International Federation for Choral Music

IFCM Online Café 2025 on 22 March 2025 at 2PM CET: Participating in festivals, competitions and choral events with your choirs

Benefit from the experience of long-standing participants and prize-winners at choral festivals and competitions.

Conductors who wish to take part in choral gatherings such as festivals, competitions, conferences, or symposia often ask themselves the following questions:

How do I choose which event to attend? How far in advance do I need to plan for the project to be possible? What are the criteria for choosing my repertoire? How do I deal with organisational and budgetary issues?

Following the success of the January Online Café on the same topic, we have invited a different slate of guest conductors from different parts of the world to share their expertise.

Guests for the March Online Café (see biographies here below), Carmen Acevedo (Puerto Rico), Jurģis Cābulis (Latvia), and Lim Ai Hooi (Singapore), will explore this topic and give valuable insights from their experiences.

Register on https://bit.ly/IFCMOnlineCafeMarch2025_Register

Carmen Acevedo Lucio is a visionary choral conductor who has shaped Puerto Rico’s musical landscape with passion and precision. As the driving force behind acclaimed ensembles like the Coro de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Coralia, and the Coral Filarmónica de San Juan, she has redefined excellence in choral music. Armed with a Master’s in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati and advanced studies at the University of Illinois, she has earned distinguished honors, including a doctorate from Universidad Carlos Albizu (2004) and an honorary doctorate from the University of Puerto Rico (2022). Since founding Coralia in 1982, she has transformed its repertoire, championing Latin American and Puerto Rican compositions while leading her choirs to international triumphs. Under her baton, they have claimed top prizes at elite competitions such as the Florilège Vocal de Tours in France, part of the prestigious European Grand Prix for Choral Singing.  Her collaborations with musical luminaries like Krzysztof Penderecki and Gustavo Dudamel have bridged choral and symphonic traditions, enriching the global stage. As a mentor, international juror, and advocate for choral excellence, Acevedo Lucio continues to inspire, elevating Puerto Rico’s rich choral heritage and igniting a profound love for music across generations.

Jurģis Cābulis (1992) is the artistic director and chief conductor of the youth choir Kamēr..., the artistic director of the Riga Cathedral Choir School Mixed Choir, as well as head of the conducting department. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in choral conducting at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music under Andris Veismanis and Kaspars Ādamsons. Jurģis has been recipient of high-standing awards in the 5th Jāzeps Vītols international Choral Conductors Competition (2014); Juozas Naujalis International Competition for Choral Conductors (2017) and was a semi-finalist for the prestigious Eric Ericsson Award (2021). In 2019, he recorded the choral music album AETERNUM by J. Jančevskis with the Riga Cathedral Choir School Mixed Choir, under the distinguished British classical music record label Hyperion Records. In 2021, Jurģis Cābulis won the Latvian Grand Music Award for the best concert of the year, AMAO OMI. Cābulis been a chief conductor of the Latvian Song and Dance Festival since 2023.

Lim Ai Hooi is a recognised and respected conductor and educator in Singapore’s choral scene. Ai Hooi graduated in 1989 from the Royal College of Music, London, majoring in Piano and Voice. Over the past 30 years, Ai Hooi has led her school choirs to achieve top honours at numerous renowned international competitions. In 2009, she founded ONE Chamber Choir. Since then, the choir has triumphed at competitions in Philippines, Wales, Hungary, Germany and South Africa, including achieving Champion of the World Choir Games in 2018. Despite her success in competitions, that is not a fundamental part of her education philosophy. Ai Hooi’s philosophy for choral music and teaching stems from her view that a fulfilling musical journey is one that is filled with sincerity, love and excellence. She uses the creation of music as a platform to share and infuse her values and beliefs in her singers and inspires them to use the beauty of music to craft experiences that touch the hearts of the audience. Ai Hooi also co-founded Sourcewerkz PL to further her calling to teach, touch and transform the larger choral community and its audience. The choral festivals and workshops by Sourcewerkz have reached out to many choristers around the world, proving that music is indeed, without borders.