The Competition Jury

The Menuhin Competition is to date the only violin competition asking jury members to perform a concert and give a public masterclass thus offering outstanding education and entertainment to competitors and audiences alike.

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The Jury 2012

PAMELA FRANK, (USA) - Chair of the Jury
Pamela Frank has established an outstanding international reputation across an unusually varied range of performing activity. As a soloist she performed with leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony, the Orchestre National de France, and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic.  She is also a sought after chamber musician and has performed at many international festivals including Aldeburgh, Verbier, Edinburgh, Salzburg, Tanglewood, Marlboro and Ravinia. Aside from her devotion to works of the standard repertory, Frank has performed and recorded a number of contemporary works. Her accomplishments were recognized in 1999 with the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize. Pamela Frank is professor for violin at the Curtis Institute of Music. Full biography

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JOJI HATTORI (Japan) - Vice Chair of the Jury
Joji Hattori has studied at the Vienna Academy of Music and won 1st prize of the Menuhin Competition in 1989. He now enjoys a varied international career as concert violinist, chamber musician, director of chamber orchestras and more recently conductor of symphony orchestras and operas. He has been Associate Conductor of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra since 2004, Principal Resident Conductor of the Opera House in Erfurt, Germany (2007/08), Music Director of the Tokyo Ensemble and Music Director of the open-air Operetta Summer Festival at "Schloss Kittsee" in Austria. As guest conductor he regularly works with the Philharmonia Orchestra London, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Slovakian Philharmonic or the Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra Japan. 2009 saw his debut at the Vienna State Opera with Mozart’s Magic Flute. Full biography

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OLIVIER CHARLIER (France)
Olivier Charlier's talent caught the attention of great artists such as Nadia Boulanger, Yehudi Menuhin and Henryk Szeryng. After winning several international competition, he was invited by national and international orchestras including the Orchestre National de France, Zurich's Tonhalle Orchestra, The Hague Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Charlier is an active recording artist and his discography testifies of a great eclecticism: Beethoven, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Grieg, St Saëns, Lalo and several world premieres. Since attending the Marlboro Festival in his youth, Charlier is also an avid chamber musician. He is teaching violin at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. Full biography

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DONG-SUK KANG (Korea)
Dong-Suk Kang (Korea/USA) was born in Korea and studied at the Julliard School and Curtis Institute in the USA. Following a debut at the Kennedy Center he went on to win top prizes in international competitions including the Montreal, the Carl Flesch and the Queen Elisabeth. Since then he has appeared with many great orchestras and conductors and performed at major music centers and festivals including the BBC Proms in London. Dong-Suk Kang is also a sought after recording artists whos CDs have won critical acclaim. His Walton Concerto CD was chosen CD of the month by the Gramophone magazine and nominated for the Gramophone Award. Dong-Suk Kang is a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul and artistic director of « MusicAlp Festival » in France and the Seoul Spring Festival in Korea. Full biography

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HU KUN (China & UK)
HU Kun started playing the violin at the age of three and went on to become China’s first ever prize winner of an international violin competition (the Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki in 1980). He later studied at the Menuhin Academy in Gstaad and went on to become an active international concert and recording artist. Recently HU Kun has also taken up conducting under the tutelage of Sir Colin Davies.
Hu Kun is Professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London and a guest Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music Beijing, the Sichuan Chengdu Conservatory and the Xinhai Conservatory in Guangzhou. Full biography  photo © Inga Lisa Middleton

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HENNING KRAGGERUD (Norway)
Henning Kraggerud maintains a busy diary as soloist with many major European, North American and Australian orchestras. Henning is increasingly in demand as a guest director, recently with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and the Britten Sinfonia. A committed chamber musician, Henning also performs both on violin and viola at the major international festivals. Adding to his multi-faceted career, Henning is an innovative improviser and composer, performing many of his own cadenzas and arrangements in concert, and several of his compositions have been performed at festivals worldwide. He is a recipient of Norway's prestigious Grieg Prize and in 2007 was awarded the Sibelius Prize for his interpretations and recording of Sibelius’ music. Full biography

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TASMIN LITTLE (UK)
Tasmin Little has played with many of the world's greatest orchestras in a career that has taken her to every continent of the world. In addition to her regular solo performances, she has played/directed orchestras such as Royal Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, London Mozart Players, English Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Chamber, European Union Chamber Orchestra and Britten Sinfonia. Her ground-breaking project The Naked Violin received the 2008 Classic FM Gramophone Award for Audience Innovation. Tasmin Little is an Ambassador for The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts, a Fellow of the Guildhall of Music and Drama, President of ESTA (European String Teachers Association) and an Ambassador for Youth Music. Full biography

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YAN PASCAL TORTELIER (France) has conducted some of the world’s most prestigious orchestras including London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw, St Petersburg and Oslo Philharmonic, the Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Montreal Symphony Orchestras and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony.

He began his musical career as a violinist and at fourteen won first prize for violin at the Paris Conservatoire and made his debut as a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Following general musical studies with Nadia Boulanger, Tortelier studied conducting with Franco Ferrara.

Tortelier was Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic between 1992 and 2003 and continues to work with the orchestra regularly and currently is Principal Conductor of the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra. He also holds the position of Principal Guest Conductor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Full biography

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VERA TSU WEI LING (China)
Vera Tsu Wei Ling is a professor for violin at the Central Conservatory in Beijing since 2000. She has an active career as  soloist and a chamber musician in China and abroad. She has appeared with numerous international symphony orchestras and worked with the composer and conductor Krzysztof Penderecki in 2005 at the opening season of the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center. In 2008, Tsu Wei Ling appeared as soloist at the concert “Bernstein Celebration” at the 11th Beijing Music Festival and was highly praised by critics and audiences including Jamie Bernstein. 
Her recordings of the Korngold and Goldmark violin concerti received great acclaim by the international music press. In July 2009, Vera Tsu Wei Ling launched her trio - the China Trio.  Full biography

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