The Jury
Monday March 3rd, 2025 12:33 PM
On April 12th, the 8th International Choir Competition of the Lithuanian music patriarch Juozas Naujalis will take place at the Juozas Naujalis Music Gymnasium. During the competition, the choirs will be judged by an international jury. We invite you to get to know the members of the jury:
President of the Jury – Sylwia Fabiańczyk-Makuch.
Sylwia Fabiańczyk-Makuch, PhD, is an associate professor at the Szczecin Art Academy and a renowned conductor. She founded and has led the Choir of the Maritime University of Szczecin for 22 years, winning 92 major awards, including 14 Grand Prix. Under her leadership, the choir has performed worldwide, premiered works by Polish composers, and released 15 CDs and 21 music videos. Their latest album, The Sound of the Sea, was nominated for the Fryderyk Award (Polish Grammy) in 2023.
She also founded the Pomerania Singers, serves as the director of the Academic Culture Center at the Maritime University of Szczecin, and leads the Polish Union of Choirs and Orchestras branch in Szczecin. She is the artistic director of Common Sounds, an innovative project blending choral and other musical genres.
Recognized as one of the top 10 conductors at the 2021 World Choir Festival in Hong Kong, she has won multiple best conductor awards at international competitions. She frequently serves as a jury member at choral events.
Her numerous honors include the Knight’s Cross of the Polonia Restituta Order, the Decoration of Honor of the West Pomeranian Griffon, the Bronze Medal for Culture Gloria Artis, and the Silver Cross of Merit, among others.
Member of the Jury – Aira Birziņa.
Aira Birziņa is one of the most outstanding conductors in Latvia. She has been the director of the Riga Cathedral Girls’ Choir TIARA since 2000. For many years, she has also served as the principal conductor of the female choirs DZINTARS and RASA. She is a professor of choral conducting at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music. Since 2003, Aira Birziņa has been one of the chief conductors of the Nationwide Latvian Song and Dance Festival.
She leads various workshops, participates in conferences, and serves as a jury member at international choir competitions in Latvia and abroad. In recognition of her contributions to national culture, the Latvian state has honored her with several prestigious awards, including Latvia’s highest recognition—the Order of the Three Stars (2015). She has also received the Certificate of Commendation from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan in 2023 and 2021, the Acknowledgment of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia in 2018, the Annual Culture Prize of the City of Ogre in 2017 and 2018, the White Sparrow Culture Prize from the Riga Municipality in 2015, and the Ministry of Culture’s Prize in Folk Art in 1999. Aira Birziņa is an energetic and inspiring leader, always encouraging her singers to perform at their best. She values the traditions of her mentors—the renowned Latvian choir conductors Imants Kokars, Edgars Račevskis, and Jānis Lindenbergs—and passes this knowledge on to her students at the Academy of Music and the Riga Cathedral Choir School.
Member of the Jury – Toomas Voll.
Toomas Voll (born 1958) is a composer, conductor, and music teacher. He holds a conducting degree from the Tallinn National Conservatory and is a lecturer in choral music at Tallinn University. Over the decades, he has conducted numerous choirs and trained young singers. In 1996, he founded his own music studio, where he continues to work as a music teacher and conductor. He has conducted the All-Estonian Girls’ Choir Leelo, Women’s Choir Leelo vol.2, Girls’ Choir Argentum Vox, Children’s Choir Musala, and the Pärnu Chamber Choir Ave Canto. Currently, he conducts the Tallinn University Women’s Choir and the Pärnu Mixed Choir Endla.
Toomas Voll has led his choirs to success at international music festivals and has received numerous awards for his outstanding conducting. He is a highly respected conductor at national song festivals. As a composer, he has written over 50 works for soloists and choirs.