The Vocal Preselection Jury

Leonid Korchmar—(Russia) studied operatic and symphonic conducting with Lev Ginzburg at the Moscow Conservatory, graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory, and was a diploma winner at the 1981 All-Russian Conductors Competition. From 1976 to 1979 he served as conductor of both the Voronezh and Sverdlovsk (Yekaterinburg) Philharmonic Orchestras and in 1979 became artistic director and chief conductor of the Saratov Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1982 to 1984 he served as assistant conductor of the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra under Alexander Dmitriev and from 1986 to 1989 as conductor of the St.Petersburg Opera.  He has appeared as guest conductor with many orchestras, including both orchestras of the Leningrad Philharmonic, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, the State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR, the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, and the State Symphony Orchestra of Russia.  For the last 17 years Korchmar has conducted at the Mariinsky Theater and has taken part in international tours to Finland, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, and Chile.

Renate Kupfer—(Germany) began vocal and dancing studies in Germany and continued them in Milan and Vienna. In the early 1980s, she managed recordings of operas and other vocal works for Hamburg-based Deutsche Grammophon, working with such conductors as Carlo Maria Giulini, Leopold Hager, Bernhard Klee, Herbert von Karajan, and Giuseppe Sinopoli. She was also Director of Artistic Planning and Artistic Organization at the Hamburg State Opera. In the early 1990s, she was named Executive Producer of opera and vocal works for Teldec Classics International, working with such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Donald Runnicles, and Carlo Rizzi. In 1999, she became Artistic Administrator of the Rome Opera and, in 2004, casting consultant to the Teatro Massimo in Palermo. Her current activities include acting as a competition jury member, an executive producer of opera recordings, and casting consultant to the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago, Italy. 
 

Elena Obraztsova―(Russia) gold medalist of the 1970 International Tchaikovsky Competition, she has played many roles throughout her career, including performances under the baton of such leading conductors as Claudio Abbado and Herbert von Karajan. In December 1977, she opened the 200th opera season in La Scala singing Don Carlo's Eboli and in 1978 she played the title role of Carmen opposite Placido Domingo in Franco Zeffirelli's television production of the opera. She also appeared as Santuzza in Zeffirelli's film version of Cavalleria Rusticana in 1982. Obraztsova is artistic director of opera at the Mikhaylovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg and trains young soloists in her own cultural center in St. Petersburg.

Andrei Petrenko—(Russia) graduated from the Leningrad State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire, specializing in choral, opera and symphony conducting.  Petrenko’s performing career began in 1981 as a production conductor at the Leningrad State Musical Comedy Theatre; he subsequently became the Director of the Smolny Cathedral Chorus and was a guest conductor of the Congress Orchestra of St Petersburg.  He has toured to more than twenty countries with various choruses, ballet companies and symphony orchestras of St Petersburg and has staged productions of operas in Finland.  Since 2000, he has been the Mariinsky Theatre’s Principal Chorus Master giving performances at prestigious concert venues throughout Russia and in Lithuania, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Great Britain and Israel.