Our Juries
Jury for Finals (12-13 April)
Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist (Finland/Sweden), Chairperson of the Jury
Mikael Kanarva (Sweden)
Sergejs Osokins (Latvia)
Tom Borrow (England-Israel)
Gudrun Dahlkvist (Sweden)
Pre-selection jury
(online on videos, for passing to Finals)
Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist (Finland/Sweden). Chairperson of the Jury
Tom Borrow (England-Israel)
Daumants Liepins (Latvia) Former winner of Nordic Piano Competition 2017
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.
Sergejs Osokins was born in 1960. He began studying piano performance at Emīls Dārziņš Special Secondary Music School (Riga, Latvia, teacher Juta Daugule) and continued his piano education at the P.Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory with Prof. Nina Yemelyanova (1978-1983). After graduation with distinction he took the post-graduate courses at the same conservatory as a pianist and later also as a musicologist (1983-1988), defending his dissertation at Moscow P.Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 1992. Since 1988 after returning from Moscow he has been working in Riga as a pianist, professor of Latvian Academy of Music (Piano department) and Em.Darzins Special Music School. In 2004 he was awarded the Doctor of Arts degree.
Professor Sergejs Osokins often performs in Latvia, also in Norway, Russia, France. He has appeared with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of Latvian Academy of Music, performing concertos: by Beethoven, Brahms, Vasks “Message”. He has participated at International Piano Stars Festival (Liepaja, Latvia). several times In 2004 he received the Latvian Great Music Award for his performances of Brahms's Second Piano Concerto and series of recitals. In 2008 he received the Annual Prize of Swedbank and Latvian Academy of Music – The Best Teacher of the Year.
Many of his students have won prizes in international piano competitions. Amongst them are: Arta Arnicane – 12 prizes including Vianna da Motta Competition (Lisbon, 2001, 5th prize), Grieg Competition (Oslo, 2005, 3rd prize), Beethoven, Hradec (Czech Republic, 1999, 2nd prize) and Newport (2000, 2nd prize) competitions, 5 first prizes in various British competitions in 2003-2004, Jazeps Vitols International Piano competition (Riga, 2008, 3rd prize); Elina Bertina – Diploma of Jazeps Vitols International Piano competition (Riga, 2002); Andrejs Osokins - Robert William & Florence Amy Brant International Pianoforte Competition (Birmingham, 2005, 1st prize), XXII Porto International competition (Portugal, 2005, 2nd prize), Best Mozart piano concerto (Trinity College, London, 2006, 1st prize ), Jazeps Vitols International Piano competition (Riga, 2008, 1st prize); Vestards Shimkus – Young Artist 2001 (Stockholm, Grand Prix), F.Liszt Competition (Los Angeles, 2002, Grand Prix), Latvian Great Music Award 2002; Olga Jegunova – Animato Stiftung competition (Zurich, 2008, 2nd prize ); Jekaterina Sarajeva – Prizes in four competitions in Latvia and Lithuania.
Sergejs Osokins on regular basis gives masterclasses in Latvia and Norway. He has been a jury member of various international piano competitions – many Latvian competitions, Grieg competition (Oslo), Piano competition in Velikiy Novgorod (Russia).
Sergejs Osokins
Professor Riga Academy of Music
Latvia
"A true piano artist, a performance that inspires superlatives." — Haggai Hitron, Haaretz
"The very definition of 'one to watch.'" — International Piano
In January 2019, Tom Borrow stepped in to replace the renowned pianist Khatia Buniatishvili in a series of 12 concerts with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. With only 36 hours' notice, he performed Ravel's Piano Concerto in G to remarkable audience and critical acclaim. Tom has been named a BBC New Generation Artist for 2021-23, a highly prestigious program that will see him perform with all the BBC orchestras and at Wigmore Hall. In July 2022, Tom made his debut at the BBC Proms, at the Royal Albert Hall, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Tom Borrow was born in Tel Aviv in 2000 and has performed as a soloist with all the major orchestras in his homeland. Following his success with the Israel Philharmonic, Tom has been invited by major orchestras around the world—the most recent and upcoming engagements include the Cleveland Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, São Paulo Symphony, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Basque National Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, among others.
Tom has been regularly coached by Murray Perahia through the Jerusalem Music Centre’s program for outstanding young musicians. He has also participated in masterclasses led by Sir András Schiff, Christoph Eschenbach, Richard Goode, Menahem Pressler, and Tatiana Zelikman, among many others.
He is represented by, among others, Douglas R. Sheldon (from the Glafsfjorden Music Festival 2020) and plans to become an Artist-in-Residence at the Ingesund Piano Center in the spring of 2023.
Tom Borrow
Israel
Gudrun has conducted the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Opera and Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra in professional engagements (which she will return to) and coming season she will debut in Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Wermland Opera and Gävle Symphony Orchestra. Her rapidly spreading reputation has led to recent bookings from Norwegian Radio Orchestra and Swedish Chamber Orchestra.
Gudrun was born in Stockholm and studied violin at the Royal College of Music in her native city and at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, before beginning her conducting studies in Sweden with B. Tommy Andersson. As a freelance violinist, she appeared in a concertmaster position with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, while regularly guesting with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic.
The season 22/23 she will be mentoree conductor at Helsingborgs Konserthus.
Adding to her burgeoning experience with symphony orchestras, Gudrun recently made her professional opera debut at Malmö Opera.
Her repertoire ranges from early to contemporary music and her varied experience in professional orchestral settings has equipped her with unusually sharp communicative abilities and taught her efficient rehearsal strategies.
In 2019, Gudrun was awarded Musik i Linköping’s biennial Crusell Stipend for a conductor of extraordinary talent aswell as Vattnäs Culture Stipend. In 2020, she was awarded with Swedish Royal Academy of Music National Award, and in 2022 Jubelfondens Stipendium. She signed to Nordic Artists Management in 2020.
www.gudrundahlkvist.com
Gudrun Dahlkvist
Conductor
Sweden