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Members of the Atrium Quartet with jury member Nicola LeFanu at the 2003 International Competition

Members of the Biava Quartet with jury member Martin Lovett of the Amadeus Quartet at the 2003 International Competition

Tenth London International String Quartet Competition 2006

Juries

There will be two juries for the Tenth Competition; the Invitation Jury and the International Competition Jury.

The Invitation Jury

Members of the Invitation Jury will select, from all submitted applications, some 12 quartets that will be invited to London for the Tenth International String Quartet Competition in April 2006.

The Jury will consist of 5 members and they will in turn listen to submitted tapes without knowing the identity of the quartets. (They can only judge what they are given and entrants are therefore advised to take appropriate care over their recordings.) Their aim will be to select the best entrants, each of whom has the potential to reach the closing stages of the Competition.

Members:

Ioan Davies MA (Cantab), DMus (Bucknell): Director of Music for Pro Corda, the National School for Young Chamber Music Players, cellist and founder member Fitzwilliam String Quartet 1968-86.

Robin Ireland: is a Cambridge graduate, and was the viola player of the Lindsay String Quartet for twenty years until their retirement in July 2005.

Mark Messenger: Head of Strings, Royal College of Music; violinist Bochmann String Quartet; Artistic Director London String Quartet Week 2004-5.

David Roth: second violinist, Allegri String Quartet, 1969-99; teacher at Southampton University 2000 onwards

Jill Segal: Managing Director, Connaught Artists Management Ltd, a leading promoter of and agent for young musical talent.

The International Competition Jury

Members of the Competition Jury, who will be present throughout the Competition in April 2006, have now been announced. Members are well-known internationally and drawn from the world of string quartet performers, chamber music teachers, and promoters.

Jury members will be briefed as to the aims of the London String Quartet Foundation, which are “to discover and develop talent and audiences for the string quartet.” They will be looking for winners who can develop further into establishing themselves on the world stage. While technical accuracy and intonation are clearly very important, as are the ensemble's general musicianship and ability to play together, so is a sense of style and any special ability to delight, surprise and entertain an audience.

Members of the International Jury are:

Josef Kluson (viola, Prazak Quartet, Czech Republic), Martin Lovett OBE (cello, Amadeus Quartet, UK), Eckart Runge (cello, Artemis Quartet, Germany), Peter Salaff (violin, Cleveland Quartet, USA), Are Sandbakken (viola, Oslo String Quartet, Norway), Kazuki Sawa (violin, Sawa Quartet, Japan), John Fraser (Director, Recorded Productions, EMI Classics, UK), Annette Mangold (Director of Artistic Planning, Vienna Konzerthaus, Austria) and Georges Zeisel (Director, ProQuartet, France)

Click here to read the latest press release

Past Jury Members

Distinguished past members of the Competition Jury since 1988 include:

  • Yehudi Menuhin (violin), President of the London International String Quartet Competition from 1979-1999
  • Hatto Beyerle (viola), founder member of Alban Berg String Quartet and subsequently soloist (1988)
  • Thomas Brandis (violin), founder member of the Brandis String Quartet (1988)
  • Efim Boico (violin), member of the Fine Arts Quartet (1994)
  • Ole Bohn (violin), chamber musician and concertmaster of the orchestra of the Norwegian Opera (2000)
  • Norbert Brainin (violin), founder member and first violin of the Amadeus String Quartet (1991)
  • Peter Buck (cello), founder member of the Melos Quartet (1997)
  • Emil Cantor (violin), founder member of the Orpheus String Quartet (1994)
  • Levon Chilingirian (violin), founder member of the Chilingirian Quartet (1994)
  • Serge Collot (viola), member of the Parrenin Quartet and then the Radiodiffusion Francaise String Quartet (1997)
  • Gert Crafoord (violin), member of the Kyntil String Quartet and then founder member of the Crafoord String Quartet (1997)
  • Peter Cropper (violin), founder member and first violin of the Lindsay String Quartet (1997)
  • Andrew Dawes (violin), founder member of the Orford String Quartet (1991)
  • Piero Farulli (viola), member of the Quartetto Italiano for more than 30 years (2000)
  • John Fraser, Chief Producer EMI Classics, vocal coach and repertoire professor, Royal College of Music (2003)
  • Bernard Greenhouse (cello), soloist and chamber musicIan
  • Sidney Griller (violin), first violin of the Griller String Quartet until 1961 (1991)
  • Lukas Hagen (violin), first violin of the Hagen String Quartet, winners of the Second Competition in 1982 (2003)
  • Koichlro Harada (violin), founder member and first violin of the Tokyo String Quartet (1994)
  • Anneke Hogenstijn (double bass), Artistic Administrator, Royal Concertgebouw (2003)
  • Nobuko Imai (viola), formerly member of the Vermeer String Quartet and subsequently soloist (1997)
  • Paul Katz (cello), member of the Cleveland String Quartet (2000)
  • Nicola LeFanu, Head of Music and Composition, York University (2003)
  • Walter Levin (violin), first violin of the LaSalle String Quartet (2000)
  • William Lyne CBE AM, Director of Wigmore Hall 1966-2003 (2003)
  • Stefan Metz (cello), founder member of the Orlando String Quartet (2000)
  • Professor Yfrah Neaman (violin), virtuoso violinist and teacher at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Artistic Director of London International String Quartet Competition until 2000
  • Siegmund Nissel (violin), founder member of the Amadeus String Quartet (1994 & 2003)
  • Gabor Takacs Nagy (violin), founder member of the Takacs String Quartet and subsequently soloist and teacher (1997 & 2003)
  • Pierre Penassou (cello), member of the Quartet Parrenin and subsequently the Quartet Bernede (1994)
  • Milos Sadlo (cello), formerly member of the Prague String Quartet and subsequently soloist and teacher (1991)
  • Are Sandbakken (viola), member of the Oslo String Quartet, Professor of Chamber Music at the Norwegian State Academy of Music (2003)
  • Dmitri Shebalin (viola), member of the Borodin String Quartet (1991)
  • Milan Skampa (viola), member of the Smetana Quartet (1988)
  • David Soyer (cello), founder member of the Guaneri String Quartet (2003)
  • Jean Sulem (viola), founder member of the Rosamonde String Quartet (2000 & 2003)
  • Jan Talich (viola), founder member of the Talich String Quartet (1994)
  • Lousie Williams (violin), founder member of the Endellion String Quartet (2000)
  • Donald Weilerstein (violin), former first violinist of the Cleveland Quartet (1997)
Winners  |  About the Competition  |  The Prizes  |  Rules and Repertoire  |  Juries  |  Past Winners
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