Vienna 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.

Miguel da Silva was awarded first prize in chamber music and also for viola and won the first Prize of the International chamber music competition in Paris. His passion for string quartet led him to found the Ysaÿe Quartet with 3 of his friends. After winning the first prizes in Evian, the members of the Ysaÿe Quartet soon started an international career that led them throughout the world, from Japan to America. This brillant thirty year carrer was brought to an end in January 2014, after a major series of concerts.

Miguel da Silva’s engagements either as a solo player or with his quartet have led him to most of the greatest concert halls in Europe and he has toured in Belgium, USA, Japan and Italy. He has appeared as a soloist with the best orchestras, and, as a very sought for chamber music player, his partners are among Michel Portal, Jean-Claude Pennetier, Paul Meyer, Leonidas Kavakos, Pierre Amoyal, Augustin Dumay, Nikita Boriso-Glebksy, Antonio Meneses, Jean-François Heisser, Truls Mork, Henri Demarquette, Gary Hoffmann, Emmanuel Pahud, Christophe Coin, …

In 1994, he started a class of string quartets in the Conservatoire National de Région in Paris, a premiere in France, and has since then been teaching a whole new generation of french and european quartets and chamber music groups. Member of ECMA and artistic Director of Villecroze Musical Academy, Miguel da Silva also teaches in the Haute Ecole de Musique of Geneva and is a master in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium.

Christian Altenburger studied at the University of Music in his hometown of Vienna and with Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York.

At 19, he made his debut as a soloist at the Vienna Musikverein. This was soon followed by engagements with top international orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouworchester Amsterdam, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra under Claudio Abbado, Dennis Russel Davies, Christoph von Dohnányi, Bernard Haitink, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Václáv Neumann, Dennis Russell Davies, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Franz Welser- Möst and others.

In addition to his appearances as a soloist, chamber music has become an important aspect of his artistic work. His chamber music partners include: Bruno Canino, Patrick Demenga, Heinz Holliger, Nobuko Imai, Kim Kashkashian, Reinhard Latzko, Michele Lethiec, Melvyn Tan, Lars Anders Tomter and Lars Vogt.

Since 2003, Christian Altenburger has been Artistic Director of the Schwäbische Frühling Music Festival whose architecturally attractive concert venues in southern Germany offer an ideal ambiance for chamber music as well as Symphony Orchestra concerts.

In 2006 Altenburger became Artistic Director of the Loisiarte Festival in Langenlois, Austria. The festival takes place in the extraordinary surroundings of the Loisium designed by architect Steven Holl.

Altenburger’s strong advocacy for the performance of contemporary music has resulted in premiers and recordings of composers such as Theodor Berger, Bert Breit, Gottfried von Einem, Wilhelm Killmayer, Thomas Larcher, Witold Lutoslawski, Werner Pirchner and Kurt Schwertsik.

Numerous recordings are available on labels such as Classic Amadeo, CPO, Guild, Japan Victor, Oehms Classics, ORF, Pro Arte und Sony.

For many years, Christian Altenburger held a professorship at the Hannover University of Music. In 2001, he was appointed a professorship at the Vienna University of Music.

With solo performances in greatest concert halls of the world including the Berlin and Munich Philharmonic; the Kennedy Center, Washington; Avery Fisher Hall, New York; Tonhalle, Zurich; Goldenen Saal, Vienna or the Scala, Milan; working with directors like Sergiu Celibidache, Charles Dutoit, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Yehudi Menuhin, Jun Märkl, Yutaka Sado, Franz Welser-Moest, Andris Nelsons and Marcello Viotti, Ingolf Turban commands a repertoire of works, some of which have rarely been performed on stage.

His virtuosic skill for Niccolò Paganinis works gained critical acclaim for his March 2006 performance with the New York Philharmonic, additionally his complete recording of the six violin concertos (Telos Records) and in the TV documentary „Paganinis Geheimnis“ (merkur.tv 2006).

His extensive repertoire in all branches has produced over 40 albums. His much celebrated premiere performances have gained world wide acclaim and are now recognized as standard concert works.

In 2005 he founded the Chamber Orchestra „I Virtuosi di Paganini“. In the 11 previous years, he was professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Stuttgart, Germany, then was called to the University for Music and Theater in Munich, Germany.

Ingolf Turban lives with his family in Munich.

Vera Tsu Weiling, renowned violinist and educator, Tenued Professor of Hong Kong Chinese University (Shenzhen) Conservatory, Professor and Doctor’s program advisor of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Vice President of Convocation for the Founding of the String Music Society of China Musicians' Association and China Federation of Chamber Musician, the Co-Chairman of the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition as well as Chairman of Violin Jury Harbin International Music Competition.

Tsu has been invited to sit on the jury of many prestigious competitions worldwide including the Queen Elizabeth Competition of Belgium (in 2009 and 2012), Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition Poznan (in 2011 and 2016), Menuhin Competition, Pablo Sarasate International Violin Competition, Montreal International Musical Competition and the remarkable XV Tchaikovsky Violin Competition Moscow in 2015. By far, Tsu is the only Chinese violinist who has frequently served at most of the highest level international competitions.

As an educator, Tsu organized and attended Master Classes and seminars in the United States, Japan, Italy, Argentina, Taiwan, Hong Kong and throughout China. Her students won many prizes and gained great reputation in the international competitions.

As a soloist, Tsu has also been performing on stages with both domestic and international orchestras including WDR Sinfonieorchester Koeln, the New York City Symphony, the Orchestra de Cannes, the Budapest Radio Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Tsu’s 20th anniversary of teaching concert was successfully held at the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall on March 8th, 2021.

Born in Shanghai, Tsu got in the Central Conservatory in Beijing in 1977. During the distinguished international violin master Isaac Stern’s the first visit to China in 1979, as a sophomore, Tsu performed for Mr. Stern and was featured in the overwhelming Oscar-winning documentary From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China. Vera Tsu Weiling went to the USA in 1980, where she continued her study with Dorothy DeLay and Rafael Bronstein, who was then the only living disciple of violin ancestor Leopold Auer. She graduated from the Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music with Master Degrees. Tsu was the First Associated Concertmaster of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra from 1993 to 2000. Since Tsu was back in China in 2000, she has been active in the front line of performance and education.