Jury members

Highly acclaimed for her unique style, stunning virtuosity, colorful tone, charismatic stage presence, and described as a “ major, major , major talent…potential superstar” by Musical America Magazine, sensational pianist Nareh Arghamanyan has shaken the music world and aroused excitement and admiration from concert presenters, conductors, critics and audiences all over the globe. Laureate of more than 18 international competitions including Gina Bachauer in USA, Herbert von Karajan in Vienna, Piano Campus in France, Jose Roca in Spain, Chopin Piano competition, Nareh’s major breakthrough ca...

Cordelia Höfer was born in Munich. She started her piano lessons with Anna Stadler and completed her studies in piano at the conservato­ries in Salzburg (Hans Leygraf) and Munich (Klaus Schilde) with highest honors. In Salzburg she also studied conducting (Gerhard Wimberger) and chamber music. She acquired further valuable inspiration from Wilhelm Kempff, Sandor Vegh, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Tatjana Nikolajewa and Elisabeth Leonskaja. Her extensive concert experi­ence involving solo appearances with renowned orchestras took her to many countries in Europe, to the USA and to Japan. She has ap...

Boris Perrenoud, was born in Switzerland in 1966. Son of composer Jean-Frédéric Perrenoud, he began at the age of 6 to study the violin and gave his first concerts as soloist in Switzerland and abroad at the age of 10. He conducted his first concert at the age of 14 and he was chosen at age 17, to conduct the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Salzburg. At 19, he received his diploma of professional capacity in violin and music theory at the Neuchâtelois Conservatory. He continued his studies in the conducting class at the Konservatorium der Stadt Wien, Privat Universität (Austria) and obtains his d...

Critically acclaimed as ‘...one of the greatest Interpreter of J.S. Bach´s work of his generation’, Pianist Stepan Simonian was born in 1981, studied at Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory under Pavel Nersessian and pursued his studies with the famous Pianist, Evgeni Koroliov, at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. It was through this linage of well cultured tradition of piano school, that shaped Simonian’s musical taste and passion for the works from Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Beethoven, Bach and Mozart. He was the recipient of the Silver Medal at one of the oldest and most prestigio...

Daria Tschaikowskaja was born in Moscow. Coming from a musical family, she started playing piano at the age of six and enrolled in the Gnessin-Music-College for gifted children the following year. In 1993 Daria made her debut concert with orchestra and enrolled in the Conservatory of Lubeck, Germany as a young student. In the same year she won the German Youth Musicians Competition, repeating the success in 1996 and 1999 in both junior and senior categories. In 1996 Daria won the 1st prize at the Int. Steinway Competition in Hamburg. 1998 she became a student of Professor Wladimir Krajne...