Southern Colorado Honor Choir and Orchestra Festival
November 22nd and 23rd, 2024
October 18, 2024 Registration Deadline. $45 per student registration
Lauren Suchy
Franco Basili
Franco Basili is a third-year DMA student in Choral Conducting at the University of Houston under the instruction of Dr. Betsy Cook Weber and Dr. Jeb Mueller. Originally from Tandil, Argentina, Franco is a choral director, pianist, and singer. Before moving to the United States, Franco worked as Artistic Director of the Chamber Choir of the National University of Mar del Plata, Director of Laprida’s Children Choir, and Conductor Assistant of the Coro Estable de Tandil. He also taught Choral Singing, Music History, and Choral Literature at the Conservatorio de Música “Isaías Orbe” in Tandil and was committed to educating younger generations by teaching Choral Singing and Aural Skills at middle and high school levels.
Franco completed his Master of Music in Choral Pedagogy at Carthage College under the tutelage of Rick Bjella and Dr. Eduardo García-Novelli, and his Bachelor's degrees in Choral Conducting and Piano Pedagogy at the Conservatorio de Música “Isaías Orbe” (Tandil, Argentina) under the tutelage of Pablo Banchi and Miguel Ángel Pesce.
As a singer, Franco has performed multiple times in high-level choral projects in Buenos Aires, joined the Coro Nacional del Bicentenario in 2014, and was selected to represent Argentina in the World Youth Choir in the summer sessions of 2016 and 2018, respectively. In the US, he sang with and was the student conductor of the award-winning Carthage Choir and joined the choir of “La Fille de Regiment” at the Kenosha Opera festival in the summer of 2021.
Dr. Oleksii Hamov
Oleksii Hamov was born in Chernivtsi in western Ukraine. He started studying music at the age of 7. He received his primary education at Music School #2 in his hometown. After that, he continued his studies at the Music college named by Vorobkevich . Upon graduation, he went to Moscow, where he received a bachelor's degree. He became twice a laureate of international competitions.
In 2011, he moved to the United States where he received a master of music at Hammond University, LA. The next step in his career was the University of Tennessee, where he received an Artistic Diploma in the Miroslav Hristov’s class. While studying at the University of Tennessee, he was the winner of the concerto competition. His career as a violinist also includes orchestral playing . In 2020, he received the position of accompanist at the Kiev Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Hamov currently serves as the Concertmaster of the Pueblo Symphony Orchestra.
He earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in 2022.
