Our Jury
Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist (Finland/Sweden), Chairperson of the Jury
Mikael Kanarva (Sweden)
Aristo Sham (Hongkong)
Filomentina Høgsholm (Denmark)
Adi Neuhaus (Israel)
Head of Piano Department at Ingesund School of Music, Karlstad University, Sweden
Prof. Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist is the head of the Piano Department and professor at the Ingesund College of Music at Karlstad University. She is the Artistic Director of Glafsfjordens Music Festival, President of Ingesund Piano Foundation, Artistic Director of the Nordic Piano Competition and founder and director of Nordic Junior Piano Competition.
In 2019, her students were the First Prize winners of the Maria Canals Piano International Competition and the Casagrande International Piano Competition, 4th and Audience Prize at the Concours International Long-Thibaud Crespin and the First Prize winner of the Vendome Prize at the Verbier Festival.
From 2016-2019, her students were the top prize winners, finalists and special prize winners of WFIMC level competitions such as the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in US, the Concours de Geneve in Switzerland, the Tbilisi International Piano Competition in Georgia, the Dublin International Piano Competition in Ireland, the J. Mottram International Piano Competition in England, the Viotti International Piano Competition in Italy, the Clara Haskil Piano Competition in Switzerland, the Grieg Piano Competition in Norway and the Enescu International Piano Competition in Romania.
Prof. Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist has given masterclasses in top institutions of Hong Kong, Latvia, Germany, South Korea, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Belgium among other countries. She is also a guest professor at the Rachmaninov Academy in Catania.
She is a Blüthner Artist and Genuin Records Artist in Germany. She is the1st prize winner of the Nordic Piano Competition (2004) and has received many cultural awards from the Finnish Culture Foundation in Finland, Anders Wall foundation in Sweden and Sonning Scholarship award in Denmark, among others.
www.juliadahlkvist.com
Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist
PRESIDENT OF THE JURY
Finland/Sweden
Mikael Kanarva
Sweden
Lecturer in Piano at Ingesund School of Music, Arvika
BIOGRAPHY
I began my university studies in Malmö where I studied first with Hans Pålsson and then Michal Wesolowski. After four years I continued in Copenhagen for Bohumila Jeclickova and I have also participated in several masterclasses for Dominique Merlet. In 1997 I got a job as a rehearsal teacher at the University of Music in Malmö and three years later I also started working at the Culture School in Helsingborg, where I have also worked and run the Helsingborg Piano Festival for many years.
TEACHING
In 2010 I started at the Ingesund Academy of Music as a piano teacher/instructor where I mainly work with pianists on the music teacher program and the string classes. I also have courses in piano technique both as a course part of the bachelor's program and independent courses. I have a certain profile in working and developing the technique of playing the piano and have, among other things, lectured in several different contexts and also written an article about piano technique.
Hailed by the New York Times as a pianist “whose playing combines clarity, elegance and abundant technique,” and by the Washington Post as a young artist with “boundless potential” who can “already hold his own with the best,” pianist Aristo Sham has dazzled audiences on five continents. In 2009, Aristo was featured in the documentary ‘The World’s Greatest Musical Prodigies’, broadcast by Channel 4 in the UK.
Aristo has also performed for royalty and dignitaries such as Prince Charles, the Queen of Belgium, and ex-President Hu of China, and collaborated with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra under Edo de Waart, English Chamber Orchestra under the late Sir Raymond Leppard, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the Minnesota Orchestra.
Aristo first came under international recognition when he won First Prize in the Ettlingen International Piano Competition in Germany in 2006, and First Prize in the Gina Bachauer International Junior Piano Competition in 2008. More recently, he has also won prizes in the Vendome Prize at Verbier Festival, Gina Bachauer, Dublin, Clara Haskil, New York, Saint-Priest and Viotti International Piano Competitions. In 2019, he was First Prize winner of the Casagrande International Piano Competition.
Aristo holds a Bachelors in Economics from Harvard University and a Masters in Piano Performance at New England Conservatory. His principle teachers include Eleanor Wong, Colin Stone, Victor Rosenbaum, and Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist, and is currently in a mentorship programme with Gabriela Montero. In his free time, Aristo enjoys travelling, languages, gastronomy and oenology.
Aristo Sham
Hongkong
Filomentina Høgsholm originally graduated from the Royal Academy of Copenhagen in 1999, with piano as her major instrument and vocal as her minor instrument.
She studied with Bohumila Jedlickova and Tove Lønskov, as well as high-esteemed professor Jiri Hlinka in Oslo. After a couple of years in the field of dedicated teaching, particularly focusing on youth competitions, she obtained a master degree in Law from the Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen in 2016. Alongside her studies she worked as freelance music critic and festival organizer and devoted chamber choir singer.
Filomentina Høgsholm joined Nordic Artist Management in 2016. Her position as artist manager for instrumentalists combines her passion for discovering and nurturing young talents alongside handling established artists in the Nordic Region such as Isabelle Faust and Elisabeth Leonskaja among others. Nordic Artist Management has recently established a Young Artist series for Danish talents, which prepares the young artists for a career in the classical music industry.
She lives in Copenhagen with her husband and two sons.
Filomentina Høgsholm
NORDIC ARTISTS MANAGEMENT
Denmark
Performed recitals at prestegius halls such as Maison de la Radio France in Paris, Hong Kong Academy for performing arts , Philharmonic hall of Saint-Petersburg, Gartner Auditorium in Cleveland and opened the season of “Les Pianissimes” at Salle Cortot in Paris.
Apeared as solist with the Georgian National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israeli Chamber Orchestra, the Alicante Symphony Orchestra, the Ashdod Symphony Orchestra (under the direction of Lahav Shani) and the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (under the baton of Frederic Chaslin).
Adi Neuhaus
Israel