David Cerone, Chairman of the Jury (United States)
David Cerone, Mus.D, served as President of The Cleveland Institute of Music from 1985 to 2008. He served on the faculty of the Oberlin College-Conservatory of Music for nine years. He founded the Cleveland Chamber Music Seminar in 1974, and in 1981, accepted the position of Chairman of the Violin Department at The Curtis Institute of Music. In 1985, with his wife, violinist Linda Sharon Cerone, he co-founded the ENCORE School for Strings in Hudson, Ohio.
He made his Cleveland Orchestra solo debut in 1987 with maestro Christoph von Dohnányi, conductor, and in October 1987, he world-premiered Donald Erb's View of Space and Time for violin and chamber ensemble.
He was awarded the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Case Western Reserve University, in 2009 and received the 2011 Cleveland Arts Prize and the Lifetime Achievement Award in Music.
Dr. Cerone has served on the jury panel of numerous national and international violin competitions, including the Paganini, Lipizer, Sion, Thibaud, Qingdao and, most recently, the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition.
Andrés Cárdenes (United States)
Recognized worldwide as a musical phenomenon, Grammy-nominated Andrés Cárdenes parlays his myriad talents into one of classical music’s most versatile careers. An intensely passionate and personally charismatic artist, Cuban-born Cárdenes has garnered international acclaim from critics and audiences alike for his compelling performances as a violinist, conductor, violist, chamber musician, concertmaster, and recording artist.
Since capturing the Second Prize in the 1982 Tchaikovsky International Violin Competition in Moscow, Mr. Cárdenes has appeared as soloist with over one hundred orchestras on four continents, including those of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Moscow, Bavarian Radio, Dallas, Helsinki, Shanghai, Caracas and
Barcelona. He has collaborated with many of the world’s greatest conductors, including Lorin Maazel, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Mariss Jansons, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir André Previn, Leonard Slatkin, Jaap van Zweden, David Zinman and Manfred Honeck.
Since capturing the Second Prize in the 1982 Tchaikovsky International Violin Competition in Moscow, Mr. Cárdenes has appeared as soloist with over one hundred orchestras on four continents, including those of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Moscow, Bavarian Radio, Dallas, Helsinki, Shanghai, Caracas and Barcelona. He has collaborated with many of the world’s greatest conductors, including Lorin Maazel, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Mariss Jansons, Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir André Previn, Leonard Slatkin, Jaap van Zweden, David Zinman and Manfred Honeck.
Released in 2009 are recordings of concerti by Brahms, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Barber and David Stock on the Artek and Albany labels. A recording of the complete works for violin by Leonardo Balada was released on Naxos in January 2011, with the complete Sonatas by Hindemith, complete Sonatinas and Fantasie by Schubert on Artek, and the Beethoven Violin Concerto on Zephyr, were released in the fall of 2016. This year and next Mr. Cárdenes continues his project to record many standard and contemporary concerti. Soon to be released is the Chausson Concerto with the Vega Quartet and the Fauré Sonata on Artek. Cárdenes’ discography includes over three dozen recordings of concerti, sonatas, short works, orchestral and chamber music on the Ocean, Naxos, Sony, Arabesque, Albany, Delos, RCA, ProArte, Telarc, Artek, Melodya and Enharmonic labels.
Mr, Cardenes has served as a jury member of the Tchaikovsky Competition, the Schoenfeld Competition, the Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition and thriced served as President of the Jury of the Stradivarius International Violin Competition.
Ilya Kaler (United States)
Described by London’s Gramophone as a “magician, bewitching our ears”, Ilya Kaler is one of the most outstanding personalities of the violin today. He has many awards to his credit and is the only violinist to have won Gold Medals at the Tchaikovsky (1986), Sibelius (1985) and Paganini (1981) Competitions.
Mr. Kaler has earned rave reviews for solo appearances with distinguished orchestras throughout the world, which include the Leningrad, Moscow and Dresden Philharmonic Orchestras, Montreal Symphony, Danish and Berlin Radio Orchestras, Detroit Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Seattle Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic and Moscow and Zurich Chamber Orchestras, among others. His solo recitals have taken him throughout the former
Soviet Union, United States, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, South Africa and Israel. An active chamber musician, Mr. Kaler has appeared at major music festivals throughout the US and Europe with many of the most prominent musicians of our time.
Mr. Kaler’s orchestral career includes guest Concertmaster appearances with San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra and Baltimore Symphonies, as well as regular tours with the World Orchestra for Peace under the direction of Valery Gergiev. He was concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1996-2001.
Mr. Kahler’s highly acclaimed recordings include Sonatas by Schumann and Brahms, concertos by Paganini, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Schumann, Dvorak, Glazunov, as well as Taneev Suite, Bach sonatas and partitas, among others.
One of the most sought-after teachers in the world, Ilya Kaler has served as Distinguished Professor at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, IN, Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and is currently a Professor of Violin at DePaul University School of Music in Chicago.
Sung-Ju Lee (South Korea)
“. . . a tone of pure gold" (The Journal Record)
Violinist Sung-Ju Lee launched her New York career with debut recital presented by Young Concert Artists series in 1977 and was immediately recognized as "a first-rate violinist" by The New York Times. Her list of prizes includes the Ewha-Kyunghyang Concour of Korea at age of 11 and the winner of New York Wieniawski, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky and Queen Elisabeth International Competitions.
In the U.S., she has performed solos with the orchestras of Saint Louis, Seattle, Baltimore, Florida, Duluth, and
Roanoke among numerous others. Around the world, she has played with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, TaiwanSymphony, KBS Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, Caracas Orquesta Sinfonica , Czech Philharmonic, Hungary State symphony, Berliner Symphoniker, and Prague Philharmonic.
In 1994, Sung-Ju Lee was appointed as a professor at the prestigious Korea National University of Arts, School of Music in Seoul, Korea.
Professor Lee has been invited as a jury member to many International competitions like The Sibelius, Sion, Almaty, Young Tchaikovsky and Seoul International violin competitions.
Silvia Marcovici (Romania/France)
Silvia Marcovici, born in Romania, is one of the most renowned and highly regarded violinist of
our times. A student of Professor Stefan Gheorghiu at the conservatory in Bucharest, she made her professional debut at the age of sixteen with the Residentie Orkest of The Hague under Bruno Maderna. A few years later she won first prize in the Marguerite Long/Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris, the special prize of Prince Rainier of Monaco for the interpretation of a contemporary work; and first prize in the George Enescu International Competition in Bucharest.
Since then, Ms. Marcovici's performances have brought her to the leading orchestras throughout Europe, Israel,
Japan, North and South America, appearing with the most celebrated conductors. She has been soloist with most of the world's great orchestras such as London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestra della Scala di Milano, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, among others.
Ms. Marcovici has numerous critically acclaimed recordings, including the live performance of the Glazunov Violin Concerto with London Symphony Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski, the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Göteborg Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Järvi, the Nielsen Violin Concerto with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montpellier under Yoël Levi, and the Beethoven sonatas for piano and violin with Valentin Gheorghiu. The Canadian record company DOREMI has released several CDs and DVDs in its «Legendary Treasures» series of live performances by Silvia Marcovici. Silvia Marcovici is currently professor at the University of Performing Arts in Graz, Austria.
Mihaela Martin*
(Romania/Germany)
*Ms. Martin was forced to withdraw at the last minute for health reasons and was not replaced.
Mihaela Martin, who was born in Romania, is one of the most outstanding violin virtuosos of her generation. Her father gave her first violin lessons when she was five years old. She later studied with Stefan Gheorghiu, a pupil of George Enescu and David Oistrakh.
At the age of 19, Ms. Martin won second prize in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, which was followed by further main prizes in Montreal, Sion and Brussels. Being awarded first prize in the International Violin of Indianapolis launched her international career. She has performed with leading orchestras such as the BBC Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. She has worked with conductors such as Kurt Masur, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Charles Dutoit and Neeme Järvi. In the past season Mihaela Martin not only performed as a soloist but also appeared at chamber music festivals in Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, Germany, Greece, Romania and Switzerland. Together with Daniel Austrich, Nobuko Imai and Frans Helmserson, she is a permanent member of the Michelangelo String Quartet, which she helped to found in 2003.
Mihaela Martin is a professor at the Koeln Musikhochschule, at Kronberg Academy and at Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin and gives masterclasses throughout the world. Since 2016 she has served as the artistic director of the Rolandseck Chamber Music Festival. She is a regular jury member at major international competitions such as the Queen Elisabeth (Belgium), Indianapolis (USA), Enescu (Romania) and Tchaikovsky (Russia). Mihaela Martin has been a member of the Kronberg Academy faculty since 2013. She plays a violin by J G Guadagnini that dates from 1748.
Gerardo Ribeiro (Portugal/United States)
Gerardo Ribeiro has appeared throughout the world as featured soloist with major orchestras, including the Philadelphia and Gulbenkian Orchestras, the Montreal, Dallas, Lucerne, Porto, Barcelona, Cali and Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestras, the Zagreb, Antwerp and Lisbon Philharmonics, the Taiwan, Beijing, Belgian and Portuguese National Orchestras, the Radio Orchestras of Paris (O.R.T.F.), Hilversum (Holland), North Germany (Hannover), and other leading ensembles. His numerous awards in prestigious international competitions such as the Paganini and Montreal, include first prizes at the Vianna da Motta in Lisbon and the Maria Canals in Barcelona. An active chamber musician, he was artistic director of the International Chamber Music Institute in Munich and has
and has performed at the Marlboro and Lucerne International Music Festivals. Beginning violin studies at age 4, Mr. Ribeiro went on to earn soloist diplomas with honors at both the Porto and Lucerne Conservatories, later attending The Julliard School where he studied with Ivan Galamian and Paul Makanovitzky. He has served on the Meadowmount School of Music faculty since 2004 and toured as a member of the Meadowmount Trio. Currently professor of violin at the Bienen School of Music, Northwestern University, he is also co-chair of the Department of Music Performance and Coordinator of Strings. Mr. Ribeiro is a sought after adjudicator for both national and international competitions and gives master classes at conservatories and universities worldwide. He has been decorated by the President of Portugal as Commander of the Order of Price Henry the Navigator. Mr. Ribeiro records for the EMI and RCA labels.
Barry Shiffman (Canada)
Barry Shiffman enjoys a diverse career as a performer, recording artist, teacher, and administrator. In 1989, he co-founded the St. Lawrence String Quartet (SLSQ). During his 17 years with the quartet he appeared in over 2,000 concerts in venues around the globe, and recorded exclusive contract with EMI Classics. and was on faculty at Stanford University. From 1998-2006 he was on faculty of Stanford University.
Since 2010, he has been Associate Dean and Director of Chamber Music at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), and directs the Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists.
Additionally he has been involved with The Banff Centre in Alberta since 2005 in various roles, currently serving as Executive Director of the Banff International String Quartet Competition and Festival.
Since 2018 he has been Artistic Director of Rockport Music in Rockport MA, overseeing all classical programming for the organization including the celebrated 5 week Rockport Chamber Music Festival.
A sought after juror, he has served on the jury of the Tchaikovsky and Montreal Violin Competitions, as well as London’s Wigmore Hall, Geneva, Banff, and Lyon String Quartet Competitions.
He makes his home in Toronto with his wife Robin, daughters Lily and Zoe and Rosie, their dog.
Kathleen Winkler (United States)
The artistry of Kathleen Winkler has earned her the plaudits of critics and audiences alike since her solo debut at the age of seventeen with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Ms. Winkler took first prize in the First International Carl Nielsen Violin Competition which led to sponsored debuts in Alice Tully Hall, London's Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room, and the Kennedy Center.
Selected by the United States Information Agency to represent the U.S. as an Artistic Ambassador, Ms. Winkler’s initial tour took her to Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, and New Zealand. Another extended tour took Ms.
Winkler to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria, and Kenya while a third tour traversed the continents of Australia and South America.
A devoted mentor to young musicians, Ms. Winkler is the recipient of Rice University's prestigious Julia Mile Chance Award for excellence in teaching. Her students can be found among the ranks of national and international competition winners as well as in the worlds leading orchestras and chamber ensembles. Additionally, her students have been the recipients of such awards as the Watson Fellowship, the Fulbright award, and the Pulitzer Prize in Music.
Formerly on the faculties of the Oberlin Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute of Music, Ms. Winkler has served as a Visiting Distinguished Professor at the Jacobs School of Music, the Thornton School of Music as well as the Middle School Attached to the Central Conservatory in Beijing. She currently holds the Dorothy Richard Starling Chair of Violin at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.