Jury members 2024

JURY MEMBERS OF INTERNATIONAL MUSIC COMPETITION OPUS 2024

MANUEL TEVAR – piano (SPAIN)

MARIUSZ SIELSKI – PIANO (POLAND)

IVAN PERNICKI – PIANO (CROATIA)

MILENA KĘDRA – piano (poland)

VARIN ARTVILAI – violin (THAILAND)

THANAPORN SATHIENWAREE – violin (THAILAND)

Sorin Alexandru Horlea – VIOlin (CYPRUS)

Doros Zisimos – CELLO (Cyprus)

ANA LIGIA MASTRUZZO – FLUTE (ARGENTINA)

Thanawan Thawatviboon – OBOE (THAILAND)

FAN WEI – CLARINET (CHINA)

NADIA SOFOKLEUS – CLARINET (CYPRUS)

EVAN LYNCH – CLARINET (USA)

WŁODZIMIERZ SPODYMEK – Saxophone (polanD)

SHMAVON GRIGORYAN – BASSOON (ARMENIA)

OSTAP POPOVyCh – TRUMPET (UKRAINE/poland)

Wu Hongyi – TRUMPET (CHINA)

LI DALI – TROMBONE (CHINA)

ZHANG YAN – ACCORDION (CHINA)

MARIOS NICOLAOU – PERCUSSION (CYPRUS)

Bartosz Sałdan – percussion (Poland)

FEDERICo Núñez  – GUITAR (argentina)

Žarko Ignjatović  – guitar (Croatia)

Elżbieta baklarz– HARP (poland)

BARBARA BOROWICZ – clarinet/artistic director (Poland)

 

Mariusz Sielski studied at the Academy of Music in Kraków with Ludwik Stefański, Ewa Bukojemska and Janusz Dolny (diploma with honours). He also studied for one year at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich. Mariusz Sielski participated in significant masterclasses, working under the tutelage of renowned instrumentalists such as Alexander Jenner, Rudolf Buchbinder, Eliane Richepin, Fausto Zadra. He performs as a soloist and chamber musician, giving concerts in Poland and abroad – in Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Russia, Slovakia, Great Britain and Italy. He has 3 CD recordings to his credit. As a professor and habilitated doctor of arts he teaches a class of piano at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow. Among his students there are laureates of piano competitions in Austria (Pörtschach), Spain (La Rioja), USA (Los Angeles), Italy (Castellana Grotte, Finale Ligure, Florence, Brescia, Sogliano al Rubicone), Estonia (Narva) and Poland (Szafarnia, Kielce, Kraków, Żagań, Warsaw, Busko-Zdrój). He gives seminars, courses and masterclasses and is invited as a member of the jury to piano competitions in Poland and Italy.

Milena Kędra Pianist, chamber musician and teacher. In 1999 Milena Kędra graduated with honours from the Cracow Music Academy in the piano class of professor Andrzej Pikul. In 1998 she completed an assistant traineeship in the Department of Contemporary Music of Music Academy in Cracow under the academic supervision of professor Adam Kaczyński.During her studies at the Krakow university, she worked in a chamber class under the guidance of prof. Maria Szmyd-Dormus, winning prizes and distinctions at chamber competitions with trio MK3. In 2001 she completed postgraduate studies in the class of Piotr Paleczny at Chopin Music University in Warsaw. Milena Kędra perfected her skills in solo and chamber music by taking part in numerous master classes and consultations led, among others, by: Halina Czerny-Stefańska, Jan Ekier, Kevin Kenner, Gerardo Vila, Jean-Paul Sevilla, Karl Heinz Kämmerling, Paul Badura-Skoda, Bernard Ringeissen, Elza Kolodin, Andriej Orłowiecki, Silesian String Quarter, Michael Strauss, Bernard Greenhause, Mark Lubotsky, Andrzej Tatarski i Marian Lapsansky. Milena Kędra has been an award winner of Polish and international piano and chamber music competitions. In 1997 Milena Kędra received the art scholarship of the Polish Minister of Art and Culture. She recorded for Polish Radio Opole, Radio Krakow, Krakow Television, BBC and NHK. She has been frequently invited to take part in festivals in Poland and abroad. She has given concerts in Poland, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Romania, Moldova, Slovenia, Austria and Portugal.  After graduation from Music Academy in Cracow, she began her pedagogical career as an research and teaching assistant in the Piano Department of Music Academy in Cracow. Since 2005 she has led the piano class in Chopin Music High School in Cracow. In May 2008 Milena Kędra received a degree of Doctor (PhD) of Art and a position of assistant professor at the Piano Department of Cracow Music Academy. Since 2008 she has led her own piano class at the Cracow Music Academy. Her students have been winners over 150 prizes at numerous Polish and international competitions. Milena Kędra also works as a piano competitions juror and conducts open classes and piano workshops for children and young pianists. From 2013 – 2019 she was the Head of the Inter-Faculty Piano Department at the Academy of Music in Krakow. In November 2013, together with dr hab. Barbara Łypik – Sobaniec, she founded the Małopolska Manufaktura Sztuki Association, which is the organizer of festivals – Music in Stare Balice, Hebdow Meetings with Art and the concert cycle “MOSTY” co-organized with the Academy of Music in Krakow. Since 2016, he has been the artistic director of the Summer Manufactory of Art in Niepołomice. In 2018 she obtained a postdoctoral degree. From 2019 she is the Head of the Piano Departament of Chopin State High School of Music in Cracow. She is the Artistic Director od the Cracow Young Pianist Festival. In 2020 she received the Award of the Minister of Culture and Art for outstanding achievements in didactic and artistic work, twice the individual award of the Director of the Centre for Artistic Education for a special contribution to the development of artistic education in Poland, and in 2022 she received the Merit for Polish Culture award.

 

 

Ana Ligia Mastruzzo Italian-Argentine flutist, she moved to Europe to carry out her academic studies. She trained in the French flute school with the Italian Maestro Luisa Sello at the Trieste Conservatory. There she obtained a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree with honors under her eminent guidance. In Vienna she trained in piccolo with Maestro Raphael Leone (Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Universität für Musik Wien).In Argentina obtained the Postgraduate Degree in Cultural Management and Cultural Policies from UNSAM and the Bachelor’s Degree in Traverse Flute from the National University of the Arts. Throughout her stay in Europe, she received a scholarship from the Italian Government to pursue her undergraduate and postgraduate academic careers, subsequently receiving an extraordinary scholarship from the same Government to develop her Master’s thesis in Austria. She also studied flute performance with the renowned teachers: Nils-Thilo Krämer (Universität für Musik Graz), Janos Balint (Hungary – Franz Liszt Conservatory), Trevor Wye (London), Roberto Fabbricciani (Italy), at the Salzburg Academie, Academia of Imola, Tibor Varga Festival (Sion, Switzerland), Allegro Vivo Festival (Horn, Austria), among others. Participated in “Sócrates-Erasmus” Programm, studying Chamber music with:  Prof. Johannes Jess Kropfitsch (Prof. University of Music Vienna), Prof. Michael Flaksman (Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts) , Prof. Nils-Thilo Krämer (University of Music and Performing Arts Graz), Prof. Raphael Leone (University of Music Vienna), Prof. Christian Schweiker, Prof. Jun-Jung-Schweiker (University of Music and Performing Arts Cologne), Domenico Nordio, Simonide Branconi, Luca Simoncini (Quartetto Scala di Milano).Her interest in the production and diffusion of Contemporary Music led her to devise her interventions as a soloist and manager at the Contemporary Music and Art Festival “Stazione di Topolò/ Postaja Topolove” (Udine, Italy): Tiempoespacio/Topoló, Triptych for flute alone (2006), Arrivals and departures, the Sequences of Luciano Berio in the Station (2007), Words in the wind (2008). She is dedicated to disseminating contemporary music for flute in Argentina (Teatro Nacional Cervantes, Teatro Colón, National Music Center) and abroad with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship of Argentina, she carries contemporary Argentine music for flute to different festivals and international meetings in Italy, Chile, Austria, Slovenia, USA, México. She works in intense collaboration with composers in the development of new music that redefines her instrument by premiering new works dedicated to her. She plays in duo with the guitarist and composer Federico Núñez promoting Argentine music for flute and guitar around the world with the support of the Argentine Foreign Ministry. In 2023 they were selected for the “Argentine Culture to the World ” program to tour in Mexico and in 2022 they went on a concert tour of Italy and Spain. She will soon promote her first solo album for flute alone with the support of Editorial Cayambis Music Press (USA) with the complete works for flute, recitation and Mesoamerican flutes by Federico Núñez.She currently lives in Buenos Aires. She was Traverse Flute teacher at the “Isaías Orbe” Provincial Conservatory of Tandil. She has given master classes in transverse flute and extended techniques at the University of Chile, University of San Juan, at UNSAM (National University of San Martín) for the postgraduate course “Expanded Music”, Universidade Estadual Paulista UNESP (São Paulo, Brazil), Ramón Noble Festival of Mexico. She published her essay “Sequenza I by Luciano Berio: The semiotic role of the performer in the open work” for the Magazine of the Spanish Flute Association in 2019. In the same year, the Contemporary Music Diploma of the Manuel de Falla Conservatory organized the “Composition Concourse MEI-MASTRUZZO” of miniatures for bass flutes alone or with electronics. In 2023 published the article “Mesoamerican sound heritage in current Argentine flute music” for the University of Ljubljana.She is a professor at the “Manuel de Falla” Conservatory of Music where she coordinates the Department of Diffusion, Academic Extension and International Relations and serves as Regent.

 

Thanawan Thawatviboon is a Thai oboist and an oboe teacher. She started studying oboe at the age of fifteen with Shigeki Sasaki and Chawatchai Vichaidit. She furthered her education in oboe during her upper secondary years at The Pre-College Program at the College of Music, Mahidol University in Thailand, under the guidance of Dr. Amy Galbraith Ogburn.  In 2013, Thanawan went on to study with Chanannat Meenanan at the Rangsit University Conservatory of Music and completed her Bachelor’s degree in Instrumental Performance with full scholarship in 2016. Subsequently, she was awarded a partial scholarship and successfully earned her Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Rangsit University in 2018. Throughout her university years, she won the prizes at the Music Conservatory’s Solo Performance competition for three consecutive years in 2015 – 2017 and she performed as a soloist with the University Symphony Orchestra in the Evening with Concertos concert. Additionally, she was invited by the Thammasat University Symphony Orchestra as guest soloist in 2015. As a performer, Thanawan served as a member of Siam Sinfonietta, participating in prestigious music festivals such as the Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin (2013), the Festival Junger Künstler Bayreuth in Germany (2015), and the Sound of Spring music festival at Carnegie Hall, New York City, the United States (2016). In 2017, she also joined a competition with an orchestra and secured first place in the 11th Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival Vienna 2017, Austria. In 2023, Thanawan played as a soloist with the Bangkok Philharmonic Society and Open Box Charity Orchestra. So far she has appeared in many orchestras in Thailand, such as Thai National Symphony Orchestra, Siam Philharmonic Orchestra, Princess Galyani Vadhana Youth Orchestra, etc. Embracing a spirit of community, Thanawan co-founded Oboe’r, an oboe and English horn ensemble, and the Thailand Double Reed Society. She also played a pivotal role as the Volunteer Coordinator in the 52nd annual conference of the International Double Reed Society, held at the College of Music, Mahidol University in Thailand. Since 2021, Thanawan has been dedicated to nurturing the next generation of musicians by serving as an oboe tutor for the Thai Youth Winds.

Wu Hongyi trumpet, associate Professor and Master’s Supervisor at Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Vice President of the China Trumpet Federation, Deputy Director of the Wind Music Professional Committee of the Shanghai Music Association, President of the Shanghai Trumpet Research Association, Honorary President of the Guizhou Trumpet Society, and External Professor at the School of Music of Suzhou University.

 

 

 

 

 

Li Dali trombone performer, educator, director of China Wind Musicians Association, associate professor of trombone of Shanghai Conservatory of music, director of wind music discipline of Affiliated Middle School of Shanghai Conservatory of music, President of Shanghai bass brass Research Association, visiting trombone professor of Jilin art college. He graduated from Shanghai Conservatory of music in 1989 and studied in Munich Conservatory of music in 1998 (senior visiting scholar). International brand Michael rath and Giddings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zhang Yan accordion performer, associate professor of accordion in the Department of Modern Instrumental and Percussion at Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In recent years, he has visited various European countries multiple times and appeared on major stages such as the Berlin Royal Concert Hall. The performed works have been included in the Excellent Works and Performance Collection Records of Shanghai Conservatory of Music. I have been invited multiple times to serve as a judge for domestic and international competitions, and my students have won awards in various international and domestic solo and ensemble competitions. Has won the He Luting Foundation Teacher Award from Shanghai Conservatory of Music for five consecutive years. The research topic has been approved in scientific research projects at all levels and was selected for the first “Music Talent Generation” program of Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2015; In 2016, he was selected for the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission’s “Shanghai University Young and Middle aged Teachers Overseas Visiting Study Program” to visit the Rachmaninov National Conservatory of Music in Russia, where he studied under the world-renowned accordion performer Professor Yuri Hishkin; In 2017, won the third prize in the Third Youth Teacher Teaching Competition of Shanghai Conservatory of Music; Selected as an “Excellent Teacher” at Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2018; Received project funding from the Shanghai Cultural Development Foundation in 2019; In the same year, as the main creator, the National Art Fund’s dissemination, exchange, and promotion project “Tour of Chinese and Foreign Classic Accord Works” was successfully held in multiple cities across the country; The accordion course I served was awarded the “Demonstration Course” for the ideological and political reform of the curriculum at Shanghai Conservatory of Music in 2020.

Marios Nicolaou, percussion, has been carving a long and interesting career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. He is the principal Timpanist of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra. He has also been a Timpanist with the Ballet Orchestra of the National Greek Opera and has collaborated with the Athens State Orchestra, the National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Athens Camerata, Gürzenich-Orchester Kölner Philharmoniker and Stadtsorchester Hannover among others. As a chamber musician, Marios has collaborated with a number of renowned composers, conductors and ensembles including: H. Lachenmann, P. Eötvös, F. Ollu, D. Bouliane, K. de Roo, Th. Antoniou, Ensemble Nue Music Köln, the Greek Composers’ Union Ensemble, Ensemble dissonArt and the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble. He has participated in international festivals such as Klangspuren, Pierre Boulez zum ’75, Klavier Festival Ruhr, Minimal Music Kassel, Athens and Epidaurus Festival. He is the founder of the Cyprus Percussion Group, and co-founder of the Ergon Ensemble (Athens) and the Cronos Ensemble. Notable performances as a soloist include the Concertino for Timpani Percussion and Strings by A. Panufnik, the “Concerto pour batterie et petit orchestre” by  D. Milhaud, Characteristic Piece “Nocturnal Amusement” for Xylophone and Orchestra by N. Skalkotas, the Partita for 6 Timpani and Orchestra by G. Druschetzky and the  Concerto for Percussion and String Orchestra by V. Nicolaou. Born in Limassol, Marios Nicolaou studied percussion at the Athens Conservatory with D. Marinakis and at the Hochschule für Musik Köln with C. Caskel and C. Tarcha. He has been a holder of  “Alexandra Trianti” scholarship of The Friends of Music Society in Athens Megaron. Currently, Marios Nicolaou teaches percussion at Arte Music Academy as well as at the Cyprus Youth Symphony Orchestra Academy. He is a Marimba One and JG mallets artist.

Bartosz Sałdan earned a PhD degree with distinction from the Academy of Music in Kraków, where he studied percussion with Prof. Jan Pilch. He debuted as a soloist with the Orchestra of the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Kraków, he also performed with Hungarian orchestra Musica Sonora, Sinfonia Varsovia, Sinfonietta Cracovia, Opole Philharmonic, Regent Brass London, etc. As a contemporary music performer, he attended prestigious workshops during the 47th International Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt along with concerts during the International Festival of Contemporary Music Warsaw Autumn, the Brand New Music Festival in Katowice, Poznan Musical Spring Festival, Sacrum Profanum, Unsound Festival and other. He cooperated with many composers, preparing pieces by Helmut Lachenmann (Trio Fluido), Agata Zubel (Percussion Store concerto), Cezary Duchnowski (Partiels), Ewa Fabiańska-Jelińska (The Soul of Seul and Reflexion). Bartosz Sałdan create duo with clarinetist Barbara Borowicz, which perform many new pieces for clarinet and percussion by composers like Marcel Chyrzyński or Martyna Kosecka. He is active orchestral musician, as percussionist and timpanist he works with many orchestras, including the Sinfonietta Cracovia, Beethoven Academy Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia and many other. He received „Young Poland” scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Federico Núñez argentinian composer and guitarist. He works as a professor of composition and guitar in the Department of Musical and Sound Arts of the National University of the Arts (Argentina) and a categorized researcher. He is also a professor of composition and guitar at the “Manuel de Falla” Conservatory of Music (Argentina) and a guitar professor at the D’addario Academy. Federico Núñez has presented works, performed concerts and master classes at numerous meetings and festivals in the USA, Latin America, Europe and Japan such as Composers Now (USA); XXXV “Manuel Enríquez” International Forum of New Music and the “Ramón Noble” International Guitar Festival (Mexico); International Guitar Festival “Caroso”; Mediterranean Guitar Festival (Spain), V Tokyo Tower Arts Festival (Japan) among others. He won prizes, scholarships and carried out artistic residences where the following stand out: the prestigious Municipal Composition Prize granted by the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (Argentina); 1st Prize for composition “Juan Carlos Paz” from the National Endowment for the Arts (Argentina); Prize IX National Composition Contest “Eduardo Alemann” Ars Nobilis (Argentina);The Fifth Annual Counterpoint International Competition (Italy); Melos Gandini scholarship (Argentina); Residence for creators from Latin America and Haiti in Mexico (National Fund for Culture and Arts (FONCA-CONACULTA) and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) among others. As a composer, his catalog of works is made up of works for orchestra; stage music; performing arts; band; chamber music; a cappella choir; voice and ensemble; electronic music; mixed music; music for image; solo instrument and didactic music. His music is published by Editorial Cayambis Music Press (Latin- American sheet music), USA.

Žarko Ignjatović guitarist graduated from the Academy of Music in Zagreb (Croatia) under prof. Darko Petrinjak in 1983 and from the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Graz (Austria) in the class of prof. Marga Bäuml-Klasinc in 1987. He completed his postgraduate studies at the Salzburg Mozarteum under prof. Eliot Fisk in 1995. He attended numerous master classes all around the world (held by Julian Bream, John Williams, Assad Brothers, etc.) and won many prizes at national competitions. He has been living in Ljubljana since 1984 and teaches at the Faculty of Education in Maribor (Slovenia). As a performer, Ignjatović is active both as a soloist as well as a member of various chamber groups. His first solo recording with compositions by Weiss, Piazzolla, Tippett, Bogdanović and Rojko was published in 1998, whereas the second one, Hic et Nunc, with contemporary Slovene music in 2001. He also appeared on Cveto Kobal’s CD 20^th Century Flute Music,published in 2003. Together with Jerko Novak, he released two recordings of guitar duos(2005 and 2013), with cellist Nebojša Bugarski a CD Southwest Meets Southeast in 2010, with mezzosoprano Barbara Jernejčič Fürst a digital album in 2020 and, and, most recently, in 2022 CD Dialogue with clarinetist Slavko Kovačič. Many years is active as jury member on national and international guitar competitions (TEMSIG, Slovenia, Guitar art festival, Beograd, Serbia, Distant chords, Split, Croatia, Mörski festival, Murska Sobota, Slovenia, Sarajevo International Guitar Festival, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moscow International Festival of Slavic Music, Russia, Szeged International Guitar Festival, Hungary etc.).

Elżbieta Baklarz, harp, Principal Harp of Krakow Opera and harpist of Sinfonietta Cracovia. In 2001 she obtained her master’s degree with honors in performance at the Academy of Music in Cracow, where she studied harp. She has guest appearances with the following ensembles: Sinfonietta Cracovia, Amadeus, Silesian Opera, Sinfonia Varsovia, Sinfonia Iuventus, The National Philharmonic, The National Theater, various Polish Philharmonics as well as the K&K Philharmoniker, Alvarez Chamber Orchestra, Filharmonie Bohuslava Martinu, Slovak Sinfonietta and Orquestra do Norte. EB  took part in many performances of symphonic, oratorial and chamber works. Many of them have been composed with her being leading performer in mind: B. Scheaffer – Concerto for the harp, Sonata for the violin and the harp, Fur Elise for violin and harp, M. Negrey – Vitis Mistica, A. Walacinski – Hieroglif, M. Ptaszynska – Euridice’s Dream, M. Mengjiqi – Quae mane oramus, T. Pehlken – Drei Gesanges, Sz. Tesarowicz- Tchnienie milosci, Cantate for   soprano, harp and children choir. EB worked with Center for Theatre Practises ” Gardzienice”. Along with solo recitals, she was also a soloist in several chamber music orchestras including Concerto Lamelli, George Telemann’s Orchestra, Sinfonietta and Forum Sinfonia. EB worked with: Placido Domingo, Thomas Hampson, Ute Lemper, Maxim Vengerov, Jon Lord, Joe Hisaishi, Alena Baeva, Tan Dun, Cinematic Orchestra, Kevin Kenner, Vadim Brodski, Małgorzata Walewska, Elżbieta Towarnicka, Vittorio Griogolo, Gheorghe  Zamfir, Pieter Wispelwey, Radovan Vlatkovic, Thomas Bauer  and many other.
EB took part in auditions and live broadcasts, performing with distinguished conductors (L.Maazel, M. Minkowski, K.Penderecki, H.Riling, J.Maksymiuk, L.Wicki, L.Livingstone, E. Kohn, J.Axelrod, G.Chmura, A. Wit, K.Kord, J.Krentz,etc.) and recording for many Polish TV and radio stations.She was also active in the Internationale Bach Akademie and the Internationale Junge Orchester Akademie. Elzbieta Baklarz plays Salvi and Horngacher harps.