ELYSIAN HARMONY INTERNATIONAL MUSIC COMPOTITION

Karina was already performing on Ecuador's most renowned opera stage at the age of 10. At the age of 18, she won the second prize in the Jóvenes Talentos competition in Cuenca as the youngest participant and shortly afterwards began studying elementary music and dance pedagogy at the Orff Institute in Salzburg. She later completed her bachelor's degree in singing and her master's degree in opera and musical theater at the Mozarteum University with distinction.

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In 2019, Karina was crowned “Senior Grand Champion Performer of the World” at the 23rd World Championship of Performing Arts in Long Beach against around 8,000 entries from candidates from 48 countries. In the same year she received an audience award at the Grandi Voci-Schloss Amerang competition in Germany and was awarded the city seal in silver by the deputy mayor of Salzburg. In 2021 she won the Grand Prix at the Angel Voice Classic International Competition in Serbia and 1st prize at the Aphrodite Voice International Festival in Cyprus.

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Karina has performed a wide repertoire in 21 languages in Ecuador, Austria, Germany, Italy, Japan, Chile and the USA. She has been a member of the early music ensemble Harmonia Variabilis since 2012 and is also dedicated to Latin American music. Since 2020, she has gained numerous experiences in organizing international projects for the Mozarteum Foundation, as a stage manager and assistant director in several houses. In 2023 she founded the OPERAtors association and worked here as a singer, presenter, dramaturge and scenic director.

Conductor, composer and pianist Jialong Kou is a native of China. Upon moving to Germany and making his base in Leipzig and Hamburg, he completed his studies of composition under Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Johannes Kreidler and Hubertus Dreyer; orchestra conducting under Mathias Husmann and Ulrich Windfuhr; and piano under Gerlinde Otto, Stepan Simonian as well as Olena Kushpler. 

From Winter 2021, Jialong step by step made his debut outside Germany, such as London, Italy and Czech. He gets invited regularly to other countries in Europe as guest conductor.
Since summer 2022 Jialong has steadily built professional connections in Spain, and from the 2023-24 season he serve as an assistant conductor for Maestros Miguel Romea and Andrés Salado.

Member of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid
orchestra of the Royal Opera of Madrid and since 2023 violín profesor in the Hochschule of Aragón.
He studied in Madrid and Düsseldorf with Profs. Ana Comesaña and Rosa Fain.
He was a member of Folkwang Kammerorchester Essen and has collaborated with other orchestras, like Mahler Chamber Orchestra or Staatkapelle Dresden among others.
He is a member of the Seikilos Quartet with which he has studied in the Reina Sofía School with Günter Pichler. In 2019 they won the Festclasica award and played in the most prestigious festivals in Spain ( like the festival of Santander, Granada...).
He complements his chamber music activity collaborating regularly with other groups like Trio Arbós or Bambú Ensemble among others.

Docent of Johannes Brahms Conservatory in Hamburg, she specializes in piano, chamber music, and accompany. She have curated the "Musiksalon Lied und Kunst" concert series, collaborating with Dr. Niels Graf von Waldersee and Julia Sukmanova. This series features thematic musical programs and readings.

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Conducting two annual masterclasses in piano and piano accommodation for the Summer/Winter Academy at the Tokyo University of the Arts.

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Concerts with the Petersburg State Concert (1995-1999) across Russia, Spain, Germany, and Austria.
Notable achievements, including awards from the Taneev Music Competition (1996) and the International Brahms Competition in Danzig (1997).

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Elena has also organized and participated in the "Three Days with the Master" masterclass series, featuring renowned musicians such as Helmut Deutsch, Cornelia Helfricht, Hans Josef Kaspar, and Margreet Honig.

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Furthermore, she served as a piano accompanist for prestigious competitions and masterclasses, including the Richard Strauss Competition for Singing and the ARD Competition for Singing.

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Beyond her musical pursuits, elena leads the organization "Klassik für Kinder, Klassik mit Kindern," dedicated to presenting classical music to children in an engaging and meaningful manner.

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Discography includes recordings on Fontenay Classics, Monalvo, and Hänssler Classic, featuring works by Pauline Viardot, Mikhail Glinka, Sergey Rakhmaninov, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Alex is a drummer born in Aegina, Greece in 1991. His first contact
with music was through traditional greek percussion lessons in his
hometown. At the age of 14, heformed an improvised music duo
with his pianist friend “Yannis”
. He then started playing on the
drumset and created a Rock/Grunge band. Two years later he
moved to Athens where he joined the Metal and
Progressive/Psychedelic Rock scene. In 2009 he followed the two-
year course “Professional Program Drums” in “Modern Music
School” where he was taught by the greatest drummers of Greece.
His urge to expand his knowledge in improvisation, lead him into
jazz music and eventually to Jazz Conservatories. He followed the
preparatory year in Prins Claus Conservatory and the Bachelor in
the Royal Conservatory of Den Haag where he graduated from in
2021.
Through this time, he performed throughout Europe with
storytellers, dancers, poetry performers, acrobats, bands in various
styles of music and his thriving trio “Amaguk”.

F E S T I V A L S
North sea Jazz Festival - Amaguk
Music Meeting Festival - Amaguk
Peel Slowly Festival - Amaguk
Summertime Festival - Amaguk
Womad Festival - Amaguk
Summertime Festival - Amaguk
Stukafest - Amaguk
De nieuwe regentes - Amaguk
Paard van troje - Madhara
Paard van troje - Celia Swart
Exstatic Dance Festival - Madhara

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TOURS 

Spain tour - Amaguk
UK tour - Amaguk
Greece tour - Amaguk
Germany tour - Amaguk
Netherlands tour - Amaguk

C O L A B O R A T I O N S
Tsak bam festival - organiser
Bridging Sences Festival - Organiser
Walkaplank - Djembe Workshops
Aegina music summercamp - Polyrhythm workshop

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