Tokyo Classic Violin
Competition

Pavel Vernikov, a student of David Oistrach and S. Snitkowsky, gained a reputation as a virtuoso violinist more than twenty years ago. Among other prizes he won the International ARD Violin Competition in Munich and the Grand Prix at the International Violin Competition “Vittorio Gui” in Florence. He has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, La Salle Gaveau in Paris, La Scala in Milan and Santa Cecilia in Rome.

For the past 30 years he has been a member of the Tchaikovsky Trio.

His artistic partners have included Sviatoslav Richter, James Galway, Alain Meunier, Patrick Gallois, Maria Tipo, Natalia Gutman, Oleg Kagan, Yuri Bashmet, Elisso Virsaladze, Christian Zimmermann and Anthony Pay. He inaugurated the Russian Academy of Higher Learning in Portogruaro and was the Artistic Director of the Gubbio Music Festival, the Dubrovnik Chamber Music Festival and the Eilat Chamber Music Festival.

He teaches and gives masterclasses around the world, in Italy, France, Finland, Spain (Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia Madrid), Israel (Rubin Academy), Germany (Kronberg Academy), etc. and has been invited to be a member of the jury at international competitions (Szigeti, Kreisler, Gui, ARD-Competition in Munich, Sendai (Japan), Budapest, Sarasate, Wieniawski, etc.).

Pavel Vernikov has recorded for RCA, Ondine and Dynamic.

He was a Professor at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Lyon. At present he is a Professor at the famous Konservatorium Wien University and at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne (Site de Sion).

Among his many laureate students are people like Massimo Quarta (1. Prize Paganini International Violin Competition, Genua), Fumiaki Miura (1. Prize Hannover International Violin Competition), Lorenza Borrani (Leader of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe), Fanny Clamagirand (1. Prize Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition, Vienna and 1. Prize International Monte Carlo Violin Competition) and Miki Kobayashi (2. Prize Wieniawski Competition).

In 2013 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Sion Festival in Switzerland, and in 2023, he was appointed as the Artistic Director of the Classic Violin Olympus International Competition, whose inaugural edition is set to take place in 2025 in Dubai, UAE.

Pavel Vernikov plays a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, 1757, violin.

Bin Huang, one of the most outstanding violinists from China, won 1^st prize at the Junior International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition at the age of 14. She has maintained international prominence, winning both the International Violin Competition “Premio Paganini” in Genoa and the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. Bin Huang’s concert career has taken her throughout the world, playing with leading orchestras at important venues.

In 2019, Bin Huang’s piano trio recording with Zhou Yu Bo (piano) and Alexander Suleiman (cello) won the OPUS KLASSIK prize in Germany. Huang’s live recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto on Paganini’s own violin, “Cannon”, released by the Dynamic label (2013), was praised by Diapason, calling it “an interpretation of the highest class”. Bin Huang’s Baroque Violin Favourites, released by Naxos (2003), was given the Editor’s choice in American Record Guide. Her recordings of The Christmas Story on Dynamic (2013), Complete Mozart Violin Sonatas on Vermeer (2017), Brahms Violin Sonatas on the NCPA Recording label (2023), and her live performance of the complete Mozart concertos with the Teatro Carlo Felice Orchestra (2017) have also won critical acclaim.

Bin Huang is currently the chair of the Orchestral Instrument Department and the professor of violin at the China Conservatory of Music. She received her doctorate degree at the Eastman School of Music, where she worked later on as an associate professor of violin. Bin Huang also taught at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and was a jury member at the 53^rd and 55^th International Violin Competitions “Premio Paganini”.

Born in Kyoto, Natsumi Tamai started her carrier with the first prize in the violin category at the Prague Spring International Music Competition while she was a student at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo.

She studied under Yuji Togi, Hideki Oguni, Ryodaku Kubota, Azusa Tatsuta, and Takayoshi Wanami. After graduating, she studied under Herman Krebbers at Conservatorium van Amsterdam and Ana Chumachenco at Hochschule für Musik und Theater München.  During this time, she won many awards, including prizes at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition, the Jean Sibelius International Violin Competition and at the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition. She has also received The New Artist Prize from Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs Performing Arts Festival, the Kyoto Prefecture Culture Prize, the Shiga Prefecture Culture Prize, and many more.

Tamai has performed with many orchestras such as the Russia National Orchestra, the Belgium Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra. She has also held many recitals in Japan and Europe and is a highly regarded chamber music violinist.  She serves as concertmaster of Kioi Hall Chamber Orchestra Tokyo, belongs to the Tokyo Kreis Ensemble, is a solo violinist of the Ensemble of Tokyo, and music director the Biwako Music Harvest, a chamber music academy for children. Currently, she is a professor of Tokyo University of the Arts. Her instrument is Stardivarius “Ex-Park” (1717) owned by Tokyo University of the Arts.

Chinese-born American violinist Qian Zhou is recognized internationally as a world-class violinist, recording artist and teacher. After winning the First Grand prize and all five major prizes at Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in 1987, her career took off by extensively performing throughout the North America, Europe, Asia and Africa as soloist with orchestras such as the Baltimore Symphony, BBC Symphony, Radio de France, New Japan Philharmonic, and the Russian Philharmonic. Her performances have been quoted by the critics with comments such as: "a significant world-class artist", "her performance was an inspired force, accompanied by a technical polish, communicative capacity, and an expressive candor that was absolutely enchanting."

Qian Zhou’s ten CDs with the Naxos, Hugo and Hungaraton labels have embraced a wide range of repertoire from Bach to Bartok to also drawn praise of the highest calibre.

Zhou is the founding Head of Strings at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, where her past students hold active positions in the profession, performing and teaching throughout the world.

Zhou is also the Chair of the Artist Committee and Jury of Singapore International Violin Competition, as well as the Artistic Director of Singapore Violin Festival.

Qian Zhou plays a 1757 J.B. Guadagnini, generously loaned by the late Mr Rin Kei Mei and Mrs Rin Kei Mei.

A leading violinist representing Korea, Min Kim is highly respected for his versatility as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and music director.  He graduated from College of Music Seoul National University, the Staatlische Hochschule für Musik in Hamburg, where he studied under the guidance of Prof. Brandis and Prof. Rostal. Upon his return to Korea, Min Kim was appointed the concertmaster of the Korean Philharmonic Orchestra and then the KBS Symphony Orchestra, two of the preeminent orchestras of the country.

As artistic director of Korean Chamber Orchestra, Min Kim has appeared in more than 700 concerts worldwide, including many of the major international festivals such as Rheingau Festival, Beethoven Easter Festival, Naantali Festival, and George Enescu Festival, the Mozart Festival Würzburg. He has also served as a member of the jury in numerous international competitions. Among them are and the Queen Elizabeth International Competition twice and the Wieniawski and Tchaikovsky Competitions for young musicians; the Sendai, Leopold-Mozart and China International Competitions; Seoul International Music Concour, Spohr International Competition and more. He was Artistic Director of Seoul International Music Festival (2011-2015).

His contributions to international music education and cultural exchange were recognized by several prestigious awards, such as the Una Vita per la Musica from the President of Italy and the Merit of Culture from the Republic of Poland. In addition, He was selected by president of Korea as an artist who contributes to art and culture in 2015 and won the grand prize of culture from "The 10^th Daewon Music Awards" and won the grand prize of “Planning Division for 21st Century Managers”. Min Kim was elected a vice president of the National Academy of Arts of Korea and won “Korean Culture and Arts Award” from Korea Culture Ministry.

Currently he is a professor emeritus of Seoul National University and Vice President of The National Academy of Arts, Republic of Korea. Also, he is the Music Director of both the Korean Chamber Orchestra and the Isang-Yun Ensemble.