World Youth and Children Choral Artists’ Asociation (WYCCAA) is excited to announce the recipients of the 2022 World Choir Festival-WYCCAA 25th Anniversary Lifetime Achievement Award for Choral Music!

 

The Award is presented to selected international choral experts to honour their outstanding achievements and contributions to the choral field.

 

The recipients of the inaugural Award in 2022 are Prof. CHEN Yi (USA) and Prof. Maria Guinand (Venezuela).

 

As a prolific composer who blends Chinese and Western traditions, transcending cultural and musical boundaries, Professor Chen is a recipient of the Ives Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2001. She is a Distinguished Professor at University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory and her extensive portfolio of work is published by Theodore Presser Company.

 

Professor Guinand has been the Associate Conductor and Advisor of Choral Symphonic Performances and Activities for El Sistema (FESNOJIV), the world-renowned music program in Venezuela, for over three decades. She teaches in the Master Degree Program for Choral Conductors at the University Simón Bolívar, where she has been a professor and conductor for 28 years.

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(click photos below to view full biography)