Jury Members

• Václav Hudeček – Chairman of the Jury, violin virtuoso
  
  Václav Hudeček is one of the outstanding Czech violinists of our time. In 1959 and between 1964-1968 he studied, first privately then as a student at the Prague Conservatoire, with Josef Micka. In the autumn of 1967, at the age of 15, he started his international career by appearing as soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. He is the only Czech pupil of the legendary David Oistrakh. He graduated from the Prague Academy of Musical Arts in the class of Václav Snítil. Since his London debut, he has given concerts in all the great international concert halls (Carnegie Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Suntory Hall, Osaka Festival Hall, Sydney Opera) and appeared as soloist with many of the world's great orchestras (Berliner Philharmoniker, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, NHK Philharmonic Orchestra, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Moscow State Philharmony). Václav Hudeček commits a substantial part of his time to bringing up a new generation of violinists, either at the summer Václav Hudeček Academy, an annual master course held in the spa town of Luhacovice, or by introducing the best young players as guests of his Christmas concert tours and during the Prague Festival of Music. In 2007 he was awarded the state Order of Merit by president Vaclav Klaus, in recognition of his outstanding achievement in the arts.In 2012, on the occasion of his bithday, he received the Silver Medal of the City of Prague from its mayor, Dr.Bohuslav Svoboda.. Two years later he became the city's honorary citizen. In 2015 Václav Hudeček was awarded by the president of the Italian republic the Order of the Knight of the Star of Italy - „Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d‘Italia“.
  www.vaclav-hudecek.cz
• Milan Vítek - Oberlin Conservatory of Music, USA
  Milan Vitek has been professor of violin at Oberlin Conservatory since 2001, and is Emeritus Professor at the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music in Denmark. He was a professor at the Royal Danish Music Academy in Copenhagen from 1974 to 2001, and a guest professor at the Music Academy in Gothenburg, Sweden, from 1992 to 2001. Before moving to Denmark in 1968, Prof. Vitek was a founding member, concertmaster and soloist with the Prague Chamber Soloists conducted by Vaclav Neumann, member of the Czech Nonet, chamber ensemble of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the piano trio Pro Camera. In Denmark, he was alternate concert master with the Danish Royal Orchestra and a founder of the Danish Chamber Orchestra. Following two years as a professor and a member of the Czech String Quartet at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, Milan Vitek returned to Denmark in 1974 to become Professor at the Royal Danish Music Academy. During this time, he co-founded the Trio Pro Arte, which made acclaimed recordings of the complete Brahms trios and trios by Smetana and Mendelssohn for the BIS label. He also founded the Royal Danish Conservatory Chamber Orchestra giving concerts with performers like Yehudi Menuhin, J. P. Rampal, and Michel Debost. Prof. Vitek is much in demand as a teacher at master classes such as Aldeburgh (England), Keshet Eilon (Israel), Yokosuka Festival (Japan) a Yuriko Kuronuma Academy (Mexico City), Weikersheim (Germany) and Savonlinna (Finland), Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu Conservatories. He has adjudicated international violin competitions in Denmark - where he is President of the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition - Germany, Japan, Estonia and Italy. His students are winners and laureates of among others, the Carl Nielsen, J. Kocian, Heino Eller, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, Washington International, Yehudi Menuhin International, the Jean Sibelius Violin Competitions and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Professor Vitek was also in much demand as a conductor of orchestras in all of Scandinavia, Czech Republic and Switzerland. Milan Vitek is Artistic director of his three-week summer master class program for strings in Litomysl, Czech Republic, which he founded in 1996. https://www.oberlin.edu/milan-vitek
• Jiří Fišer – Prague Conservatoire, Prague Grammar and Music School
  Jiří Fišer graduated from the Plzeň Conservatoire in the class of Antonín Moravec. In 1971 he attended a master course given by Nathan Milstein. Between 1978 and 1985 he held the post of deputy leader of the Suk Chamber Orchestra. He then became first violinist of the Doležal Quartet. Since 1996 Jiří Fišer has taught both at the Prague Music School and the Prague Conservatoire. The outstanding artistic achievements and competition successes of his pupils - Jan Mráček, Petra Vilánková, Petr Matěják, to name but a few - make him one of the most important violin teachers of our time.
• Pavel Kudelásek – Prague Conservatoire, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
  
  Pavel Kudelásek graduated from the Prague Conservatoire in the class of Jaroslav Foltýn and from the Prague Academy in that of Antonín Moravec. He completed his studies with Kato Havas. He was instrumental in setting up the violin department of the České Budějovice Conservatoire. Since 1993 he has been professor of violin at the Prague Conservatoire and has also taught at the Prague Music School. He has written a number of musicological works (eg. “On the Performance of Bach's Sonatas and Partitas”). He is a frequent member of the jury in both domestic and international competitions and regularly gives violin masterclasses. Apart from his solo career, Pavel Kudelásek is a sought-after chamber player, having held posts in a number of outstanding ensembles (Czech Chamber Orchestra, Dvořák Quartet, Pro Arte Antiqua) and having collaborated with the Czech Nonet. In 2006 he was given the Rudolf II Award by the Masaryk Academy of Arts for promoting Czech music.
  www.triartmanagement.cz
• Jiří Panocha – Leader of the Panocha Quartet, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague
  Jiří Panocha's violin career began at an early age. In 1972 he was a prize-winner at the Karajan Competition in Berlin and was appointed leader of the International Student Orchestra under Karajan's baton. He has given concerts in most countries of Europe, as well as in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan and elsewhere. In 1968, as a student at the Prague Conservatoire, he founded the Panocha Quartet under the guidance of Josef Micka. This young ensemble then moved on to the Prague Academy of Musical Arts. Under Panocha's leadership, the quartet has since travelled the world and made innumerable recordings for both Czech and international record companies. As professor of violin at the Prague Academy, Jiří Panocha is committed to bringing up a new generation of young violinists. The uninterrupted existence of the Panocha Quartet, who have played in an unchanged line-up since 1971, is testament to his skills in bringing together and leading a group of musicians.
  Panochovo-kvarteto
• Milan Puklický – Music director of the Czech radio
  Milan Puklický was born on 8 April 1952 in Prague. His first violin teacher was Ferdinand Gotwald, a pupil of Otakar Ševčík. He studied at the Prague Conservatoire, then graduated from the Academy of Music in the class of Josef Vlach. Before 1985 he performed as a soloist and member of various chamber ensembles both in Europe and America. He broadened his musical education through private studies of composition and conducting. Since 1985 he has worked as a music director for the then Czechoslovak, now Czech Radio; since 1995 he has followed that career exclusively. In that capacity he has worked for a number of Czech and foreign record companies as well as many ensembles and soloists. He has collaborated on many recordings, some of which were awarded important international prizes – in recent years the complete orchestral works of Leoš Janáček and the 3 Fragments from Martinů´s opera Julietta, both with Sir Charles Mackerras, and a recording of the Smetana piano trio, a BBC Recording of the Year.
• Pavel Zejfart – Member of the Panocha Quartet, ZUŠ Kladno
  
  Pavel Zejfart was initially torn between singing, acting and playing the piano. As a child he appeared as singer and actor in Hans Krása's opera Brundibár, in a television production of Dickens' Oliver Twist and in Vaclav Krška's film adaptation of Turgenev's Torrents of Spring. He began playing the violin only at the age of eleven, and following private tuition with Josef Micka, later became his pupil at the Prague Conservatoire. In 1968 he joined, as 2nd violinist, the newly-founded Panocha Quartet. Pavel Zejfart studied chamber music with Raphael Hillyer in Weimar and concluded his studies at the Prague Academy in the class of Nora Grumlíková. As member of the now renowned quartet he has won numerous awards – the Prague Spring Competition (1975), the Medaille d'Or (Bordeaux 1976), the Sterne der Woche (Munich 1982),a Golden Disc (Supraphon 1982), the Grand Prix d'Academie Charles Cros (Paris 1983) and the prestigious MIDEM Classical Award (Cannes 1995). At various times he has taught at the Lake District Summer School of Music in England, at Yale University in Norfolk, Virginia and at the Kusatsu Academy in Japan. Panochovo-kvarteto