ADJUDICATORS

PIANO ADJUDICATOR ANNA TSYBULEVA

Anna shot into the international spotlight in 2015 when she was crowned the First Prize winner of the Leeds International Piano Competition.

She has performed with numerous prestigious orchestras around the world such as the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal, and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. In recital, Anna has appeared on some of the greatest international stages, including the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Tonhalle Zürich, and Wigmore Hall. She has also been a concerto soloist with the Mariinsky Theatre, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Singapore Symphony, and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.

Anna has a strong presence in Asia, having performed with the Sichuan Orchestra of China and recently went on an extensive 14-concert tour as a soloist with the Asian Youth Orchestra. She will also be gracing the stage at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center in 2022.

Anna’s debut concerto recording was released by Signum Classics in 2021 and was met with enormous critical acclaim. 2022 will see the release of her second disc which will feature a selection of solo piano works by Chopin.

PIANO ADJUDICATOR CHRISTOPHER PARK

Upon being awarded the renowned Leonard Bernstein Award in 2014, the jury applauded Christopher for being “a pianist who captivates with his fascinating technical mastery, astounding musical maturity, and [having] a particularly intense performance style”.

A German-born musician, Christopher’s musical career has been strongly influenced by the Russian school of Lev Oborin and the German school of Wilhelm Kempff, where he studied with Lev Natochenny and Joachim Volkmann respectively. He has performed with numerous renowned ensembles, including the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Seoul Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, the Hungarian National Philharmonic and Singapore Symphony Orchestra, among others.

He has also worked with a number of conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Paavo Järvi and Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Dmitri Kitaenko, and has held concerts across the world. Notable events include the Ravinia Festival, the Lucerne Festival and the Klavierfestival Ruhr and he has débuted at prestigious concert halls such as the Barbican Center London, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Berlin Philharmonie, Seoul Arts Center and the Konzerthaus & Musikverein Vienna.

In addition to his solo albums with the Deutsche Grammophon, his recording of works by Schumann, Stravinsky, and Neuwirth has been celebrated in European magazines as a “brilliant recording” and alluded to as a “reference version”.

Christopher holds a professorship at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, after he taught both at the Conservatory and the University of Music and Performing Arts.

PIANO ADJUDICATOR EWA KUPIEC

Ewa is a dedicated interpreter of contemporary music. She is a prolific judge and teacher having given masterclasses all around Europe and is a panel member of renowned competitions such as the Maj Lind Piano Competition, Sydney International Piano Competition, Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition, and the International Telekom Beethoven Competition.

With more than 30 CDs in her discography, Ewa’s 2005 Berlin Konzerthaus performance of Schnittke’s First Piano Concerto with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra was the first performance of the piece since 1964. The performance was released by Phoenix in 2008 together with other pieces by Schnittke arranged for piano and orchestra by Schnittke.

She has regularly performed at leading festivals around the world and also with major orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Born in 1964 in Duszniki Zdroj, Poland, Ewa currently lives in Hanover, Germany. She has studied in Katowice, Poland, at the Chopin Academy in Warsaw, Poland; and also at the Royal Academy of Music in London, UK. In 1992, she won the ARD Music Competition in the category of piano and cello duo.

A professor of piano at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, Ewa is also an elected member of the European Academy of Science and Arts.

VIOLIN ADJUDICATOR DENIS GOLDFELD

Denis is an internationally acclaimed artist of profound lyricism, intuitive musicality and stunning virtuosity. He is praised by the international press for his distinctive sound, mature interpretation, and exceptional technical skills.

Born in Russia, Denis was awarded the First Prize at the Russian National Violin Competition at the age of eleven. In 1990, he was invited to the Musikhochschule Lübeck by Zakhar Bron. At this time, he became the winner of prestigious contests such as the Wieniawski, Oistrakh, and Bayreuth International Competitions, as well as other laurels, including the Verbier Festival Academy Prize awarded by Isaac Stern.

Denis has collaborated with outstanding artists and has given recitals in Europe, the USA, Japan, Russia and Israel. He has been a guest at major festivals, such as Schleswig-Holstein, Colmar, Biarritz, Korsholm, Musiikkia Rouvessi, Musiksommer Tours, Rheingau, Dias da Musica em Belem in Lisbon, Oberstdorf, and Adam Chamber Music in New Zealand.

Denis has appeared as a soloist with eminent orchestras such as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Moscow Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Symphony, Ural Philharmonic, Hamburg Symphony, the NDR Radio Philharmonic, the Estonian National, Singapore Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Orchestre National Bordeaux, National Taiwan Symphony, Munich Chamber, the MDR Symphony, Vienna Radio Symphony, Croatian Radio Symphony under Andrei Boreyko, Yuri Bashmet, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Günther Herbig, Vassili Sinaiski, Alexander Dmitriev, Dmitry Lyss, Okko Kamu, Christoph Poppen, Lawrence Renes, Donald Runnicles, Lan Shui, Uroš Lajovic, Arnold Katz, Bruno Weil, Howard Griffiths, Enrico Calesso, and Aleksandar Marković.

Denis has made recordings for Sony Classical, MCA Classic, Zig-Zag Territories and Hänssler Classic.

VIOLIN ADJUDICATOR ESZTER HAFFNER

An Austrian artist with Hungarian roots, Eszter Haffner is one of the most exciting and respected violinists/violist of our time. Over the last 30 years, Eszter has captivated audiences around the world with her distinctively rich sound, and outstanding interpretations.

Her social mission in Chile, and her tireless commitment to the arts and artistic services to the Republic of Austria was rewarded in 2021 with the federal award “Golden Decoration of Honor”. After studying with Professor Gerhard Schulz at the MDW in Vienna, Budapest and Utrecht, she played her debut in 1991 in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna. She has been the winner of numerous competitions and awards, and she has performed in countless music festivals around the world.

Eszter is professor for violin at the Royal Academy of Music Copenhagen; at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria, and at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, and a visiting professor at the Royal College of Music London, Sibelius Academy Helsinki, Franz Liszt Academy Budapest, Academy of Music Oslo, Shanghai Conservatory, Shanghai Middle School, Jerusalem Music Centre and Tianjin Conservatory. Eszter plays the “ex Hamma Segelman” Violin by N. Bergonzi 1780 on loan to her courtesy of the National Bank of Austria. Her strings are sponsored by “Larsen Strings”; her bow by Mr Charles Shih, and her CDs by NEIRO Productions. She is consultant for “Live Music Now” founded by Yehudi Menuhin; the Aurora and Old Ox Festivals Sweden, and “Virtuoso Belcanto” Festival in Italy. As the organizer of the “Azizian” competition, and as a member of the jury for the major international competitions, she promotes young talents from all over the world. She also performs the works of contemporary composers.

VIOLIN ADJUDICATOR JOSHUA TAN

A graduate of The Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music, Joshua Tan was Second Prize winner of the Dimitri Mitropoulos International Competition and an awardee of numerous scholarships and awards, including the Young Artist Award – Singapore, Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation Award, NAC-Shell Scholarship, and the SSO/MOE Scholarship. He was the first conductor to be presented the Charles Schiff prize from The Juilliard School. His performances of Bernstein’s Mass and the opera Don Pasquale were selected as the best classical concerts of the year 2018 and 2019 by The Straits Times.

Joshua has conducted orchestras all around the world. He has studied with various eminent conductors —James DePreist, Charles Dutoit, David Zinman and Kurt Masur — and worked with many others, such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Ingo Metzmacher and George Manahan.

A versatile conductor, Joshua is at home with symphonic, operatic and ballet works. His repertoire for opera includes La Traviata, Rigoletto, Der Fliegende Holländer, Lohengrin, Carmen, Don Giovanni, Madama Butterfly, Così fan tutte, and Turandot. He is equally adept with music for ballet, film and multimedia, having worked for Disney’s Fantasia and Pixar, BBC’s Blue Planet series, West Side Story, Jurassic Park and more.

Presently Principal Conductor of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra and Director of the Asia Virtuosi, he has served successful stints as Resident Conductor of the National Center for the Performing Arts (China) Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra and Associate Conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Season 21/22 sees return engagements with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Singapore Dance Theatre as well as debuts with the Gunma Symphony and Melbourne Symphony, and a new opera premiere in Hong Kong.