Jury for the Eric Ericson Award 2027

Sofi Jeannin, chair

Sofi Jeannin is a Swedish-born conductor internationally recognised as one of today’s leading choral specialists, admired for her clear technique and broad command of repertoire. She is Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers and Ars Nova Copenhagen, and has been Music Director of the Maîtrise de Radio France since 2008. She also served as Music Director of the Chœur de Radio France from 2015 to 2018.

Alongside her permanent positions, Jeannin is a sought-after guest conductor with major orchestras and choirs worldwide, working across large-scale choral-orchestral repertoire and contemporary music.

Highlights of the 2025/26 season include Brahms’ Requiem with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s St John Passion with Sinfonia Lahti, and works by James MacMillan, Poulenc and Coleridge-Taylor with leading European ensembles.

Krista Audere

Krista Audere is regularly engaged as a guest conductor for the Dutch Chamber Choir, Dutch Radio Choir, and Cappella Amsterdam. Since winning the Eric Ericson Award in 2021, she has continued to work with professional choirs across Europe. In the 2023/2024 season, she has engagements with the Latvian State Choir, Hungarian Radio Choir, Bavarian Radio Choir, Danish National Vocal Ensemble, WDR Radio Choir Cologne, SWR Vocal Ensemble Stuttgart, and BBC Singers.

Krista Audere (born 1989) graduated from Riga with qualifications as a choir master and singer. She then earned a bachelor's degree in choral conducting from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music while enriching her musical experience at the University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart.

In 2016, Krista earned her master's degree, graduating "cum laude" from the Amsterdam University of the Arts. As a singer, she has collaborated with the Latvian Radio Choir and Cappella Amsterdam.

Marc Korovitch

Marc Korovitch is choir master of the Swedish Radio Choir since 2018, musical director of the Orchestre Colonne in Paris since 2022, of the Montenegro Symphony Orchestra since 2023, of the Spanish Radio and Television Choir since 2024 and from 2026, also principal guest conductor of the latter

He is regularly invited by radio choirs in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Croatia, Serbia and Poland. 

Passionate about teaching, Korovitch was a conducting professor in Paris and is involved in different masterclass programs across Europe, from Portugal to Norway.

Kjetil Almenning

Kjetil Almenning studied church music at the Norwegian Academy of Music, and choral conducting at the Royal College of Music.

Almenning has worked with leading choirs such as Ensemble 96, Vocal Art and The Norwegian Soloists Choir. Since 2009 he has served as Director of Music at Bergen Cathedral, where he founded Bergen Cathedral Choir and the Church Music Festival Bergen kirkeautunnale.

Anders Eby

Anders Eby is one of Sweden's most influential choral conductors and teachers. He was educated at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and studied choral conducting with Eric Ericson and orchestral conducting internationally, including with Sixten Ehrling.

Eby was professor of choral conducting and choral singing at the Royal Academy of Music from 1994 to 2009 and has since been a professor at the Düsseldorf Academy of Music. He is in international demand as a teacher, lecturer and jury member at festivals and competitions.

As a church musician in St. Johannes' parish in Stockholm, he founded the Mikaeli Chamber Choir. With the choir, he has carried out extensive touring activities and a large number of recordings. Eby was awarded the 8th rank in the Order of the Seraphim in 2015.

Martina Batič

Winner of the prestigious Eric Ericson Award in 2006, Martina Batič is known for her wide stylistic range and her work with both chamber music and symphonic choral repertoire.

She was Chief Conductor of the Chœur de Radio France from 2018 to 2022 and has previously been Artistic Director of the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir and the Choir of the Slovenian National Opera in Ljubljana. In the 2023/24 season, she took up the position of Chief Conductor of the Danish Radio Vocal Ensemble in Copenhagen.

Batič is in international demand as a guest conductor and has collaborated with prominent choirs and ensembles in Europe. She is educated at the Academy of Music at the University of Ljubljana and at the Munich Music Academy, where she received her Master's degree in choral conducting with distinction.

In 2019, she was awarded the Slovenian national prize Prešeren Fund Award for her artistic contributions to choral conducting.

Lars Johansson Brissman

Lars Johansson Brissman is a baritone, educated at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Opera Academy in Stockholm. He made his debut in 1999 at the Vadstena Academy and in 2004 made his debut on the main stage of the Royal Swedish Opera as Schaunard in La Bohème.

He has appeared in a large number of operas and premieres at, among others, the Royal Swedish Opera, the Folkoperan, Drottningholm Palace Theatre, Malmö Opera and Läckö Palace Opera, in roles in works by Monteverdi, Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Haydn, Glass and contemporary composers.

Brissman is also a much-in-demand concert and oratorio singer with a broad repertoire from early music to newly written works. He has collaborated with leading orchestras and conductors in Sweden and internationally and toured in Europe, the USA and Australia. A recording in which he appears, Ståle Kleiberg's David and Bathsheba, was nominated for a Grammy in 2014.