Competition Judges

Maestro Philip Mann, USA
Affiliation: Director of Orchestral Studies and Professor of Practice at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA; Guest Conductor at Lincoln Center's Avery Fischer Hall and London's Barbican Center; Founder of Arkansas's first collaborative arts festival - Acansa; Conductor for performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sofia Philharmonic, Busan Philharmonic, National Radio Orchestra of Romania, Voronezh Philharmonic, and other in Europe, USA, and Asia
Jonie Qiuning Huang, China
Affiliation: Piano and Chamber Music Studies Faculty at Shanghai Conservatory of Music; member of Shanghai High Education Junior Faculty Funding Project sponsored by the Shanghai Education Committee and the Yin Cai Bei Chu project sponsored by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music; as a solo pianist and chamber musician, Ms. Huang appeared on the stages of Vienna, Salzburg, Boston, Los Angels, Beijing, Shanghai, collaborated with great musicians including Nobuco Imai, Feng Ning, Martti Roussi and others, and performed with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dr. Mikhail Johnson, USA/Jamaica
Affiliation: Composer and Pianist; Owner of a publishing label "Johno Muzik Publications", Jamaica

Casey Granofsky, Canada
Affiliation: Artist of the Toronto Concert Orchestra and the Guelph Symphony; Founder of the Niagara Flute School, ON, Canada
Min Yi, China
Affiliation: Jazz Bass Faculty at the pop music department of Nanjing Institute of Arts; collaborated with well known jazz musicians such as Jean-Daniel Hege, Henri Texier, Renaud Garcia-Fons, Nicola Folmer, Stephen Werner, Joelle Leandre; member of Strasbourg Jazz Festival.

Dr. Laura Lennis, Colombia
Affiliation: Concert Pianist and Pedagogue; Fulbright Scholar, Medellín, Colombia

Ziying Zhao, USA
Affiliation: Guqin Concert Performer; Chinese Music Culture Ambassador at the Asian Pacific Association; Chair of the Public Relations at Texas A&M University Scholar Association; Recipient of multiple awards in teaching and performance on Guqin instrument, TX, USA

Matvey Lapin, USA
Affiliation: Violin Faculty at the String Instruments Department of Chatham Hall, Chatham, VA, USA

Nicole Agostino, Canada
Affiliation: Pianist and Pedagogue; Piano Faculty at the University of Toronto; Founder of Nicole Agostino Piano Studio in Toronto, Canada; Royal Conservatory of Music Certified Teacher; adjudicator of multiple international music competitions

Anthony Thompson, Canada
Affiliation: Concert Clarinetist and Pedagogue; Artist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Concert Orchestra; founding member of the Blythwood Winds woodwind quintet, Toronto, Canada

Joseph T. Paz, USA
Affiliation: Percussions and Jazz Performer, Pedagogue, Lubbock, TX, USA

Kristan Toczko, Canada
Affiliation: Concert Harpist and Pedagogue; Founding Member of Harp Duo: Duo Novus; Social Media Creator: @harpistkt, ON, Canada
Professor Marie Bérard, Canada
Affiliation: Music Faculty at the University of Toronto and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada; Violin Faculty of the Glenn Gould School as well as the Taylor Academy, Toronto, Canada

Professor Giuseppe Devastato, Spain
Affiliation: Professor of Piano, Composition, and Chamber Music at Madrid Academy of Musical Arts, Spain, and Accademia Musicale Europea in Naples, Italy; Official Krause Piano Artist and President of World Piano Teachers Association, Spain

Lisa Liske, USA
Affiliation: Concert Cellist, member of Philadelphia-based trio New River Ensemble as well as North Carolina Baroque Orchestra; Cello Faculty at Roanoke College; Founder of Community Cello Works, The Cello Camerata, and Cello Springs Festival. Appears as a guest artist at conferences, festivals, and music institutes throughout the U.S. and abroad; Her forthcoming books include her beginner cello method, The Ants Book; How To Fly Your Cello, a comprehensive collection of cello and musicianship activities to help build fluid musicianship; and a manual for meaningful musicianship, A Practical Pedagogy of Expression, North Carolina, USA

Anastasiya Bazhenova, Norway
Affiliation: Concert Pianist and Organist, Larvik, Norway

Professor Neysun Rouhani, United Kingdom
Affiliation: Head of Education at Miele Canto, a music education and performance company, London, United Kingdom; Concert Pianist, performed with a number of orchestras such as Pazardjik Symphony Orchestra, Docklands Sinfonia, Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Sofia Soloists Chamber Orchestra and the Graz Chamber Orchestra and at the Oxford Piano Festival, UK

Professor Dr. Meiling Jin, USA
Affiliation: Founder of Taichi and Piano Study; Visiting Professor at Guangxi Arts Institute, Nanning, China; Former Piano faculty at Lubbock Christian University, TX, USA

Professor Anastasia Timoshenko, Russia
Affiliation: Professor of Violin Studies at State Music and Pedagogical Institute named after M.M. Ippolitov-Ivanov, Moscow, Russia; Artist of State Symphony Orchestra "New Russia", Moscow, Russia
Maestro Yuri Yevchuk, Canada
Affiliation: Former Soloist (Bass) at the Mariinsky Theatre; recepient of multiple Grand Prix and First Place awards worldwide; toured to France, Poland, Switzerland, Finland, Israel, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Estonia and China; Repertoire at the Mariinsky Theatre includes Cherevik (Sorochintsy Fair), Bomelius (The Maid of Pskov), Cardinal Lorenzo Montanelli (The Gadfly in concert), Bass (Orango), Frol Baev (Into the Storm in concert), Maestro Spinelloccio (Gianni Schicchi), Cockneys, Professor Higgins’ Butler (My Fair Lady), Second Philistine (Samson et Dalila). Other repertoire includes Varlaam, Pimen (Boris Godunov), Old Gypsy (Aleko), Prince Gremin (Eugene Onegin), Chub (Christmas Eve), the Viking Merchant (Sadko) and King René (Iolanta).

Professor Sergei Skorobogatov, Russia
Affiliation: Head of Woodwind and Brass Department at Voronezh Musical College; Professor of Trombone at Voronezh State Academy of Arts; Artist of Voronezh State Opera and Ballet Theatre, Voronezh, Russia

Professor Dr. Gregory Brookes, USA
Affiliation: Chair of the Voice Department and Professor of Voice at Texas Tech University, TX, USA; Dr. Brookes is a leading vocalist in North America as well as a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

Dr. Rachel Mazzucco, USA
Affiliation: Harp Studies and Music Theory Faculty at Texas Tech University School of Music; President of the West Texas Harp Society, Lubbock, TX, USA

Professor Tatyana Timoshenko, Russia
Affiliation: Violin Faculty at the String Department of Voronezh College of Music for gifted children; Head of the Voronezh Group of violinists and cellists, Voronezh, Russia

Professor Maria Rybina, Russia
Affiliation: Professor of Piano and Organ Studies at State Music and Pedagogical Institute named after M.M. Ippolitov-Ivanov, Moscow, Russia

Alexandra Zaryankina, Russia
Affiliation: Soloist of the Saint Petersburg Chamber Theater of Classical Operetta, Saint Petersburg, Russia

Professor Maria Agibalova, Russia
Affiliation: Professor of Chamber Ensemble and Collaborative Piano at Voronezh State Academy of Arts, Voronezh, Russia; Winner of international competitions

Tamara Yusman, Israel
Affiliation: Concert Pianist, Soloist of Ashkelon Chamber Orchestra; Piano Faculty at Modus Music School, Ashkelon, Israel

Mikhail Knyazev, Russia
Affiliation: Concert Pianist, Artist of Voronezh Philharmonic Orchestra, Voronezh, Russia

Renata Shumskaya, USA
Affiliation: Pianist and Pedagogue; Founder of Piano Studio in Newcastle; Committee Chair of the EMTA Scholarship Competition; Member of National and Washington State Music Teachers Association, Newcastle, WA, USA

Dr. Elena Nezhdanova, USA
Affiliation: Piano Faculty at Opus Ithaca School of Music; Concert Artist and Pianist at Nezhdanova-Placzek Duo, Ithaca, USA

Valentina Ignatova, Russia
Affiliation: Artist of the Voronezh Opera and Ballet Theatre, Violin devision; Artist of Voronezh Symphony Youth Orchestra, Voronezh, Russia

Svetlana Dyudina, Russia
Affiliation: Soloist of Voronezh Opera and Ballet Theatre; Winner of "Bravo" title from the Russian Theatre Union organization, Voronezh, Russia