Jury members

Now regarded as one of the finest cellists of the younger generation, Alexander Chaushian has performed extensively throughout the world as a soloist with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the Academy of St Martin-in- the-Fields, The London Mozart Players, The Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, The Boston Pops and The Armenian Philharmonic, and has given highly acclaimed performances in such venues as London’s Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall, Sala Verdi Milan, Konzerthaus Vienna, Suntory Hall Japan, the main Carnegie Hall New York, and Symphony Hall Boston.

He performs regularly in festivals throughout the world and is the Artistic Director of the International Pharos Chamber Music Festival in Cyprus and the Yerevan Music Festival in Armenia.

After initial studies in Armenia, Alexander Chaushian studied in the UK at the Menuhin School and the Guildhall School, London. He then pursued advanced studies at the Hochschule Berlin, graduating with distinction in 2005. He is a laureate prize winner of many international competitions including the 12th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the ARD Competition in Germany. As an alumnus of Young Concert Artists, New York, he toured extensively in the USA.

Cellist Gloria Kim is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music as well as Assistant Artist Manager at IMG Artists and Enticott Music Management, managing artists such as Alan Gilbert, Nikolaj Szeps Znaider, Kirill Gerstein, and Dinis Sousa amongst many others.

As a passionate chamber musician, Gloria is a member of the Royal Academy of London string quintet who has performed tours worldwide such as at the Stradivari Festival and Lerici Festival in Italy, Al Bustan Festival in Lebanon, as well as concerts in Portugal and France amongst many others working closely with bandoneon player Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi and composer Khaled Mouzanar. Her quartet at the Academy was also a part of the Frost A.S.S.E.T chamber music scheme. During her time at Juilliard, her piano trio worked closely with Areta Zhulla from the Juilliard String Quartet and performed in Alice Tully Hall.

Gloria has participated in masterclasses from world renowned musicians Steven Isserlis, Astrid Schween, Tamas Varga, Brian Manker, Nina Lee, John Myerscough, Phillip Ying, Marcy Rosen, and Ayano Ninomiya. Gloria is the winner of the 2021 Muriel Taylor Cello Prize in London and was a recipient of the Helen Rachael Mackaness Award at the Royal Academy of Music throughout her studies.

Massimo Magri was born in Pescara in 1958. After studying at the local Conservatory he completed his degrees with R. Filippini, R. Aldulescu, D. Asciolla in Italy and M. Flaksman in Switzerland.

He won while still a student as principal about I Pomeriggi Musicali Orchestra in Milan, was selected for the European Community Youth Orchestra (ECYO) and performed as soloist with the Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese.  In 1987 was invited as principal at the Teatro dell' Opera in Rome. With I Solisti Aquilani performed as soloist for 20 years worldwide. He has been a performer at the Carnegie Hall and Guggenheim Museum Auditorium in New York, Coliseum in Buenos Aires, Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Teresa Carreno in Caracas, Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, Schönbrunn in Vienna, Beethoven Hall in Bonn, Teatro Real in Madrid, Dubai Opera and in major cities and capitals in Europe, the United States, Central and South America, the Middle and Far East, recording with prestigious labels with internationally renowned musicians. He collaborated on the programming and artistic project of I Solisti Aquilani.  He has been artistic director of the Accademia Musicale Pescarese and currently of the "L. Barbara" Theater and Music Society in Pescara.

Cello teacher in many Conservatory of Music, he was elected for two terms (2011–2014, 2014–2017)  as director of the Pescara  "Luisa D'Annunzio" Conservatory by appointment of the Italian Minister of University and Research.

Cellist Tim Park has been praised for his energetic and exhilarating performances as well as for his expressive and beautiful sound. Enjoying a multifaceted career, performances as concert soloist, orchestral and chamber musician has brought Tim to concert halls and stages in over 20 countries.

Tim has performed with the New York Chamber Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin, Berliner Symphoniker, Philharmomie Sudwestfalen, Tel-Aviv Camerata, Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Lithuanian National Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, as well as orchestras in Korea including the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, Incheon Philharmonic Orchestra and the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra under conductors such as Myung Whun Chung, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Dmitri Jurowski, Leonard Slatkin, Gerard Schwarz, Theodore Kuchar, Nabil Shehata and Eduard Topchjan.

In 2013, Tim was awarded the Grand Prize of the Washington Award S&R Foundation which led to performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and the Strathmore Hall in Baltimore, as well as a performance of the Dvorak Concerto with the New Orchestra of Washington.

An avid recitalist and chamber musician, Tim has collaborated with some of today’s leading artists at music festivals worldwide. He has been a performer at the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, Intonations Festival in Berlin, Salzburg Festival, Schleswig- Holstein Musik Festival, Ludwigsburg Schlossfestspiele, Lucerne Festival, Bürgenstock Festival, International Pharos Chamber Music Festival in Cyprus, Santander Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, International Chamber Music Festival a l‘Emperi in Salon, France and the Le Pont Music Festival in Ako and Himeji Japan.

Ignatius Sokal holds two first class postgraduate degrees in Music Composition – from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw (Poland) and from the Birmingham Conservatoire (UK). Born in Belarus, he has worked with several independent companies creating chamber, symphonic and electronic music for theatre and film in Europe. Before joining Askonas Holt in 2018, Ignatius collaborated with the Belarus Free Theatre, a London-based experimental theatre company, where he oversaw the musical side of the performances and simultaneously used his linguistic arsenal to act as an interpreter. In addition to English, Ignatius fluently speaks Ukrainian, Belarusian, Russian, and Polish.

As an Artist Manager to renowned conductors and instrumentalists in an international artist management company, Ignatius Sokal has grown professionally. He collaborates with opera houses, concert halls, record labels, PR agencies, and promoters around the world, showcasing his ability to work on a global scale.

Artists Ignatius works with closely include: Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Thomas Adès CBE, Cristian Mӑcelaru, Kirill Karabits OBE, Nicola Benedetti CBE, Sergey Khachatryan, Alina Ibragimova.