The Jury
Photo: Nicolaj Lund
Tabita Berglund is one of today´s most exiting, talented young conductors who is fast gaining a reputation for her alert, charismatic and inspiring style which elicits exceptional music-making. Berglund is currently Principal Guest Conductor of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra in Norway. In October 2024 she becomes the new Principal Guest Conductor of Detroit Symphony Orchestra, with whom she made her US debut in 2023. And she will become Principal Guest Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic from the 2025/2026 season.
Symphonic highlights of the 2023/24 season include Berglund ’s debuts with Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Berner Symphonieorchester, Orchestre National de Lyon, Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony, Dresdner Philharmonie, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Musikkollegium Winterthur, and Grafenegg Festival where she joins forces with Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich for the second time and ahead of further performances later in the season. Working together again with Philharmonia Orchestra, Berglund makes her Garsington Opera debut conducting a revival production of Mozart ’s Le nozze di Figaro.
Tabita Berglund,
Chair of the Jury, Norway
Photo: NRK / Nikolaj Lund
Marianna Shirinyan,
Armenia/Denmark
Marianna Shirinyan is one of the most creative and in sought after pianists in Europe today. Her vibrant and virtuoso musicianship puts her in demand, both as soloist and as chamber musician.
She has received Danish Broadcasting Corporation’s prestigious P2 award for her contribution to Danish music life, the critics’ prize from the Association of Danish critics and the Honorary Carl Nielsen award. Marianna is a frequent guest at a string of international music festivals, among them the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Schwetzinger Festspiele, MDR Summer Music Festival and the Festspillene in Bergen.
Marianna has garnered a reputation as a leading pianist of her generation through solo appearances with orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Oslo, Helsinki and Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestras, Potsdammer Kammerakademie, Göteborg Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, among others.
Marianna is a professor of piano at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen and guest professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, in addition to curating several chamber music festivals across Europe.
Photo: Simon Pauly
Martin Grubinger,
Austria
Possibly one of the best multi-percussionist in the world, Martin Grubinger possesses an unusually broad repertoire ranging from solo works and chamber music with partners, including his own Percussive Planet Ensemble, to percussion concertos. His technical perfection, enthusiasm and musical versatility make his performances real ‘must-see’ events and brought the percussion from the back of the orchestra to the middle of the stage.
Born in Salzburg, Martin Grubinger studied at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz and at the Salzburg Mozarteum. He quickly garnered attention through appearances at several international competitions. Martin Grubinger is Professor for Multipercussion at Mozarteum University Salzburg.
Winner of multiple prizes, Martin Grubinger is recipient of the Bernstein Award by the Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival and the prestigious Jeunesses Musicales’ Würth Prize. He has since recorded a number of projects for various labels.
He curates his own series at Wiener Konzerthaus, and has appeared with orchestras worldwide including NHK Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Berliner and Wiener Philharmoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker and BBC Philharmonic.
Martin Grubinger participated in the EYM final in Norway in 2000 and hosted the final in Vienna in 2012.
Photo: Thomas Carlgren
Andreas Sundén was Principal Clarinet in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra before accepting the same position with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2012.
As a soloist, Sundén has appeared with many prominent European orchestra’s and at international Music Festivals. He has been a recipient of several scholarships from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and has won numerous awards in international competitions.
Sundén began his studies at the Norwegian State Academy of Music with Hans Christian Bræin and later with Yehuda Gilad, professor at USC in LA.
In addition to his versatile performance career, Sundén has held Masterclasses in Australia, China, Japan, Korea, USA, throughout Europe and is artistic director at the Summer Academy in Oslo.
He currently holds a Professorship at Ingesund School of Music and teaches at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.
As a jury member he has been in the jury of several international music competitions and as a Jury leader in the latest edition of The International Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition (2023).
Andreas Sundén,
Sweden