Jury
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Igor Oistrakh (Russia) - Chairman of the Jury
Igor Oistrakh
Igor Oistrakh was born in 1931 in the family of the great violinist David Oistrakh. His serious studies began in 1943 under the guidance of professor Pyotr Stolyarsky - an outstanding Soviet teacher. Later Igor finished as a brilliant pupil the Central Music School where his teacher was V. Merenbaum and made his concert debut in 1948. His father David exercised the decisive influence on the development of the young artist's personality: it was under his guidance that Igor continued his studies at the Moscow Conservatory from 1949 to 1955 and took a post-graduate course. In 1949, at 18 years old Igor won the first prize at the International Violinists' Competition of the Youth and Student Festival in Budapest. The International Wieniawski Competition in Poznan brought him in 1952 a similar award.
Igor Oistrakh appears with unfailing success in the Soviet Union and abroad. His western debut took place at the Royal Albert Hall in London and was followed by concert tours through the USA, Europe, USSR, Canada, South America, Japan and Australia. He has performed with the world's greatest orchestras under renowned conductors as Otto Klemperer, Herbert von Karajan, Eugene Ormandy, Carlo Maria Giulini, Georg Solti, Lorin Maazell, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, David Oistrakh and others. For 27 years he has been playing in a unique duo with his father and they made a lot of recordings together. For three times Igor was a participant of the festivals named after Pablo Casals, who highly appreciated outstanding Soviet musicians. Igor Oistrakh performed repeatedly with Yehudi Menuhin. He collaborated with such recording companies as EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, RCA, Collins, Melodiya, and Art and Electronics. Igor and his wife pianist Natalia Zertsalova perfomed and recorded complete sonatas of Beethoven and Mozart. Their duet was awarded with «Weiner Flotenuhr» by the Vienna Mozart Academy and granted Honorary Membership of Beethoven society in Bonn.
The family artistic tradition is continued by their son Valery — winner of many violin competitions, professor in the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.
Since 1968 Igor Oistrakh performed a lot as a conductor. With the Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra he recorded Arcangelo Corelli's Concerti grossi, J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos etc.
In 1965 Igor Oistrakh became a teacher of Moscow Conservatory. He received an award of People's Artist of the USSR in February 1968 and became Honorary Member of the Wieniawski Society in Poznan. Since 1996 he has been Professor of the Royal Conservatory in Brussels.
Igor Oistrakh is a Honorary member of the Beethoven Society in Bonn, Jascha Heifetz Society and the Ysaye Foundation, Honorary President of the Cesar Franck Foundation in Belgium and member of the jury of the most prestigious violin competitions such as Tchaikovsky, Queen Elisabeth, Wieniawski and Carl Flesch.
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Valery Oistrakh (Belgium)
Valery Oistrakh
Born in Moscow in the family of the illustrious Oistrakhs, Valery Oistrakh represents the third generation of great violin virtuosi beginning with his grandfather David and followed by his father Igor.
Valery Oistrakh took his first violin lessons from his grandfather David. He then studied at the famous Cental Music School in Moscow where his father Igor actually graduated. He continued his studies at the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in his native city. Some years later Valery completed his violin education in Germany with the world known Professor Zakhar Bron – who in fact was also a disciple of his father at the Moscow Conservatory.
A true exponent of the great russian violin school, Valery Oistrakh started performing at the age of 14, often sharing the stage with his father and mother-pianist Natalya Zertsalova.
With his awe-inspiring technique, silky tone and consummate artistry he has beguiled audiences all over the world performing on the great concert stages of Russia, United States, Canada, Australia, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Japan... He has played both as violinist and violist with world-leading orchestras as the Moscow and Leningrad Philharmonics, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Scottish National Symphony, Orchestre Colonne de Paris, Orchestra Santa Cecilia di Roma, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchester, Toronto and Vancouver Symphonies, Sydney Symphony... He has been accompanied by such notable conductors as Kurt Mazur, Gennady Rozdestvensky, Muhai Tang, Gyorgy Lehel, Saulius Sondetzkis, Vladimir Fedoseev, Tibor Varga, Marco Parisotto…
With a deep understanding of the violin repertoire, a captivating sound often reminiscent of the celebrated David, his interpretations have won high praise from both critics and the public. Aside from performing as a soloist, Valery Oistrakh is a masterful chamber musician. In this capacity, he played together with such eminent musicians as Yehudi Menuhin, Jorg Demus or the distinguished Amadeus String Quartet, among many others.
In addition to managing a busy concert schedule, Valery Oistrakh is Professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, the International Summer Academy in Belgium and he is also regularly giving master classes in music academies in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkey and Japan. Since 1999 he has been visiting Professor at the "Mozarteum" in Salzburg.
Mr. Oistrakh was a winner at the All-Russian Competition of the former Soviet Union and the Tibor Varga International Competition in Switzerland, among others. He is the leader of the "Oistrakh Ensemble" and the "Oistrakh Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra" based in Germany.
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Reiko Otani (Japan)
Reiko Otani
The winner of the Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznan, Poland in 1996, Reiko Otani performs frequently as a soloist and a chamber musician in Japan and abroad. Her recent CD recordings «Ysaye’s Six Solo Sonatas» (2008) and «Polonaise! – Selected Polish works for violin and piano» (2011) were highly acclaimed and chosen as the «Specially Selected Disc» in the Record Geijutsu and Ongaku Gendai magazines.
Born in Osaka, Japanese violinist Reiko Otani studied at the Toho-Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo with Toshiya Eto and Koichiro Harada. She studied with Igor Oistrakh at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels in 1996-2002 with a grant from the Japanese government. There she has received the highest Masters degree with the «greatest distinction» in 1998. She has also studied at the master classes with many great violinists such as Herman Krebbers, Yfrah Neaman, Ruggiero Ricci, Franco Gulli, Ida Haendel, Igor Ozim, Krzysztof Wegrzyn and Ana Chumachenko.
She won 1st prize at the Japan Music Competition in 1993. In 1996, at the H. Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznan, Poland, she won top prize as well as special prizes for the best performance of a Wieniawski Concerto, best performance of a Sonata, and best performance of a Wieniawski Polonaise. She is also a laureate of many of the most prestigious international competitions in 1994-2000 such as Louis Spohr (Freiburg), Queen Elisabeth (Brussels), Jean Sibelius (Helsinki), competitions in Hannover and Tokyo.
Her international career has led her to perform extensively in Europe. Ever since her sensational debut in Warsaw Philharmonic hall in Poland in 1996, she has made numerous tours of Europe, performing with most major orchestras as well as giving recitals, including performances with the Sinfonia Varsovia under the direction of Sir Yehudi Menuhin and recital at the International Chopin Festival in Duszniki. She performed Concertos under the auspices of the prestigious Salzburg Music Festival, and also performed with the Holland Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Philippe Entremont in the main hall of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. In the United States she was invited to perform at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and La Jolla Summerfest. She gave recitals in St Petersburg in Russia, in Tallinn in Estonia and other many other countries in Europe, Asia and United States.
Performing extensively in her native country, Reiko Otani has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras in Japan, such as the Tokyo Symphony, the Japan Philharmonic, the Kyushu Symphony, the Sendai Philharmonic, the Izumi Sinfonietta Osaka, and the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra. She has had the honor of performing for the Japanese Imperial Family at Tokagakudo Hall in the Imperial Palace.
Her most recent highlights are performances with the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra of Hungary, the Subscription concerts of the Tokyo City Philharmonic, the Osaka Century Orchestra, and the Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra. She also performed with the Osaka Sinfoniker, the Kyoto Symphony, the Osaka Philharmonic, the Tokyo Philharmonic (broadcasted on NHK-FM), the Sendai Philharmonic, the Kyoto Philharmonic, Central Aichi Symphony, the Kyoto Philharmonic Chamber, the Gunma Symphony Orchestras and so on.
She is a member of the Saito-Kinen Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa, and has been appeared the Saito-Kinen Festival in Matsumoto for one month every summer since 2001. She participated in the European Tour (2004), the American tour (2010) and the China tour (2011) of the Saito-Kinen Orchestra, and performed in the prestigious concert halls in the six countries such as Berlin Philharmonic Hall and Musikferein in Vienna, as well as three concerts in the NY Carnegie Hall.
In 2012 she was invited to Poznan, Poland as a project leader of the «Workshop with the laureate» by Wieniawski Society. There she gave master classes for selected young Polish violinists and performed at the recital.
Currently she is on the faculty of the Kyoto City University of Arts and the Soai University in Osaka.
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Ik-Hwan Bae (USA / South Korea)
Ik-Hwan Bae
Ik-Hwan Bae was born in Seoul, Korea and made his professional debut with the Seoul Philharmonic at the age of 12. He studied at the Juilliard School and has been a very busy person ever since.
His performances in recitals and concerto concerts has taken him to most of the major cities in Europe, Asia and the United States.
In 1985 he received the gold medal at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and also became a prize winner at the Munich International Competition in 1984. In 1986 he was a recipient of the Solo Recitalist Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
As an enthusiastic participant in many of the world's best chamber music festivals, he has been seen everywhere from Seoul to Alaska. He was an artistic director of the Bargemusic, one of the leading presenters of chamber music in New York City, for fourteen years until 1995.
Much sought after as a pedagogue, Mr. Bae has taught at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Korean National Institutes for the Arts. Every year he gives master classes worldwide.
Currently he is professor at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. Mr. Bae has been a jury member of the Munich ARD competition in Germany, the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition in Denmark, the Benjamin Britten International Violin Competition in London, and the Jean Sibelius International Violin Competition in Helsinki, Finland.
Mr. Bae has recorded for the RCA, ECM, Delos, and Koch labels.
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Tadeusz Gadzina (Poland)
Tadeusz Gadzina
Having finished the State Music Secondary School in Wroclaw in the class of Stanislaw Majewski and Ignacy Grobelny, he started his studies at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw (currently the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music), taking a class of Professor Zenon Bąkowski, whom he owes to his beautiful violin playing mastery, unbreakably connected with the ethos of the artist performer and of the tutor of the young people who are engaged in playing this instrument.
He mastered his abilities at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London in the class of Yehudi Menuhin and Yfrah Neaman.
Tadeusz Gadzina is a winner of such international contests as the Jean Sibelius International Violin Competition in Helsinki, the International Nicolo Paganini Competition in Genoa, the International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poznań, the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition in London and Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels. In 1973, he received also a Gold Medal at the Pleven International Laureate Festival in Bulgaria.
The artist has been successful both as a soloist as well as a chamber musician. He is a founder and first violin of the Wilanów Quartet known for its achievements worldwide. The ensemble is a winner of the 2nd Prize at the International Joseph Haydn Chamber Music Competition in Vienna in 1972, and of the 3rd Prize during the International ARD String Quartet Competition in Munich, organized by the Bavarian Radio.
As a soloist he made numerous radio, television and disc recordings, recorded an album with the violin works of Karol Szymanowski and Witold Lutoslawski among other things, which was awarded Les Diapasons D'or of the Parisian company ACCORD in 1990.
He performs around Europe as well as in Japan, USA, South America (Brazil, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Argentina), Canada, Russia. He is invited to run master courses both in Poland and abroad (USA, Canada, Brazil, Belgium, Spain, Germany).
In the years 2000-2002 he cooperated with the Japanese chamber orchestra Tokyo Sîlisten with which he produced a record of Johann Sebastian Bach's works.
Each year since 2002, he has been tutoring international master classes in the Morningside Music Bridge as professor in residence, representing Polish violin school based on the world renowned achievements of Professor Tadeusz Wroński.
On numerous occasions he has been invited to the Jury of such soloist and chamber music competitions as: the International Henryk Wieniawski and Karol Lipiński Competition in Lublin, the Grażyna Bacewicz National Violin Competition in Wroclaw, the Karol Szymanowski Violin Competition in Lodz, the International ARD Bavarian Radio Competition in Munich, the International String Quartet Competition in Portsmouth, England and others.
As a part of the European programme of experience exchange in the field of artistic teaching –Erasmus Socrates, he lectured on numerous occasions in prominent centers of music education such as: Brussels, Stuttgart, Bremen and other places.
As a titular professor he conducts a violin master class at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw where in the years 1999-2005 he held the position of Head of the Department of String Instruments.
Many times he performed a function as an expert for scholarships and financial support for artistic projects granted by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (the period of 2004-2008). In the years 1997-2006 he was a member of the Council of Higher Artistic Education.
Currently he is a reviewer of research projects within the 0SF system appointed to this role by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.
In his soloist and chamber music activities he acts under the auspices of the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music and the Old Town Cultural Centre where he finds support and understanding necessary for his artistic achievements.
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Pierre Amoyal (France)
Pierre Amoyal
Pierre Amoyal is one of the most brilliant violinists of his generation. He began his music studies very early and was awarded a Premier Prix from the Conservatoire National Superieur de musique de Paris at the age of 12. At the age of 17 he departed for Los Angeles to study with Jascha Heifetz, with whom he studied for five years. There he enjoyed the privilege of performing chamber music in concert as well as recording with Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky.
Since then Pierre Amoyal has been invited to play with the most eminent orchestras and has performed throughout the world. He works regularly with the most important conductors of our time: Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa, Charles Dutoit, Eliahu Inbal, Stanislas Skrowaczewski, Gunter Herbig, Georges Pretre, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Kurt Sanderling, Simon Rattle, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos and Myung Whun Chung. He recently performed the German premier of Dutilleux’ Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Lorin Maazel.
During the season 2012-2013, Pierre Amoyal will perform with orchestras and recitals in Austria, Japan, Singapore, Russia, Turkey, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, France and Switzerland.
He will give Master Classes in Japan, Singapore, Russia, Sweden, Luxembourg, at the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg, at the Lausanne Summer Academy.
He will be the jury of the International George Enescu Competition, Moscow International David Oistrakh Competition, Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2015.
In conjunction with the Lausanne Conservatory, Haute Ecole de Musique, Pierre Amoyal founded the Camerata Lausanne, an ensemble made up of 14 talented young musicians from around the world. The Camerata will play several concerts in France, Belgium, Turkey, Russia and Switzerland. They have recorded a CD of Mendelssohn octet and Bach Concertos for violin, and Tchaikovsky, Serenade and Souvenir de Florence, Mozart Sinfonia Concertante which will be released by Warner Music in 2012 with an exclusive contract for 5 years. Several projects are already planned for Camerata de Lausanne’s 10 years anniversary in 2012 including the collaboration and creation of Danse and music with Philippe Saire at the Opera de Lausanne, the Musical collaboration with two ensemble together Moscow Virtuosi conducted by Vladimir Spivakov and Camerata de Lausanne.
His numerous recordings for Decca include works by Faure (with Pascal Roge), Chausson, Franck (with the Ysaye Quartet and Pascal Roge), as well as concertos by Dutilleux, Saint-Saëns and Respighi (Concerto Gregoriano, with Charles Dutoit and the French National Orchestra). His most recent recordings for Harmonia Mundi include Grieg’s three sonatas and Brahms’ violin sonatas, all with Frederic Chiu, and Rene Koering’s Violin Concerto with Friedemann Layer.
Pierre Amoyal is also a passionate teacher. He was appointed a professor at the National Conservatory in Paris at a very young age and now teaches at the Lausanne Conservatory (Haute Ecole de Musique). He is the artistic director of the Lausanne Summer Music Academy, devoted exclusively to the violin/piano repertoire, which he founded with Alexis Weissenberg and now co-directs with Bruno Canino.
Since March 2013 he is appointed as a Professor at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.
In 1985 Pierre Amoyal was named a Chevalier of Arts and Lettres and in 1995 was raised to the rank of Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Merite. In 2002 he received the Prix du Rayonnement de la Fondation Vaudoise pour la creation artistique and in 2006, the Prix de la Ville de Lausanne.
Pierre Amoyal plays one of the world’s most celebrated violins, the Kochansky Stradivarius from 1717 which was miraculously recovered in Italy in 1991 after its theft in 1987.
Pierre Amoyal is a very engaging virtuoso whose exceptional talents never impeded his love of hard work or the development of the most essential human qualities.
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Stoyka Milanova (Bulgaria)
Stoyka Milanova
Stoyka Milanova – People's Artist of Bulgaria (1978). She was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. She took violin lessons from her father, great pedagogue Trendafil Milanov. Stoyka Milanova was awarded Gold Medal at the Music Festivals in Sofia and Helsinki in 1952 and 1962 respectively. In addition she was given a special diploma by the jury which was presided by Mstislav Rostropovich.
Ms Milanova was invited to join David Ostrakh’s class in 1964, and was his student for 5 years. During this time she won the Gold Medal at the 1967 Queen Elizabeth International Competition in Belgium. In 1968 she was a guest of Yehudi Menuhin at the Bach Festival in Great Britain where she played chamber music with the Maestro himself and the pianist Clifford Kurzon.
Two years later Ms. Milanova won the First Prize at the Carl Flesch competition in London and has ever since toured numerous times Europe, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada and South America. In 1973 she received the «Grand Prix du Disque de l’Academie Charles Gros» in Paris and Belgium Radio and Television award.
That year, she recorded all the Brandenburg concerti (J.S. Bach) with Karl Munchinger and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra for DECCA. She has also recorded many important works for violin and orchestra for the Bulgarian label «Balkanton».
Stoyka Milanova was granted the «Saggittario d’Oro» award in Rome in 1983 for her contributions to the Arts. Ms. Milanova was nominated to the «Women of the Year» award in 1995 by the Biographical Center in North Carolina, USA. She has taught master classes in the Royal Academy of Music (London), Tokyo, Japan, Brazil, Venezuela. She also teaches in the Conservatory of Sofia.
Stoyka Milanova plays on a Guarnieri del Gesú «Consolo» (1733).