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YSAYE
International Music Competition
Edition 2025
Violin Junior - Senior
PRESELECTION February 24 - 28, 2025 Vise, Belgium
SEMIFINAL April 28 - Mai 1, 2025 Vise, Belgium
FINAL July 7 - 9, 2025 Liege Philharmonic Hall
Rules
Program
Jury 2025
Coming soon
Jury 2024
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF YIMC
ASHOT KHACHATOURIAN
Belgium
Ashot Khachatourian is considered as one of the most inspiring artist of his generation.
He started playing the piano at the age of five with Valentina Melikyan and Elena Galustova at the Charles Aznavour Music School in his home country. He then continued his studies with Gerard Wyss in Basel, Switzerland, Eliso Virssaladze in Fiesole and Munich, supported and guided by Maria João Pires as a young most inspiring talent of his generation.
Creator and artistic director of YSAYE INTERNATIONAL MUSIC COMPETITION.
Ashot Khachatourian has particularly excelled in his interpretations of Rachmaninov’s 2nd and 3rd concertos. He won the 1st Prize of the Rachmaninov Piano Competition and the 1st Prize of the Martha Argerich Piano Competition in 2007. He is also a 2nd Prize winner of the Top of the World Piano Competition in 2011 and Concours d’Epinal in 2013.
The virtuoso has been invited to perform in BBC Radio London St Luke’sand with many important orchestras such as the London Chamber Orchestra, the Norway Radio Orchestra, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Wallonie Royal Chamber Orchestra, The Olympique Orchestra, Lausanne Sinfonietta, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and to collaborate with masters such as Jan Caeyers, Rodolfo Fisher, Augustin Dumay, Daniele Gatti, Thomas Søndergård, Christopher Warren-Green and others. Ashot has appeared at the Salle Pleyel, Cortot, Salle Molière, Salle Gaveau, the Berliner Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Flagey, Cadogan Hall, Palais des Beaux Arts, Concertgebouw Brugge, Musis Sacrum Arnhem, Saint-Petersburg Philharmonie, De Singel Antwerp, TivoliVredenburg Utrecht, Muziekgebouw Frits Philips Eindhoven, Palau de la musica Valencia, Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg and other prestigious halls of the world.
As a chamber musician, Ashot Khachatourian collaborates with outstanding artists such as Misha Maisky, Maxim Vengerov, Cho-Liang Lin, Ivan Monighetti, Liana Issakadze, Zakhar Bron, Augustin Dumay, Gary Hoffman, Toby Hoffman Gerard Caussé and others. Today, Ashot Khachatourian shares his time between concerts and recordings. His first solo recording dedicated to Haydn and Beethoven was released in 2013, in 2019 his solo recording dedicated to Chopin by Azur Classical. The recording was received with critical acclaim by the international press. Ashot's next album will be released in 2022, again on Azur Classical, and feature works by Schubert and Beethoven.
He regularly shares concerts in duo with Maria João Pires all over the world proving his exceptional talent and revealing a musical soul at its purest.
DANIEL WEISSMANN
France
Daniel Weissmann is a musical expert, characterized by an extraordinary artistic expresivity, with a career which is remarkable due to its dynamism and complexity. The French musician was born in 1956 and studied violin and chamber music at the „Ecole Normale de Musique” in Paris and the „Royal Conservatory” in Brussels. His early professional experiences made him a major figure in the artistic world, both as a musician and as an artistic director. His experience as an artistic director began with his collaboration as a general delegate with the Dokhan Foundation, the main partner of the Versailles Baroque Musical Center and the Versailles Palace Musical Autumn, which functions under the auspices of „Fondation de France”. He worked for a decade as a musical expert for the Bourgogne Commission for Cultural Affairs and Music within the Culture and Communication Ministry.
In 2003 Daniel Weissmann collaborated with the Denon Museum for which he conceptualized and created a Festival and an exhibit in honor of Pierre Baillot and the 19th Centrury French Violin School. Following the success of this project he created the Baillot Foundation which functions under the auspices of the Luxembourg Ministry of Culture, Research and Higher Learning. His career as a musician was launched in 1984 when he began playing the violin in the Bergonzi trio which he founded. He has a rich academic activity . In 1999 Daniel Weissmann founded “Mosaïques – Centre de création et de diffusion musicales” (Mosaics – Centre for creation and musical broadcasting). In 2007 the city of Dijon ask him to conduct the new project of a region orchestra involving Opéra orchestra and Camerata de Bourgogne ; this orchestra is now associate to the Opéra de Dijon and after this sucess, he is apointed as général manager of Liège Royal Philharmonic orchestra since 2015.
As a violist the begin a collection, under the belgian label Fuga Libera-Outhere music, on the romantic viola repertoire.
CHAIRMAN OF THE JURY
FINAL
CHAIRMAN OF THE JURY
SEMIFINAL
PHILIPPE KOCH
Belgium - Luxemburg
In addition to being leader of the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Philippe Koch is a professor of violin at the Luxemburg Conservatoire and the Liège Royal Conservatoire, a soloist, a chamber musician and a co-founder of the Koch Trio with his daughter Laurence (violon) and his son Jean-Philippe (piano): they played together all over the world, especially at the Berliner Philharmonie, in London,Tokyo, Paris, Dublin, and in many famous festivals… One of their recording was nominated at the Classical Awards. They received the distinction of "Export Artist Luxemburg" and were also chosen by the grand-ducal Court as Representative Artist for the official visit at the imperial Court in Japan.
As a descendant of the famous Belgium School of Violin (H.Vieuxtemps, E.Ysaye, A.Grumiaux, H.Koch…), after perfecting his craft with master violinists C. Ferras, P. Amoyal and mostly during 6 years with A. Grumiaux, he embarked on a solo career in Europe, Japan, Canada, Korea (Center of Art), the United States and Latin America, performing concerti and other works with many famous orchestras and conductors as P. Jaarvi, Y. Ahronovich, A.Dmitriev, E. Krivine, M.Stern, B.Towey, G.Gimeno, K. Min... He played more than 30 different concerti from Bach to Korngold, through Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovski, Brahms, Dvorak, Kachaturian, Piazzola, Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy and concerto. He has recorded more than 35 CDs, many of which have won prestigious awards (including twice the Diapason d’or, Choc de la musique, Recommandé par Répertoire, Classica and Pizzicato). He has served as a judge at the Concours Grumiaux, Concours Vieuxtemps and twice for the famous Queen Elisabeth Competition (violin). Philippe Koch is also chamber musician, performing with the Trio Grumiaux, the Brussels String Quartet, the Quatuor Louvigny, G. Caussé, A.R.El Bacha, F.Moguilevski, J.C.Vanden Heyden, S. Wieder-Atherton, P. Gililov, L. Devos, M. Kliegel, and many others.
As a teacher he regularly gives master classes around the world (Japan, Korea, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Latin America…) and a lot of his students are now members of different orchestras in many countries (Belgium, Holland, Chile, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, Luxemburg) or teachers through Europe, Asia and South America.
Philippe Koch is also "Chevalier avec la Couronne de l’Ordre civil et militaire de la famille de Nassau" and "Officier de l’Ordre de Léopold" (Belgique).
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PAVEL VERNIKOV
Switzerland
Pavel Vernikov, a student of David Oistrach and S. Snitkowsky, gained a reputation as virtuoso violinist more than twenty years ago. Among other prizes he won the International ARD Violin Competition in Munich and the Grand Prix at the International ViolinCompetition “Vittorio Gui” in Florence. He has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, La Salle Gaveau in Paris, La Scala in Milan and Santa Cecilia in Rome.For the last 30 years he has been a member of the Tchaikovsky Trio. His artistic partners have included Sviatoslav Richter, James Galway, Alain Meunier, Patrick Gallois, Maria Tipo, Natalia Gutman, Oleg Kagan, Yuri Bashmet, Elisso Virsaladze, Christian Zimmermann and Anthony Pay. He inaugurated the Russian Academy of Higher Learning in Portogruaro and was the Artistic Director of the Gubbio Music Festival, the Dubrovnik Chamber Music Festival and the Eilat Chamber Music Festival. He teaches and gives master classes around the world, in Italy, France, Finland, Spain (Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia Madrid), Israel (Rubin Academy), Germany (Kronberg Academy), etc. and has been invited to be a member of the jury at internationalcompetitions (Szigeti, Kreisler, Gui, ARD-Competition in Munich, Sendai (Japan), Budapest,Sarasate, Wieniawski, etc.).Pavel Vernikov has recorded for RCA, Ondine and Dynamic. He was Professor at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Lyon. At present he’s Professor at the famous Konservatorium Wien University and at the Haute Ecole de Musiquede Lausanne (Site de Sion). Among his many laureate students are people like Massimo Quarta (1. Prize Paganini International Violin Competition, Genua), Fumiaki Miura (1. Prize Hannover International Violin Competition), Lorenza Borrani (Leader of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe), Fanny Clamagirand (1. Prize Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition, Vienna and 1. PrizeInternational Monte Carlo Violin Competition) and Miki Kobayashi (2. Prize Wieniawski Competition).In 2013 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Sion Festival in Switzerland.Pavel Vernikov is playing a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, 1757, violin.
SUNNY LEE
Korea
One of the most sought-after violinists of her generation in Korea is currently a Chief Director of Seoul Central Conservatory and Artistic director of the Ensemble M in Korea. Also she is an honored professor at the Russia National Music Institute in Moscow founded by Ippolitov-Ivanov, as well as faculty of the Yewon School and Seoul Arts High School in Korea. After graduating from Seoul National University, she continued her study at University of Washington, and received Doctorate of Musical Art. Sunny became the last student of Isaac Stern, one of the most renowned violinists of all time.
Sunny Lee has been performing actively both as a soloist and a member of chamber ensemble (Korean Chamber Orchestra). She performed as a soloist with many orchestras including Korean Chamber Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Kyunggi Philharmonic Orchestra, New Tokyo Chamber Orchestra, Beijing Orchestra, Jeunesse Musicales World Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Mozart Orchestra, Orchestra of the Swan in UK, Bayreuth Festival Chamber Orchestra, and Romania Constanza Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a renowned teacher both domestic and abroad, Sunny Lee was invited as a professor to many international music festivals such as the Summit Music Festival and Marrowstone Music Festival in the US, the Isaac Stern Music Festival in Japan, the Isaac Stern Carnegie Hall workshop in the US, and the Varna International Music Festival in Bulgaria. Also she has passionately contributed teaching talented young violinists who distinguish themselves both in national and international competitions.
Due to her remarkable reputation, she has served as a jury member at many major concours in Korea, and was invited to be on the jury at the Tchaikovsky international competition for young artists, the Pancho Vladigerov International Competition in Bulgaria, International Young Artist Competition of Gnesin National University in Moscow, International Balys Dvarionas Competition for Young Pianists and Violinists in Lithuania, International Young Artist Competition of Tchaikovsky Central Music School in Moscow, and Hong Kong International Violin Competition.
In addition Sunny Lee has been serving as the music director of the Korea-Russia Music Festival, fostering cultural exchange between the two countries, and as a member of the consultative committee of Seoul International Music Festival, and the consultative committee of Lotte Cinema.
ALEXANDRE FEYE
Belgium
Alexandre was born in the centre of Belgium in 1985. He started playing the violin at the age of eight with music teacher Benoit Meulemans, from whom he took lessons until entering the Brussels Royal Music Conservatory in 2001.
At the age of 16 he integrated the class of prof. Adam Korniszewski and graduated two years later with high distinction, obtaining the first prize for violin and chamber music in 2003.
In 2006 he received his Master in music with the highest distinction as first nominee (instrument and chamber music). Afterwards he studied two years in the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe (Germany) with the highly distinguished prof. Ulf Hölscher.
He is the first laureate, among others, of the following prizes: Edouard Bastin, Horlait-Dapsens, Van Straelen, Maurice Lefranc and de Bisschop-Matthyssens.
Alexandre has been passionate about chamber music since very young age and has not stopped performing in Belgium and abroad (France, Luxembourg, Spain, Austria, Poland, Romania, Germany, Switzerland, Russia, Mexico, Italy, Hungary, United Kingdom, the Netherlands...) either in recital, duo, piano trio or string quartet.
In 2001 Alexandre Feye founded the CoryFeye quartet together with his cellist brother Raphael. He played first violin in the quartet until 2018.
The quartet was first formed around the members of Danel Quartet, then they honed their craft during two years under the aegis of Artemis Quartet in the Queen Elisabeth Musical Chapel Brussels. The quartet has also the opportunity to work with the members of Alban Berg, Pražak, and Talich quartets.
As a chamber musician, soloist or concertmaster, Alexandre has performed in the majority of the concert halls in Belgium, namely Bozar, Flagey, de Singel, Bruges Concertgebouw etc. as well as in many prestigious European concert places such as Berlin Philharmony, Munich Philharmony, Berlin Konzerthaus, Rome Opera, Luxembourg Philharmony, Polish Baltic Philharmony Gdansk amongst others.
In parallel to his musical career, Alexandre has been passionate about history and ancient languages which he teaches since 1999 in the International School for Greco-Latin Classical Humanities - Schola Nova (Walloon-Brabant, Belgium), of which he is also a co-director since 2017.
GUIDO JARDON
Belgium
Born in Verviers in 1958, Guido Jardon gave his first concerts at the age of thirteen.
In addition to being a graduate of the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Liège in music theory, trumpet, chamber music and piano, he holds the Belgian Government's Virtuosity Prize, the highest national distinction in classical music.
Winner of numerous international competitions, Guido Jardon has embarked on an international career as a pianist, chamber musician, arranger, choral and orchestra conductor, giving regular concerts throughout Europe and in South America.
After teaching piano at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Liège and at the IMEP from 1983 to 2002, Guido JARDON became General Manager of the IMEP - Institut Royal Supérieur de Musique et de Pédagogie, Higher School of Arts in Namur in 2002.
Constantly striving for excellence, he has made a real contribution to the development of the IMEP, which in just a few years has become a unique institute in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, recognised worldwide for its innovative projects and its pedagogical and artistic project, which places the practice and professional integration of students at the heart of their learning.
HRACHYA AVANESYAN
Belgium
Hailed as a "sensitive and highly skilled musician with expressive nuances" (Gramophone Magazine) and a "soloist with passionate power, feeling and sweet tone" (Frankfurter Allgemeine), Hrachya Avanesyan has secured his place as an outstanding violinist with first prizes at the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin and Carl Nielsen competitions.
Avanesyan has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, the Belgian National Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Orchestre de Chambre de Pelléas, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Lille, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, the Liège Philharmonic, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Arthur Rubinstein Philharmonic, the State Orchestra of the Rhenish Philharmonic, the Brussels Philharmonic, the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, the Tokyo Symphony and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. These collaborations have been led by renowned conductors such as Eliahu Inbal, Marc Soustrot, Walter Weller, Lan Shui, Christopher Warren-Green, Joji Hattori, Paul Goodwin, Paul Watkins, Joana Carniero, Alexander Vedernikov, Joshua Weilerstein, Patrick Davin and Daniel Raiskin.
Avanesyan has given stirring concerts in famous concert halls such as Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, London's Wigmore Hall, Salle Gaveau and Théatre des Champs Elysées in Paris, Santury Hall in Tokyo, the Great Hall of the Moscow Kremlin, the Danish Radio Concert Hall in Copenhagen, the National Auditorium in Madrid, and the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. Memorable performances include a joint appearance with Joshua Bell and Maxim Vengerov at St. David's Hall in Cardiff, playing with Ashley and drummer Joshua Bell. Memorable performances include playing with Ashley and drummer Joshua Bell at St. David's Hall in Cardiff, performing with Ashley Wass at the Wigmore Hall, and collaborating with Maria João Pires, Maxim Rysanov, Andreas Brantelid, Alexander Chaushian, Lise de la Salle, Marianna Shirinyan, Lily Maisky, Ashot Khachatourian, Natalia Gutman, Narek Hakhnazaryan and many others at festivals such as Montpellier, Menton, the Strasbourg Music Festival in Memory of Yehudi Menuhin, Al Bustan and the Copenhagen Summer Festival.
Avanesyan's notable discography includes his premiere recording of Vieuxtemps' Violin Concerto No. 2, released in a comprehensive box set of Vieuxtemps' concertos with the Liège Philharmonic Orchestra and Patrick Davin. His highly acclaimed album of music by Dvorak, recorded with Sinfonia Varsovia and Augustin Dumay, was also highly praised. in 2017, his CD of masterpieces by R. Schumann and J. Brahms, recorded with Boris Brovtsyn, Diemut Poppen, Alexander Chaushian and Yevgeny Sudbin, was released on the BIS record label and was named an iTunes A-List recording and BBC's Best Chamber Music Recording of the Year. in 2018, a video recording of his concert with Maria João Pires was released on Imagine Clarity and reached millions of views on the platform.
Born in Armenia, he moved to Belgium at the age of 17 and studied at the Royal Conservatory in Brussels under the direction of Igor Oistrakh. He continued his training at the Queen Elisabeth College of Music with Augustin Dumay and at the Cologne Hochschule with Mihaela Martin. During his studies at the Queen Elisabeth College of Music, he also honed his chamber music skills under the direction of the esteemed Artemis Quartet.
Avanesyan plays on a remarkable 1864 J.B. Vuillaume violin, which enhances the beauty and depth of his performances. With his extraordinary talent and passion, Hrachya Avanesyan captivates audiences around the world and contributes to his ever-growing reputation as one of the most important violinists of his generation.
PHILIPPE LEHAEN
Belgium
Secretary of the YIMC
Director of the Royal Academy César FRANCK of Visé and composer.
Philippe Lehaen started the piano at the age of 7 and give his first concert at the age of 9. He represented his music school as “young talent” on the Belgian television at the age of 13.
Mr. Lehaen finished the music school with a first prize of excellence and received the government medal in 1979. He received a special prize of the Rotary club and got a second prize at the National Competition “Credit Communal de Belgique” in 1980 and recorded several radio broadcasts in Namur and Liège.
In 1984, he got the first prize of piano and chamber music at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Liège and got a certificate of Superior Diploma in Piano in the class of the pianist “Jo ALFIDI” (3rd prize of Queen Elisabeth in 1972).
Philippe LEHAEN teaches piano and Orchestra since 1984. In 2002, he is responsible of several musical exchanges for young students between Belgium, Spain and Hungary.
As a secretary of the competition and mainly of the jury, Philippe produces the YIMC catalogues and helps in the organisation of schedules for rehearsals, juries, pianists and order of the candidates.
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