Candomino
The Candomino choir is a youth choir from Espoo, Finland. It was founded in 1967 by organist and conductor Tauno Satomaa, who conducted Candomino until 2005. Since then, Esko Kallio has been both the conductor and the musical director of the choir. Candomino consists of 40 young singers. Candomino has triumphed in both international and national choir competitions by performing a broad repertoire of music, ranging from pieces from the Renaissance period to contemporary music. The choir’s latest rankings in choir competitions are the 2nd prize in the chamber choir category at Tallinn’s international choir competition in 2019 and two golden stamps acquired from the Tampere Music Festival in 2019. The choir has a discography of over 20 albums, and it has performed many premiere concerts of the works written by Finnish composers. In 2014, Candomino was chosen as the youth choir of the year by YLE, the national broadcasting company of Finland.
The Conductor Esko Kallio
Esko Kallio (b. 1974, M. Mus.) began playing the piano at the age of five at the Espoo Music School (nowadays called the Music Institute Juvenalia). In 2004, Kallio completed his degree in Choral Conducting at the Sibelius Academy with distinction, after which he has continued to hone his skills in various master classes in Finland and abroad. Kallio received the Young Conductor’s Award in the International Leevi Madetoja Male Voice Choir Competition in 2000 and the Young Conductor’s Prize at the Tampere Vocal Music Festival in 2003. In 2015, he was chosen as the Conductor of the Year by The Finnish Choral Directors’ Association.
Esko Kallio has worked with and conducted numerous professional and amateur choirs both in Finland and abroad. Contemporary choir music from the 2000s has been a particularly prominent feature in his repertoire, and his interpretations of musical works by composers of his own generation have won him critical acclaim. Mr. Kallio has also taught choir conducting at the Sibelius Academy and in various master classes, for instance at The Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. In addition to Candomino, Kallio is the conductor of the Helsinki-based choirs Jubilate and Suomen Laulu.
CandoMini
CandoMini was founded in 2013 and consists of 35 singers between the ages of 10 and 17. The music educator Viena Kangas has conducted CandoMini since its foundation. The choir has triumphed in many choir competitions. CandoMini won the golden stamps at the Canta Al Mar choir festival in Spain in 2016, the golden stamp and the special prize for children’s choirs at the Tampere Vocal Music festival in 2017, and both the children choirs’ category and the Grand Prix at the Claudio Monteverdi International Choral Competition in Venice in 2018. In addition to competing, CandoMini has performed around Finland and recorded a christmas music album called Tuike in 2019.
The Conductor Anna Sandström
Anna Sandström (b. 1989) on valmistunut musiikin maisteriksi Sibelius-Akatemian musiikkikasvatuksen aineryhmästä ja syventynyt opinnoissaan kuoronjohtoon ja laulupedagogiikkaan. Hän on myös opiskellut laulua Tukholman kuninkaallisessa musiikkikorkeakoulussa ja täydentänyt koulutustaan mestarikursseilla sekä avoimen yliopiston kautta. Sandström työskentelee erityisesti lapsi- ja nuorisokuorojen parissa kuoronjohtajana, harjoituttajana sekä äänenmuodostajana. Hän on kuulunut Cantores Minores -poikakuoron opettajakuntaan vuodesta 2010 sekä Helsingin Konservatorion opettajakuntaan vuodesta 2020 sekä työskennellyt Tukholmassa Adolf Fredriks musikklasser -kuorokoulussa.
CaMinus
CaMinus is aimed at singers between the ages of 7 and 13. Founded in 2016, the singing group introduce children to choral singing and teach vocal techniques through play and functional exercises. Children without any musical background can join to the choir but it is also aimed for young singers who have some musical background and aspire to join CandoMini. The CaMinus choir cooperate actively with CandoMini and perform annually with other choirs of the association.
The Conductor Liisalotta Lepistö
Liisalotta Lepistö (b. 1998) began playing the piano at the music school Keskisen Uudenmaan Musiikkiopisto in Järvenpää. After that, she has studied piano music at the Helsinki Conservatory of Music, graduating as a musician. At the moment Lepistö is studying church music at the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki. Lepistö sang in the Candomino choir in years 2017-18.
