, where he teaches composition at the university course, and promotes the work of many talented young composers, which are followed in the academic world and introduced to professional path, especially through competition composition “Veretti”, devised by himself. His works have been published by Suvini Zerboni, RaiTrade, Eurarte, Bucchi Award, Le Monnier, Fondazione Guido d’Arezzo, Hudobne Centrum Slovakia, Botin Foundation. Since 2010 he is an author of the publishing house Sconfinarte. He is also author of the manual Musical Contexts (Mondadori & Le Monnier) for secondary schools. Portera is Composer in Residence of the festival Suoni Riflessi.


Raffaele Puccianti – Italy

Pianist and choir director, he completed his musical studies at the “L.Cherubini” Conservatory of Florence, graduating in piano with full marks and honors in the class of Rosa Maria Scarlino, studying composition and reading of the score with Salvatore Sciarrino and Romano Pezzati. In 1996 he graduated from the first three-year “Fosco Corti” course of professional qualification for choir directors organized by the “G. D’Arezzo, “from the European Community and the Tuscany Region, studying with the masters René Clemencic, Gary Graden, Diego Fasolis, Marco Balderi, Roberto Gabbiani, Francesco Luisi, Romano Pezzati, Piergiorgio Righele. As director of Opera Polifonica of the Florence Academy of Music, he performed numerous concerts in Italy and abroad entirely dedicated to Renaissance music and Flemish polyphony collaborating with RAI Educational, Radio 3 suites, the Ensemble Modo Antico, Federico Maria Sardelli, Peter Phillips and The Tallis Scholars. For the Bongiovanni label he recorded some CDs, some of which were reviewed by some important international music magazines such as “Musica” and the US magazine “Fanfare Magazine”. With the Polifonici Senesi he has made numerous concerts collaborating several times with the Regional Orchestra of Tuscany and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana. With the Schola Cantorum of the “Carmen Campori” Music Association of Incisa Valdarno (of which he is director since 1999) he has performed concerts in Brussels, Paris, Prague, Cologne, Munich, Czechoslovakia, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Since February 2010, he has been conducting the Choir Harmonia Cantata of Florence with which he has made several productions collaborating with I Solisti Fiorentini, the Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina, the Polska Iuventus Orchestra, Orchestra della Toscana, Quartetto “Magrigal”, Orchestra Camerata Strumentale di Prato, Orchestra “Promusica” in Pistoia, Orchestra “il Teatro dei Suoni” in Prato, Orchestra “Agimus-Arte”, and with the directors Ladislau Petru Horvath, G. Lanzetta, A. Fornaciari, Andrej Alexeev, Alessandro Pinzauti, Daniele Giorgi, Marco Balderi, Oleg Caetani, P. Tiboris, Roland Boer and with the soloists Gemma Bertagnolli, Monica Bacelli, Gregoria Nardi, Eva Mei, Marina Comparato, Filippo Adami, Antonia Brown, Ugo Guagliardo. In 2014 he collaborated with the Choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino as “another master of the choir” assistant of Maestro Lorenzo Fratini. From September 2015 he is director of the Chigiana Children’s Choir, Chorus of Voices of the Chigiana Academy of Music. Collaborate as a pianist collaborator with the Conservatory of Music “L. Cherubini “of Florence.


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