The Jury

He studied music at the Escuela Popular de Bellas Artes and the National Conservatory of Music. He also attended masterclasses in Cuba, France and Spain with distinguished teachers including David Russell, Leo Brouwer and José Luis Rodrigo.

He has participated in numerous national and international festivals in countries including Mexico, the United States, Bolivia, Canada, Spain, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany, Turkey, Norway and Denmark, among others.

He currently serves as Rector of the Conservatorio de las Rosas in Morelia, Michoacán.

Linda Hedlund graduated from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in 2002 and subsequently completed a doctorate in violin performance at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in 2010. Since 2019, she has pursued specialised studies in Baroque violin performance at Novia University of Applied Sciences in Finland.

A prizewinner in several music competitions, Linda Hedlund has served as concertmaster at the Pacific Music Festival in Japan (1999), under Michael Tilson Thomas, and with the Tapiola Sinfonietta (2004), among others. She has gained extensive orchestral experience with leading ensembles in Europe and Asia. She has appeared as concertmaster and soloist with Sinfonia da Camera Finlandia, the Austrian Chamber Orchestra and various Baroque ensembles, and has participated in numerous recording projects.

Active internationally as a soloist and chamber musician, Hedlund has collaborated with principal players of the Vienna Philharmonic and pianist Professor Oliver Kern, among others. As a soloist, she has performed with orchestras and ensembles including La Tempesta, the Istanbul Milli Insurance Orchestra, the Vogtland Philharmonie, Ensemble Borromini, Les Solistes de Monte Carlo, the Presidential Orchestra of Northern Cyprus, the Austrian Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Veneto, Accademia di Santa Sofia, the Lohja City Orchestra and the OSUEL Symphony Orchestra in Brazil.

Linda Hedlund has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician at prestigious festivals and concert series, including Helsinki Festival, Turku Music Festival and Jyväskylän Kesä Festival in Finland, Grafenegg Festival in Austria, Nancyphonies in France and the Honart Festival at the Vienna Konzerthaus. She has also performed at Teatro Bibiena in Mantua and Carnegie Hall in New York.

Her performances have been broadcast by numerous international radio and television stations, including Yle in Finland, Rai 3 in Italy, Turkish state television, RSI/Arte in Switzerland, Radio Classic, Borusan Radio, Radio Free Europe in the Czech Republic, ORF in Austria and WFMT in the United States.

Alongside her performing career, Linda Hedlund is an active teacher. She has given masterclasses in several countries, including at the University of Hawaii in the United States, the Cervo Masterclasses in Italy and in countries across South America and Asia. She has also served as a jury member at an international music competition in Singapore.

In 2006, she founded the Emäsalo Music Festival, held every summer in southern Finland.

Her acclaimed debut recording, released in 2008 by the Finnish label Fuga, features pianist Oliver Kern in sonatas by Franck, Saint-Saëns and Debussy. In 2011, she released a second CD with guitarist Otto Tolonen on the Salzburg-based Classic Concert Music Group label.

More recently, Naxos has released two critically acclaimed albums featuring premiere recordings of Finnish works for violin and orchestra.

Shih-yu Liu was born in Taiwan. He earned a Master’s degree in classical guitar from the prestigious Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, New York, studying under Professor Nicholas Goluses.

In 1993, he was admitted to the Taiwan National University of Arts with the highest entrance examination results, majoring in classical guitar. In recognition of his outstanding musical ability, he was selected to perform a guitar concerto with the university orchestra. In 1997, he graduated at the top of his class, and in 1999 he received a scholarship to continue his studies at the Eastman School of Music.

In addition to his solo and chamber music activities, Shih-yu Liu regularly performs as a soloist with various orchestras. Since 2009, he has hosted the radio programme Sound of the Guitar, which was nominated for the 49th Taiwan National Radio Awards (Golden Bell Awards) in 2014.

Invited to perform at numerous international guitar festivals, he maintains an active concert and teaching career. He currently teaches at the Taiwan National University of Arts and, since 2012, has served as Artistic Director of the Taiwan International Guitar Festival & Competition.

Awards and distinctions

• 1994 – Second Prize at the Sainz de la Maza Guitar Competition.

• 1996 – First Prize at the National Taiwan Guitar Competition and recipient of the NTAA Concerto Contest Award.

• 2002 – First Prize at the Taiwan Guitar Duo Contest and Second Prize at the Taiwan Guitar Solo Contest.

• 2003 – Second Prize at the International Guitar Competition in Italy.

• 2003 – Second Prize at the Hermoupolis International Guitar Competition in Greece.

• 2003 – Recipient of the NTAA Outstanding Alumnus Award, recognising alumni who have distinguished themselves in their professional careers.

International festival appearances

Among the major international festivals and competitions to which he has been invited are:

• 2020 – 4th Novgorod International Guitar Festival & Competition, Russia.

• 2019 – 8th Heinsberg International Guitar Festival & Competition, Germany.

• 2019 – 21st Rust International Guitar Festival & Competition, Austria.

• 2019 – 20th Szeged International Guitar Festival & Competition, Hungary.

• 2017 – 23rd Festival Guitarras del Mundo, Argentina.

• 2017 – 7th Nordhorn International Guitar Festival & Competition, Germany.

• 2015 – 14th Seckau International Guitar Festival, Austria.

• 2015 – 4th Postojna International Guitar Festival, Slovenia.

Winner of the Premier Prix at the Paris Conservatoire and a prizewinner in ten international competitions, Frédéric Lagarde has been described by the press as one of the most talented French pianists of his generation. An eclectic musician, he embraces a remarkably wide repertoire, paying particular attention to rediscovering lesser-known composers and promoting contemporary music. Numerous composers, including Olivier Messiaen, have invited him to perform their works.

Frédéric Lagarde has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at some of the world’s most prestigious concert venues and festivals, including the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, La Folle Journée in Nantes, Carnegie Hall in New York, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Prague Philharmonic and the Tokyo Opera. His concert career has also taken him to Osaka, Beijing, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro and Montreal.

He has shared the stage with distinguished musicians including the Trio Walter (with D. Walter and R. Koyama), Jean-Guihen Queyras, Michel Lethiec and Marc Coppey. As a soloist, he has collaborated with numerous orchestras, including the symphony orchestras of Lisbon, Porto and Cannes, the National Orchestra of Ukraine, T.U. Vienna and the French Republican Guard Orchestra.

His recordings, released by renowned labels including Naxos, Mirare and Alpha, have received major critical distinctions, including several “Choc” awards from Le Monde de la Musique and “Diapason d’Or” awards.

Alongside his performing career, Frédéric Lagarde is an active educator. He teaches at the Pôle Supérieur in Dijon and at music institutions of the City of Paris, and regularly gives masterclasses in France, the Czech Republic, Canada, Malaysia and Brazil.

He is also Artistic Director of several music festivals, including Classicaval in Val d’Isère, Musiques Ad Lib in Finistère and Les Harmonies in Morbihan.

Regarded as one of the leading violists of his generation, David Fons has distinguished himself nationally and internationally, winning numerous first prizes in viola competitions. He studied with Vicente Ortiz, Luis Roig, Luis Llácer, Jesse Levine and Wilfried Strehle.

Throughout his career, he has collaborated with prestigious orchestral ensembles, including the Navarra Symphony Orchestra, the Valencia Orchestra, the Spanish Radio and Television Orchestra (RTVE), the Royal Opera House and Collegium Instrumentale, working with internationally renowned conductors and musicians such as Félix Ayo, Nicolás Chumachenco, Yehudi Menuhin, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Zubin Mehta, François-Xavier Roth and Nicola Luisotti.

As a soloist, he has performed at major Spanish concert venues, including the auditoriums of Zaragoza, Vigo, Lugo, Valencia and Badajoz, collaborating with conductors and performers such as Cristóbal Soler, Beatriz Fernández, Enrique Palomares, Jesse Levine, Vasko Vassilev and Franco Petracchi.

His solo repertoire includes major works for viola and orchestra, such as the concertos by William Walton, Krzysztof Penderecki and Paul Hindemith, as well as Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia for viola and orchestra.

Particularly active in chamber music, he has appeared at numerous festivals in Spain, France and Italy, performing with ensembles such as Trío Acento, Duo Palomares-Fons, Trío Rebec, Viola Sings Duo and Beethoven Klavier Quartett, as well as collaborating with Ensemble de Cadaqués and V430.

In January 2019, he released his debut album, Viola Oppression, featuring sonatas for viola and piano by Rebecca Clarke and Dmitri Shostakovich, with pianist Kei Hikichi, to critical acclaim.

In 2022, he also recorded Eduardo Grau’s Concertino for viola, piano and string orchestra for the Naxos label.

Committed to promoting and expanding the viola repertoire, he gave the Spanish premiere of Agustí Borgunyó’s Suite for viola and orchestra with the Extremadura Orchestra. Several contemporary composers have dedicated new works to him, including Javier Costa, composer of the concerto for viola and orchestra De soledad sonando….

David Fons plays a 1954 viola by Giacomo and Leandro Bisiach.

Born in Catarroja, Spain, Carmina Morella began her musical studies at the Sociedad Musical L’Artesana in Catarroja. Encouraged by her father, she took up the violin under the guidance of Daniel Albir.

She continued her education at the conservatories of Catarroja, the José Iturbi Conservatory in Valencia and the Joaquín Rodrigo Higher Conservatory in Valencia, studying with M. A. Gorrea, Enrique Palomares and S. Juan. She subsequently pursued advanced studies with Vicente Balaguer, Agustín León Ara and J. Dahlgren, and further developed her musicianship under Félix Ayo.

Her artistic career has been closely linked to orchestral performance. She has been a member of the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España (JONDE), the Granada City Orchestra, the Oviedo Orchestra and the Extremadura Orchestra. She has also collaborated with the Community of Madrid Orchestra, the Bilbao Orchestra, the Castile and León Orchestra and Collegium Instrumentale, performing in leading European concert halls under conductors including Juanjo Mena, Josep Pons, Antoni Ros Marbà, Zubin Mehta, L. Köhler and Walter Weller.

As a soloist, she has performed Johann Sebastian Bach’s Concerto for Violin and Oboe and Kurt Atterberg’s Suite No. 3 for Violin and Viola. She also gave the world premiere of North Fantasy by X. Arias and has presented numerous violin and piano recitals.

Especially active in chamber music, she has formed a duo with guitarist Manuel Mateu, collaborated with the Cuarteto Cuerda Valencia and Collegium Instrumentale, and is a member of Trio Dumka, with which she regularly performs.

Since 2003, she has been a member of the Valencia Orchestra, combining her orchestral commitments with solo and chamber music performances.