Jury of the competition
Nina Šenk, composer, president of the jury
Nina Šenk (1982) graduated in composition from Ljubljana Academy of Music under Prof. Pavel Mihelčič, then continued her postgraduate studies in composition in Dresden under the mentorship of Prof. Lothar Voigtländer and obtained her master’s degree in the class of Prof. Matthias Pintscher at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Munich, in 2008.
She is a recipient of many awards, including the European award for the best composition at the Young Euro Classic festival for her Violin Concerto in 2004, the Academy of Music Prešeren Award and the first prize at the Weimar Spring Festival of Contemporary Music for her composition Movimento fluido in 2008. In the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 seasons, Nina Šenk was a Composer in Residence of the Staatstheater Cottbus Orchestra in Germany. In 2010, the Rector of the University of Ljubljana awarded her a special recognition for artistic work in the area of musical composition and performance as well as architecture. In 2017, she was awarded the Prešeren Fund Prize for her creative work in the previous two years.
Nina Šenk’s works have been performed at numerous important international festivals (BBC Proms, New York Philharmonic Biennial, Salzburger Festspiele, Young Euro Classic Berlin, Kasseler Musiktage, Musica Viva Munich, Frankfurter Positionen, Weimarer Frühjahrstage, Heidelberger Frühling, Takefu Festival (Japan), Ljubljana Summer Festival, Slowind Festival, Slovenian Music Days, World Music Days, World Saxophone Congress, etc.) and in many other concerts around the world with various orchestras and ensembles (New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande,
Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Staatstheater Cottbus Orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, Scharoun Ensemble, Ensemble Mosaik, London Sinfonietta, Ensemble United Berlin, Slowind Wind Quintet, Ensemble Aleph, Altera Veritas, MD7, DC8, Ensemble Concorde, Kammersymphonie Berlin and others).
Johanna Dömötör, flute
A German-Hungarian flutist Johanna Dömötör attracted early attention as the 1st prize-winner in top-class competitions such as the International Flute Competition in Singapore and the International Mozart Competition in Rovereto, Italy.
At the age of 24, she became principal flutist at the Sinfonieorchester Basel, and two years later she was appointed as a professor at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz as one of the youngest professors in her instrumental field. As a soloist Johanna Dömötör performed with the MDR Symphony Orchestra, Festival Strings Lucerne, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester and with Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz at festivals such as the MDR Music Summer, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, the Zermatt Music Festival together with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker, at Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Rheingau Music Festival, Lucerne Festival and the ISCM World New Music Festival.
Guest engagements as a solo flutist led her to orchestras such as the Teatro alla Scala Milano, the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, Kammerorchester Basel, Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Zurich Chamber Orchestra. Johanna Dömötör began her musical education in Budapest at the Béla Bartók Conservatory.
Later she studied in Stuttgart with Jean-Claude Gérard and Davide Formisano and in Hannover with Andrea Lieberknecht and received scholarships from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, the Kammermusikstiftung Villa Musica and the Gundlach Foundation. The Kulturstiftung Pro Europa awarded her with the European Culture Prize for Music.
Johanna Dömötör plays on a Muramatsu flute with a 14k gold head by J.R. Lafin, which was sponsored by the Lutz E. Adolf Foundation.
Sorin Crudu, oboe
Born in Romania, Sorin Crudu began playing the oboe at the age of ten under the tutelage of Mihait Vasile. Already in the first year of playing, he won first prize at the Music Olympiad, the most important national competition in Romania. While studying at the Conservatory in Iași, he played as a soloist with various orchestras and performed in numerous recitals. He was later accepted to study oboe in Bern and Geneva and finished it with a specialization in Salzburg with Günther Passin.
He is the recipient of many prizes in international competitions, such as the second prize at the Città di Chieri competition, the Ferlendis prize and the second prize at the G. Dima International Competition in Cluj. He is a prize-winner of the Kiefer Hablitzel Foundation competition, and was a semi-finalist at the international Muri oboist competition. In 2020, he won the first international virtual oboist competition, which was held in Los Angeles.
As the first oboist, he played in the State Orchestra of the Rhine Philharmonic from Koblenz, the orchestra of Milan's La Scala theatre, the orchestra of the English National Opera and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in Norway, and played under the baton of conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Zubin Mehta, Myung-Whun Chung, Bernard Haintink, Nicola Luisotti, Michail Jurowsky …
Since 2019, he has been the first oboist of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra and since September 2022 he has been teaching oboe at Gustav Mahler Private University in Klagenfurt.
Andreas Schablas, clarinet
Andreas Schablas began his musical journey at the music school of Johannes Brahms in his hometown of Mürzzuschlag. He later studied in Graz and Vienna with professors Kurt Daghofer, Peter Schmidl, Gerald Pachinger and especially Johann Hindler.
He was a member of the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg for several years. In 2008, he joined the orchestra of the Munich National Theater (Bayerische Staatsoper München) as deputy solo clarinetist, where he has been working as solo clarinetist since 2010.
As a chamber musician and soloist, in addition to the standard repertoire, he mainly devotes himself to works of the 20th and 21st centuries. Andreas Schablas was a member of the Austrian Ensemble for New Music (Österreichisches Ensemble für Neue Musik - OENM) for many years, and the composer Friedrich Cerha dedicated 8 bagatelles, a Fantasia and a Clarinet Concerto to him.
In October 2019, Andreas Schablas took over the professorship at the Mozarteum, and he also leads master classes at the International Summer Academy Salzburg and Haus Marteau.
Simon Diricq, saxophone
Simon Diricq is the first Belgian saxophonist who graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique of Paris. In 2010, he won the First Grand Prix Adolphe Sax at the famous International Saxophone Competition in Dinant. He also made an impression at several other competitions: First Prize Dexia (Brussels 2002), First Prize in Nantes (2004), Second Prize in Tarragona (2004), at the Rotary International Competition (Lille 2005), Premier Prix d’Honneur Ufam (Paris 2006), Laureate at the Pacem in Terris Competition (Bayreuth 2007), First Prize at the International Benidorm Competition (2010) …
As a soloist, he played with the Saõ Paulo Symphonic Orchestra, the Belgian National Orchestra, the Orchestre Royal Philharmonique de Liège, the Belgian Military Air Force Band, the Royal Band of the Guides, the Brussels Orchestral Ensemble, the Chapelle Musicale de Tournai, the Wallonia Chamber Orchestra, Het Kamerorkest, the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra …
He is a member of the Ensemble Squillante, an original ensemble of nine saxophonists who made three recordings, and plays also in duet with the pianist Flavien Casaccio or with Charles Michiels (Duo Y, saxophone and clarinet).
Simon Diricq, who was made honorary citizen of Dinant, the birthplace of Adolphe Sax, works as a saxophone teacher at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussels.
Paolo Calligaris, bassoon
Paolo Calligaris was born in Palmanova, Italy, where he grew up and got his first experience in music. In 1993, he attended the class of G. Grassi at UdineMusic Conservatory for three years before continuing his bassoon studies first in Turin with Vincenzo Menghini and then in Castelfranco Veneto with Stefano Canuti. He has also studied with other important Italian teachers such as Ovidio Danzi and Marco Costantini. Paolo came in Slovenia as a solo bassoonist to work with the Slovenian radio Symphony Orchestra. He collaborates with some other orchestras such as L’ Orchestra da camera di Mantova, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Camerata Bern, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and others.
As a member of the Slowind quintet he won the Župančič Award and one of the most prestigious Slovenian national awards, the award of the Prešeren Fund. In 1997, he was named the first bassoonist of the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra. Paolo taught bassoon and chamber music at Klagenfurt Music Conservatorium and at Udine's Conservatory of music; he still teaches at numerous summer workshops and music schools abroad. Currently, he teaches young bassoonists at the GCEW music school in Ljubljana.
He founded Ensemble 1781, a wind ensemble with original instruments from the Classical period.