Competition schedule

Attention!
Arrival in St. Petersburg no earlier than October 10, since the hotel is booked from
October 10 to 17! If you arrive earlier, the hotel will be paid for at your expense!

Jury

Chairman of the jury - Alexander Knyazev

Russia
People's Artist of the Russian Federation
Lecturer at the Department of Cello and Double Bass
Moscow State Conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky

Alexander Knyazev is one of the most charismatic musicians of his generation. He is adept at performing in three roles: cellist, organist and pianist.
Mr Knyazev was born in Moscow and graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, where he studied the violoncello under Professor A.K. Fedorchenko, and the Nizhny Novgorod Conservatory, where he studied piano under Professor G. I. Kozlova. He gained international recognition, winning awards at prestigious competitions, including the P. I. Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the UNISA Competition in South Africa, and the Gaspar Cassado Competition in Florence.
He has performed as a soloist with a number of the world's leading orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic and the BBC Orchestra (UK), the orchestras of the Bavarian Radio and Radio Bucharest, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Orchestra of France, the Orchestra of Paris, the Tokyo Symphony and NHK, the Vienna, Gothenburg, Luxembourg, Irish Symphony Orchestras, the Residence Orchestra of The Hague, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, E.F. Svetlanov State Orchestra of Russia, P.I. Tchaikovsky Grand Symphony Orchestra, symphony orchestras of the Moscow and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, Russian National Orchestra, Moscow Virtuosi Orchestra and the ensemble "Soloists of Moscow".
He has collaborated with eminent conductors and soloists, including Kurt Masur, Charles Duthoit, Evgeny Svetlanov, Yuri Temirkanov, NeemeJärvi, PaavoJärvi, Vladimir Fedoseev, Mikhail Pletnev, Yuri Bashmet, Vladimir Spivakov, Alexander Vedernikov, Pinchas Steinberg, Jean Guillou, Victor Tretyakov, Vladimir Spivakov, Vadim Repin, Sergei Krylov, Christophe Baratie, Augustin Dumais, Alena Baeva, Nikita Borisoglebsky, EvgenyKisin, Boris Berezovsky, Nikolai Lugansky, Denis Matsuev, Valery Afanasyev, Mikhail Voskresensky, Konstantin Lifshits, Elizaveta Leonskaya, PlamenaMangova, Katya Skanavi.
Alexander Knyazev has performed regularly as part of a trio with Boris Berezovsky and Dmitry Makhtin, and in recent years with Nikolai Lugansky and Vadim Repin. Alexander Knyazev's concerts are successfully held in the world's most prestigious concert halls. Mr. Knyazev has performed at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Parisian Salle Pleyel, the Theater on the Champs Elysees, the Palace of Fine Arts in Brussels, London's Wigmore Hall and Royal Festival Hall, the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus, the Rudolfinum halls in Prague, the Auditorium in Milan, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, as well as in the best concert halls of Australia, Brazil, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Korea, Portugal, USA, Finland, Sweden, South Africa and many other countries.
He took part in numerous international festivals, including “December Evenings” and “Cherry Forest” in Moscow, “Arts Square” in St. Petersburg, the French Radio Festival in Montpellier, “Crazy Days” in Nantes, the Salzburg Festival, “Prague Autumn” , “Elba - the musical island of Europe”, named after Enescu in Bucharest, festivals in Saint-Denis, La Roque d'Antheron, Gstaad, Verbier, Vilnius, Bratislava, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro.
Teaches cello at the Moscow State Conservatory named after P. I. Tchaikovsky. He regularly conducted master classes in France, Germany, Spain, South Korea, and the Philippines.
He was invited to join the jury of the II International Youth Competition named after P. I. Tchaikovsky in Japan, XI and XII, XV International Competitions named after P. I. Tchaikovsky in Moscow.
As an organist, Alexander Knyazev performs extensively and successfully in Russia and abroad, performing solo programs and works for organ and orchestra. Bach's music occupies a significant place in his organ repertoire. He repeatedly performed in concerts with the famous French organist and composer Jean Guillou, and also recorded Guillu’s Concert Fantasy for cello and organ, dedicated to him.
In 2012, he headed the jury of the First All-Russian Music Competition in the specialty “organ” in Kaliningrad.
In 2015, he performed in Moscow for the first time as a pianist. On the stage of the S. V. Rachmaninov Hall “Philharmonic-2” he played Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 13 accompanied by the State Academic Chamber Orchestra of Russia conducted by Alexei Utkin. Since then, he has performed repeatedly as a pianist, including with the Tchaikovsky Grand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Fedoseev, the Moscow Conservatory Students Symphony Orchestra conducted by Anatoly Levin, and the Moscow State Academic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pavel Kogan.
The musician's discography includes about 40 discs. Alexander Knyazev's recordings take pride of place in expert ratings and have been awarded prestigious awards: the German Echo Klassik Prize, the French Diapason d'Or, and the British Gramophone Prize.

Artistic director of the competition and member of the jury - Anna Makarova

Russia
Honored Artist of the Russian Federation
Soloist of the Honored Ensemble of Russia Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic
Professor of the department of cello, double bass, harp and quartet of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov

She studied harp playing with Irina Viktorovna Shipulina at the Secondary Special Music School of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. She graduated from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov in the class of Professor AsyaVarosyan. In 1994 she won the prestigious International Harp Competition in Israel.
From 1993 to the present, she has been a soloist of the renowned Honored Ensemble of Russia, the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic.
As a soloist, she regularly took part in international festivals in Russia, Europe, the USA, Latin America, and China.  
Over the years, she gave solo concerts in the Moscow Kremlin, the Colon Theater (Buenos Aires), the Concertgibau (Amsterdam), the Audience Hall of Paul VI in the Vatican, the Finnish government residence in Michele, and the Konserthuset Concert Hall in Stockholm.
As a soloist, she collaborated with famous conductors, including Nikolai Alekseev, Alexander Dmitriev, Mendy Rodan, Leo Kremer, Vasily Petrenko, Dimitris Botinis, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Pedro Halfter, Fletcher Wolf, Fabio Mastrangelo and others.
She has performed in ensembles with many famous musicians, including Orel Nicolet, Marina Vorozhtsova, Alexander Knyazev, Melba Joyce, Michelle Tirabosco, Wayne Escoffery, Dmitry Makhtin, Ilya Ioff.
Since 2002 he has been teaching at the St. Petersburg Conservatory (professor since 2020). Among the graduates of her class are laureates of prestigious international and all-Russian competitions - soloists of the Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky theaters, and many leading symphony orchestras in Russia. (SofyaKiprskaya, ArtemyIzmailov, Tatyana Repnikova, etc.)
In 2009, Anna Makarova organized and for the first time held the international competition-festival “Golden Harp”.
Currently he is the artistic director of the Shipulina Golden Harp competition.
Anna Makarova is well known as a talented artist. Works are exhibited in museums, famous art galleries, and participate in charity events and auctions. Personal exhibitions of Makarova’s paintings have been held since 2016.
Particularly noteworthy are the author's musical projects using the artistic works of Anna Makarova: “The Dream of a Funny Man”, “Cherubina de Gabriak”, taking place at various concert venues.

Alexandra Verbitskaya

Slovenia
Soloist of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra

Alexandra Verbitskaya began studying harp at the Secondary Special Music School of the St. Petersburg Conservatory under the direction of Irina Viktorovna Shipulina, then graduated from the St. Petersburg State Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov in the harp class with Tatyana Tower. Then she studied at prestigious music colleges in the USA, Germany, the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (Belgium), Mozarteum (Austria) and at the Higher School of Music in Munich.
With the assistance of the choreographed conductor Zubin, Mehta received a harp as a gift from the sponsor of the most famous orchestras in the world, Countess Yoko NagaeCheskina. 
Laureate of international competitions in Austria, Belgium, Italy. The international festival "Musical Olympus" awarded Alexandra Verbitskaya a special prize after her performance in the Berlin Philharmonic hall.
She is a soloist of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. Conducts active concert activities. She has performed solo programs at numerous international festivals, including LucerneFestival (Switzerland), Musical Olympus (Russia), Kronberg Festival (Germany), Tanglewood Festival (USA) and Ljubljana Festival (Slovenia). 
She dedicated her solo concert at the Ljubljana Festival in 2022 to the memory of Countess Yoko NagaeCeskine, a philanthropist and harpist.
In 2023, she was awarded the title of Honored Artist for her musical achievements in Slovenia. 
Regularly conducts master classes, including at the Secondary School of Music of the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

Anna Verkholantseva

Austria
Soloist of the Vienna RSO Orchestra

She graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in the harp class with People's Artist of the USSR, Professor Vera Dulova.
Soloist of the Vienna RSO, winner of the International Harp Competition in Moscow, where, as first prize winner, she was awarded a concert harp donated by Lyon & Healy.
She has worked as a soloist with the Moscow State Cinematography Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Philharmonic and the City Theater Orchestra in Bielefeld, Germany.
She performed at the first concerts of the World Harp Congresses: in Prague in 1999, in Geneva in 2002, in Dublin in 2005.
Presented the world premieres of the Suite for violin and harp by Thomas Rajna and the Sonata for harp and violin, the Concerto for two harps and the Sonata for viola and harp by Valery Kikta - works not written specifically for Victor Salvi.
She has collaborated with famous musicians, including Alexander Vedernikov, Yuri Bashmet, Pavel Karmanov, Dmitry Makhtin, Alexander Trostyansky, Maria Fedotova and others.
She takes part in the work of the jury of various prestigious international harp competitions, including being invited to the Jury of the Golden Harp Competition in 2011.

Dmitry Makhtin

Netherlands

Born in Leningrad in 1975. He began studying music at the age of 4 under the guidance of his parents, and graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory in violin class.
In 1992 he moved to the Netherlands, where he continued his musical education under the guidance of Philip Hirschhorn, Hermann Krebbers and Eduard Schmieder.
At the age of fifteen, the virtuoso made his debut with solo concerts in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas. Since then, he has collaborated with famous orchestras and conductors in France, the Netherlands, Germany, the USA, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Russia. In 1997 he performed in Paris with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Russian Federation under the baton of Evgeniy Svetlanov, and in 1998 in the USA with the Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin.
Laureate of prestigious international competitions, including Closter Chantal, Niccolo Paganini, Louis Spohr, Tibor Varga, and the University of South Africa International Violin Competition (UNISA) in Pretoria.
Participant of numerous international festivals.
Concerts in the best halls in the world: the Center of Fine Arts in Brussels, the Lincoln Center in New York, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Tivoli Fredenburg in Utrecht, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, the Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and others.
Performs in an ensemble with PlamenaMangova, Andrei Korobeinikov, Boris Berezovsky, Alexander Knyazev, Alexey Ogrinchuk, Miguel Da Silva and Renaud Capuçon.
He has collaborated with outstanding conductors, including Leonard Slatkin, James De Preist, SakariOramo, Alexander Dmitriev, Jiri Beloglavek, Jerzy Semkov, Yuri Temirkanov, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Alexander Vedernikov, Evgeniy Svetlanov, Alexander Sladkovsky, Robert Trevino and Paolo Arrivabeni.
Recorded at Warner Classics, together with Boris Berezovsky and Alexander Knyazev, a CD with Shostakovich's Trio No. 2 and Rachmaninoff's Elegiac Trio No. 2, which received Choc de la Musique, Gramophone and Echo Classic Awards, as well as an album dedicated to the Mendelssohn Trio, Honored by the Echo Classic Awards.
In addition, with the same two partners he recorded a CD with the works of Tchaikovsky, which was released on ARTE and NHK and awarded the prestigious French proverb Diapason d'Or.
Sonatas and partitas for solo violin by Johann Sebastian Bach performed by the musician were released on the Lontano Records label. 
Dmitry Makhtin plays a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin from 1863.

Mariel Nordmann

France

Mariel Nordman is an outstanding harpist who graduated from the Paris Conservatoire with the legendary Lily Laskin. She has performed in the best halls in the world, and is the creator of her own original project, which combines various types of art. 
He regularly conducts master classes and organizes competitions in France and abroad. She created a charitable foundation to help young musicians. 
From 1989 to 1999 she taught in Argentina.
She is a co-founder of the Lily Laskin International Harp Competition and has repeatedly been chairman and jury member of many prestigious international harp competitions.
He has an extensive discography, including a duet with the outstanding flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal. Winner of many French government awards, author of the book “Lily Laskin”.
She has been a guest soloist with famous orchestras: London Symphony Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Salzburg Mozarteum, I SolistiVeneti, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Les Solistes de Paris Orchestra, etc.

Maria Fedotova

Russia
Honored Artist of the Russian Federation
Soloist of the Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra

Associate Professor of the Department of Woodwind Instruments of the St. Petersburg Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov
She began studying music at the age of five, and from the age of eight she performed in solo concerts accompanied by the Mariinsky Theater Chamber Orchestra and in a duet with her father, flutist Vladimir Fedotov.
In 1996, she graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, studying flute with Professor Alexandra Vavilina, a soloist of the legendary Mravinsky Orchestra.
In 1991, she became a soloist with the Tchaikovsky Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Fedoseev, successfully combining work in the orchestra with a solo career.
From 2012 to the present - soloist of the Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra. As part of the orchestra, he performs solo parts in opera and ballet performances, and performs with solo and ensemble programs in the chamber halls of the theater.
Participant in international festivals in Basel (Les muséiques), St. Moritz (Snow and Symphony), Paris (Bach et la transcription), Brussels (Europalya), Salzburg, Verbier, Bregenz, Gstaad, Elmau and other European cities.
She performed solo programs at the Musikverein (Vienna), the City of Music and the Champs-Elysees Theater (Paris), and the Musikhalle (Hamburg).
In Russia, her performances took place at the festivals “December Evenings of Svyatoslav Richter”, “Palaces of St. Petersburg”, “Crescendo”, at the Moscow Easter Festival, in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and the State Chapel of St. Petersburg.
She has played as a guest soloist with the World Peace Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta. 
At various times she collaborated with a number of outstanding conductors, including Vladimir Fedoseev, Yuri Temirkanov, Teodor Currentzis, Vladimir Jurowski, Justus Frantz, Alexander Titov, Roman Kofman, Arnold Katz, Saulius Sondeckis, Alim Shakhmametyev, Johannes Wildner, Ivor Bolton.
In ensemble programs she performed together with Gidon Kremer, Tatyana Grindenko, Yuri Bashmet, Alexander Rudin, Alexander Knyazev, Maurice Burg, Dmitry Illarionov, Naoko Yoshino, Mikhala Petri.
Maria Fedotova's repertoire spans four centuries of music from the Baroque era to contemporary compositions. For the first time in Russia, she performed flute works by Christopher Rose, Ned Rorem, Leonard Bernstein, Toru Takemitsu, Boris Tishchenko, Vladimir Martynov, Gia Kancheli, Elliot Carter, Roland Freisitzer, Thomas Heinisch, Thomas Maier, Vera Janarchekova, Pavel Karmanov, Krzysztof Zgrai ,Arvydas Maltsis, Igor Vdovin and other modern composers. 
In addition to the modern flute, she can perform authentically and has collaborated with the ancient music ensembles “ArsConsoni” and the “Academy of Ancient Music”. Maria Fedotova's recordings have been released on CDs.
Maria Fedotova provides support to young talented musicians and conducts master classes in Russia (as part of the River of Talents and Sirius projects) and abroad. Currently teaches at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

Jason Chang

People's Republic of China
Professor at Shanghai Conservatory and Middle School of Music
Shanghai Conservatory
Professor at Soochow University

Began learning to play the harp under the guidance of his mother PeisueGan, who was the first harp player of the China National Symphony Orchestra
He received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music under the direction of Jianming Hu and a Master of Music degree from the University of Arizona under the direction of Dr. Carol McLaughlin.
He has taught master classes at the Curtis Institute of Music, Temple University, San Francisco Conservatory, University of Arizona, St. Petersburg Conservatory, and conservatories in China.
Since moving to Shanghai in 2002, his students have won prizes in international and national competitions in Israel, France, Japan, USA, Russia, Serbia, Korea, Mainland China and Hong Kong. 
In 2011, he was awarded the “Best Professor” award from the city of Shanghai.
He served on the jury of the International Harp Competition in the USA, the Lily Laskin International Harp Competition, the International Harp Competition in St. Petersburg, and the International Harp Competition in Lille. 
He served on the host committee of the 2017 World Harp Congress in Hong Kong and was music director of the 2014 Shanghai International Harp Festival.

Lev Vinocour

Germany

Born in Leningrad into a family of musicians, at the age of six he was admitted to the Special School at the Leningrad Conservatory in the Special Piano class of V.Ya. Kunde. After graduating from school, he continued his education at the Moscow Conservatory with Professor L.N. Vlasenko. Having already become a laureate of a number of prestigious international competitions, Lev Vinokur has distinguished himself in the UK, USA and Italy. The prize won at the Clara Schumann Competition in Düsseldorf in 1994 led to his move to this German city.
Lev Vinokur is a regular participant in countless music festivals and performs as a soloist in the best halls in the world. He performed Beethoven's third piano concerto with the Cologne Radio Orchestra conducted by Semyon Bychkov in the largest hall in the world - in Sao Paulo.
The encyclopedia “Great Pianists of Our Time” (“Die großen Pianisten der Gegenwart”), published in Berlin in 2009, called Lev Vinokur an “intellectual virtuoso.” Although seemingly paradoxical at first glance, this epithet actually precisely defines the unique combination of comprehensive knowledge with magnificent virtuoso freedom and depth of reading. Vinokur is able to “discover something new in what is already known,” he has “philosophical curiosity and the ability to embody the deep, hidden meaning of works in musical speech accessible to everyone.” It is this quality of Lev Vinokur’s piano skill, his persuasiveness, that allows the artist to win the hearts and minds of listeners with his unusual programs.
In 2010, on the occasion of Schumann's 200th anniversary, Sony/RCA Red Seal published Schumann's complete works for piano and orchestra (10 works) performed by Lev Vinokur and the Vienna Radio and Television Orchestra, which was immediately recognized as a significant event in cultural life Austria and all of Europe.
Since 2011, Lev Vinokur has been actively collaborating with television and film studios. After the film “Franz Liszt. The Last Years" (ZDF Germany / ORF Austria), in which he played the main role, was followed by the television series "Sonata for Two" (3sat / SRF Switzerland), dedicated to the serious and funny aspects of the life and work of such masters as Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin and Wagner .
In 2012, the famous Swiss documentary filmmaker Beat Kürt released a film dedicated to the life and work of Lev Vinokur himself, and on October 29, 2017, the film “Songs of Luther” was released, in which the pianist performed in a new role: in addition to historical keyboard instruments, he performed a number of musical works of the great German reformer on the lute.