1998 Laureates
Judith Ingolfsson, Iceland – Gold Medalist
Since winning the Gold Medal of the prestigious International Violin Competition of Indianapolis in 1998, the violinist Judith Ingolfsson has established herself worldwide as an artist of uncompromising musical integrity, extraordinary technical command and charismatic performance style.
Judith Ingolfsson has been heard with over one-hundred orchestras in the United States, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Abroad, her engagements have included the Bollington Festival Orchestra (UK), Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Jenaer Philharmonie, Neubrandenburg Philharmonie, the Bohemian Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech Republic), Filarmonica de Stat Sibiu (Romania), Saratov Philharmonic (Russia), Royal Chamber Orchestra of Tokyo, Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, the Iceland Symphony and the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra. She has collaborated with many of the acclaimed maestri of our time, including Jesus López-Cobos, Raymond Leppard, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Gerard Schwarz, Rico Saccani and Leonard Slatkin. Ms. Ingolfsson was also heard as soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in 2000 on its highly acclaimed 15-city North American tour, highlighted by performances at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
Judith Ingolfsson’s recital performances have taken her to many of the world’s leading stages including Carnegie Hall, National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, Cleveland Museum of Art, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, Reyjavík Arts Festival, Pro Arte Musicale of Puerto Rico, La Asociación Nacional de Conciertos de Panamá, Macao Cultural Center, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Center, the Bargemusic series in Brooklyn and Konzerthaus Berlin. An avid chamber musician, she has collaborated with the Avalon, Miami and Vogler String Quartets and the Broyhill Chamber Ensemble, and has appeared as a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two on tour and at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Her festival appearances include the Appalachian Summer Festival, Boulder Bach Festival, Cape and Islands Chamber Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Strings in the Mountains Music Festival, Finland’s Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Germany’s Bodensee Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Poland’s “New Faces, New Music” Festival and the Spoleto Festival USA. Since 2006, she tours with the pianist Vladimir Stoupel as The Ingolfsson-Stoupel Duo.
Prior to her triumph at the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, Ms. Ingolfsson was a top prizewinner at numerous national and international competitions, including the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York City, the D’Angelo International Young Artists Competition and the Paganini International Violin Competition in Genoa, Italy. In 1999, National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” named her “Debut Artist of the Year” for her “remarkable intelligence, musicality, and sense of insight.” She is also the recipient of the 2001 Chamber Music America/WQXR Record Award for her debut CD on Catalpa Classics. Her recording of Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra, available on the BPO Live label, was released in 2007. Her CD “En Hommage: Simon Laks” was released on EDA in 2010. In 2011 Judith Ingolfsson released a highly acclaimed recording of the Ysaye Solo Sonatas on the GENUIN label and, together with the pianist Vladimir Stoupel, a CD on the AUDITE label including works of Shostakovich and Stravinsky.
Born in Reykjavik, Iceland to an Icelandic father and Swiss mother, Judith Ingolfsson began her violin studies at the age of three and gave her first public performance on Icelandic State Television at age five. At the age of eight she recorded as soloist with the Iceland Symphony for Icelandic State Radio and a few weeks later performed her orchestral solo debut in Germany. Her family immigrated to the United States in 1980, and at the age of 14 was admitted to The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied with Jascha Brodsky. She went on to earn her Master’s degree and Artists Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music as a student of David Cerone and Donald Weilerstein. She is currently Professor at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart and co-artistic director and founder of Festival International “Aigues-Vives en Musiques” in France.
She performs on a Lorenzo Guadagnini violin, crafted in 1750, and a Dominique Peccatte bow. She also uses a baroque bow made by the modern German maker Bastian Muthesius.
Liviu Prunaru, Romania – Silver Medalist
Violinist Liviu Prunaru won the Silver Medal at the 1998 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, where a reviewer from The Strad wrote that his performance was “Technical mastery…he can turn a single phrase with one note.” He gained international recognition through his participation at several prestigious violin competitions winning Gold Medals at the Dong-A competition in Korea, the Rodolfo Lipizer in Italy, and the R. Molinari Violin Competition in Switzerland, in addition to a Silver Medal at the Queen Elizabeth in Brussels. After capturing First Grand Prizes at the E. Nakamichi Wieniawski Violin Competition and the Juilliard Mendelssohn Competition, Mr. Prunaru made his New York City debut in 1999 with the Juilliard Symphony at Alice Tully Hall.
Mr. Prunaru has performed recitals in many of the world’s major cultural centers and has been a featured soloist with orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic, the London Symphony, Belgium National, Bucharest Radio-Symphony, and the Puchon Philharmonic in Korea. His work has also been in demand at renowned festivals including the Menuhin, Brussels, Buenos Aires, Evian, Athens, and Salzburg festivals. Mr. Prunaru can be heard on CD with Camerata Lysy, as well as his own debut CD released by Pavane Records. He recently released a disc on the Swiss label Claves which includes the three violin concertos by Camille Saint-Saëns, accompanied by the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, directed by Lawrence Foster.
Born in Craiova, Romania, Mr. Prunaru studied at the renowned Menuhin Academy of Gstaad, Switzerland and completed his professional studies at The Juilliard School where he was an assistant to Dorothy DeLay and actively participated in master classes with Itzhak Perlman. Currently a professor at the Menuhin Academy in Switzerland, Mr. Prunaru performs on a 1676 Guarneri violin graciously loaned to him by Professor M. Muller.
Ju-Young Baek, South Korea – Bronze Medalist
Violinist Ju-Young Baek’s extensive solo concert engagements have taken her to some of the world’s most prestigious venues. She has been presented in recital at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and the Seoul Arts Center. Ms. Baek has also performed as soloist with many orchestras including the London Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Finnish Radio Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Korean Broadcasting System Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Tblisi Philharmonic, the Alma-Ata Symphony in Kazakhstan, and with Norway’s Oslo, Drammen, and Baerum Symphony Orchestras.
An active chamber musician, Ms. Baek has performed at the festivals of Marlboro, Ravinia, and Bridgehampton as well as at Juilliard’s FOCUS! Festival, the Salzburg Summer Music Festival, the Rencontres Musicales Festival in Evian, France, and at the Kusatsu International Music Festival in Japan.
The recipient of numerous awards, Ju-Young Baek received the Bronze Medal at the 1998 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, along with four Special Prizes. Her competition successes include First Place Prizes at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Astral Artistic Services Auditions, and the International Dong-A Violin Competition (Korea). She won top prizes at the International Paganini, the Queen Elisabeth International, the Concours International Long-Thibaud, and the International Sibelius violin competitions, as well as The Philadelphia Orchestra Young Artists Competition.
Ms. Baek holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Aaron Rosand. She received a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School where she was a student of Robert Mann. She continued with Professional Studies at both the Manhattan School of Music and the Conservatoire Nationale Superieur de Paris, studying with Lucie Robert and Jean-Jacques Kantorow, respectively. In 2005, she was appointed the youngest violin faculty member in history at the prestigious Seoul National University.
Svetlin Roussev, Bulgaria – Fourth Place Laureate
Since winning the first prize at the widely acclaimed first Sendai International Competition in May 2001, the charismatic violin virtuoso Svetlin Roussev enjoys a prestigious international career in many of the world’s major concert halls, including the Bolshoi Theatre and Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, Suntory Hal in Tokyo, Seoul Arts Center, Salle Pleyel, UNESCO, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Théâtre du Châtelet, Cité de la Musique, Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, Bulgaria National Concert Hall, Budapest’s Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, Konzerhaus in Berlin, Centro Cultural Kirchner in Buenos Aires, Palais des Beaux Arts de Bruxelles and the Palais of the United Nations in Geneva.
Roussev is a regular guest soloist with various orchestras such as the Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra (Bucharest), Romanian National Radio Orchestra, Cremerata Baltica, Bulgarian National Radio among others. In the USA, Latin America, Asia and Europe he has performed under the baton of conductors such as Myung-Whun Chung, Leon Fleisher, Yehudi Menuhin, Yuzo Toyama, Marek Janowski, Emmanuel Krivine, François-Xavier Roth, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Denis Russel-Davies, Lionel Bringuier and Emil Tabakov. Svetlin has been leading and conducting various ensembles and orchestras since 2000 in Bulgaria, France, Poland, Korea, Japan and Sweden.
Roussev shares his love for music with an ever-widening public through his chamber music performances, playing with partners such as Myung-Whun Chung, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Yeol-Eum Son, Peter Frankl, Ralph Gothoni, Jean-Marc Luisada, Bertrand Chamayou, Jean-Philippe Collard, Antoine Tamestit, Maxim Rysanov, Gary Hoffman, Gautier Capuçon, Jian Wang, François Leleux, Paul Meyer, Nikolaj Znaider, Ning Feng. He is a founding member of the Roussev-Salque-Rozanova Trio.
With remarkable virtuosity and intensity, Svetlin performs a broad repertoire ranging from the baroque to the contemporary. He is renowned for his renditions of Slavic compositions and keenly promotes Bulgarian music. Acclaimed Bulgarian Musician of the Year in 2006, his home country honoured him again in 2007 and 2016 with the Cristal Lyra distinction awarded by the Ministry of Culture. In 2018, Mr Roussev became an Honorary Citizen of his hometown Ruse, along with the Nobel Prize of literature Elias Canetti.
Following his successful CD recording of pieces by Pancho Vladigerov with the pianist Elena Rozanova (Ambroisie) Roussev brought out his recording of Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Concerto Funèbre with the Orchestre d’Auvergne, sonatas by Grieg and Medtner with pianist Frédéric D’Oria-Nicolas, “Fire and Ice” with the Sibelius and Vladigerov n1 violin concertos conducted by Emil Tabakov and the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra under the French labels Integral and Fondamenta. In 2016, DECCA released the piano trios by Mendelssohn n1 and Dvorak “Dumky” with Elena Rozanova and François Salque followed by works by Ysaÿe for violin and orchestra (Musique en Wallonie) and Lalo Symphonie Espagnole under the baton of Jean-Jacques Kantorow.
Roussev is a professor at his alma mater at the prestigious Haute École de Musique in Geneva after 10 years being a professor at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. He has been giving violin and chamber music masterclass around the world. He is also the artistic advisor and artist in residence of the March Music Days International Festival in his hometown Ruse after serving as artistic director and artist in residence of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra.
Svetlin Roussev has won numerous prizes at many international competitions, including Indianapolis, Long-Thibaud and Melbourne. At the Sendai International Music Competition he also garnered the audience prize and the Best Bach concerto performance. He began his musical education at a very young age, studying under his mother, a professor at the music school in his home town of Ruse, Bulgaria. At the age of 15, he was accepted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris where he studied under Gérard Poulet, Devy Erlih and Jean-Jacques Kantorow. Three years later, the jury unanimously awarded him the first prize for violin and chamber music. Subsequently he entered the postgraduate program.
Svetlin Roussev performs on the Stradivarius 1710 Camposelice violin kindly loaned by the Nippon Music Foundation.
More on Svetlin Roussev : Svetlin Roussev, Tanguisimo
Andrew Haveron, Great Britain – Fifth Place Laureate
Andrew Haveron is currently Co-Concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2013. With his unrivalled versatility, he is also highly respected as a soloist, chamber musician and concertmaster.
As a soloist, he has played concertos with conductors such as Colin Davis, Roger Norrington, Jiří Bělohlávek, Stanisław Skrowaczewski and John Wilson, as well as David Robertson, performing a broad range of well-known and less familiar repertoire with many of the UK’s finest orchestras.
As first violinist of the internationally acclaimed Brodsky Quartet (1999-2007), his work included collaborations with artists ranging from Anne-Sofie von Otter and Alexander Baillie to iconic crossover work with Elvis Costello, Björk, Paul McCartney and Sting. He recorded more than 15 albums with the quartet, many of which won awards such as Diapason d’or and Choc du Monde de la Musique. He has also appeared with numerous other chamber groups, such as the Nash and Hebrides ensembles, the Logos Chamber Group, Kathy Selby, and the Omega Ensemble.
Andrew Haveron is in great demand as a concertmaster and director, and has worked with all the major symphony orchestras in the UK and many others around the world. In 2007 he became concertmaster of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and in 2012 he joined the Philharmonia Orchestra. He also led the World Orchestra for Peace at the request of Valery Gergiev, and he has been the leader of the John Wilson Orchestra since its inception.
Born in London in 1975, Andrew Haveron studied at the Purcell School and the Royal College of Music and in 1996 was the highest British prize winner at the Paganini Competition for the past 50 years. In 2004 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Kent for his services to music.
Andrew Haveron plays a 1757 Guadagnini violin, generously loaned to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra by Vicki Olsson.
Bin Huang, China – Sixth Place Laureate
Bin Huang endeared herself to the musical world when at age fourteen she won the Junior Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Lublin, Poland, sharing First Prize with Maxim Vengerov. She has maintained international prominence, winning both the Paganini International Violin Competition in Genoa, Italy in 1994 and the Munich International Music Competition in 1999. Ms. Huang has been universally lauded for her interpretive and technical skills, hailed as “a talent that leaves a listener flabbergasted…” (The Sun, Baltimore), and “a winner at what matters the most…” (The Washington Post).
Bin Huang’s live recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto on Paganini’s own violin, the “Cannon,” is the only live recording played on that legendary instrument. Both the Audio Review in Italy and the Diapason in France have highly praised this CD: “The Chinese violinist astounded the listener with both her technical abilities and her musical maturity: ideal intonation, elegant lines…everything that gives the concerto its noble character…” (Diapason, France, September 2000). During 2002-2003 season, Bin Huang appeared in the People’s Great Hall in Beijing as one of the ten most outstanding Chinese performing artists living abroad. Her recent recording of the “Baroque Violin Favorites” has been released on the Naxos label, The Strad magazine praised her for her ” commendable technique and vigorous energy” (The Strad, March, 2003). Upcoming engagements enclude New Year Concert with the Genoa Youth Symphony Orchestra in Budapest, appearances with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta in Hong Kong and with the Shanghai Symphony in Washington D.C., tours in Italy and China, and recitals in the United States.
Regularly appearing in concerts throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States, her career has brought engagements with leading orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony, the Czech Philharmonic, the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Chamber Orchestra, the Korean Broadcasting System Symphony, and the Baltimore Symphony.
As the result of her love for chamber music, she formed the Fideo Piano Trio together with cellist Soo Bae, and pianist Hyun-Sun Kim in 2002 and it has performed in concerts in the United States including a performance in Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center and in Toronto, Canada. In the summers, she as participated in the Marlboro Music Festival where she has coached and performed with members of the Beaux Arts Trio and the Juilliard and Guarneri String Quartets.
Bin Huang began her violin studies at age four in her hometown of Hunan, China, and entered the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing at age nine. After graduating from its high school, she came to the United States to study at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where she earned her Bachelor of Music and Artist Diploma degrees. Her major teachers include Shu-Min Guo, Zhi-Long Wang, Berl Senofsky, Igor Ozim, Dorothy DeLay, Hyo Kang and Gennady Kleyman. She has also won top prizes in the Jacque Thibaud International Violin Competition in France, the Prague Spring International Music Competition in Czech Republic, the Tchaikovsky International Violin Competition in Russia, the Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition in Belgium, the Hanover International Violin Competition in Germany, the Dong-A International Violin Competition in Korea, and the Indianapolis International Violin Competition in the USA.