Festival International
de Musique

Saint-Georges


Judges

The judges for the Joseph Bologne International Violin Competition 2025:

Hristo Popov (Bulgaria, USA), Chair

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Described as “virtuoso-violinist extraordinaire” (Musical Horizons), Hristo POPOV brings a wealth of experience to the concert stage. His orchestral debut came at the age of nine, with the Plovdiv State Philharmonic Orchestra; and since then he has performed in major performing arts venues as a concert soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, in the United States, Asia and Europe.

Winner of first prize at the Kozian International Violin Competition, he also won the Silver Medal at the California Young Artists Competition, the Grand Prize of the International Institute of Music (Germany, USA) and First Place at the Chamber of the American String Teachers Association Music Competition.

Dr. POPOV's actions have been documented on television and radio. He continues to receive rave reviews, as The Plain Dealer, (Cleveland) recently described: "...the performance benefited from the elegant purity that soloist Hristo POPOV invested in every phrase." "Popov traced the lyrical, vibrant lines (Mozart – Violin Concerto No. 5, Turkish) with unflappable assurance. He allowed the music to float where it was needed and made easy work of the acrobatic demands." In April 2009, he was selected Artist of the Month by the Obama Organization for the Arts and Entertainment. Among his many recordings, he has recorded concertos by Haydn and Bologne with the Havana Lyceum Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Marlon Daniel.

Currently, Dr. POPOV is concertmaster of the Festival International de Saint-Georges, principal concertmaster of the Ensemble du Monde, and concertmaster of Palm Beach Pops Orchestra. He frequently plays as lead violinist for Candlelight Concert Series. He serves as Director and Professor of Violin at the Bellissima Music Academy in Florida where he maintains a studio of award winning violinists.

Dr. Popov plays on a violin made by Pietro Giacomo Rogeri, Brescia 1722.

http://hpopov.com

Kinga Augustyn (Poland)

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Kinga Augustyn is an internationally renowned virtuoso concert violinist and recording artist.  She has been described as “Stylish and vibrant” (The Strad Magazine), and “beyond amazing, and one hell of a violinist!” (The Fanfare Magazine).
 
Ms. Augustyn has performed as a soloist with orchestras in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Most recently She toured China and performed at China’ prestigious venues such as Beijing Poly Theater and Shanghai Oriental Art Center.
 
She is a frequent soloist with orchestra and has performed with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Queens Symphony Orchestra, Catskill Symphony Orchestra, Riverside Symphonia, Western Piedmont Symphony, Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, Magdeburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra Leopoldinum, Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra, the MAV Symphony Orchestra of Budapest, and the Orquesta Sinfónica Universidad Mayor.
 
As a recitalist and chamber musician Kinga has appeared at the Stern Auditorium and the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Aspen Music Festival, the Chicago Cultural Center, Teatro Ristori (Verona, Italy), Teatro La Fenice (Venice, Italy), Teatro dal Verme (Milano, Italy), and Teatro Municipal de Las Condes (Santiago, Chile).
 
In addition to concerti with orchestras and recitals with piano, Ms. Augustyn frequently performs unaccompanied solo violin recitals, and she also plays baroque violin. Augustyn’s discography includes Paganini Caprices, Telemann Fantasias, Bruch and Mendelssohn Violin Concertos, as well as multiple albums of lesser-known Polish composers.
 
Dr. Augustyn is a Violin Faculty member at Queens College in New York.

www.kingaaugustyn.com

Yuan Fang (China)

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Violinist Yuan Fang is a renowned violinist and Professor of Violin. He is Founder and Head of Orchestral Instruments Department of China Conservatory of Music, Beijing.
 
He is also Deputy Director of China Youth Philharmonic, a Visiting professor of University of Washington, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Western Michigan University and a professor at Casalmaggiore International Music Festival in Italy.
 
He is an active international soloist, chamber musician and teacher and has performed concerts and led master classes throughout China and abroad in venues that include Carnegie Hall, New York; Benaroya Hall, Seattle; Sydney Opera House, Australia; Mozarteum in Graz, Austria; Orpheum Theater, Canada; The Queensland University, Australia; Ewha Womans University, South Korea; Suntory Hall, Japan; Hong Kong Cultural Centre National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing; Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing, Beijing Concert Hall etc.
 
Mr. Fang is a jury member of China National Violin and Piano Competition, the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Violin Competition, Shlomo-Mintz International Violin Competition, Singapore International Music Competition and Performing Arts Festival of the Eastside (PAFE).

https://en.ccom.edu.cn

Koh Gabriel Kameda (Japan / Germany)

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First prizewinner of the Henryk Szeryng International Violin Competition 1997, violinist Koh Gabriel Kameda is recognized by international audiences, critics and colleagues alike as one of the next generation's foremost emerging artists. After hearing him play, Lord Yehudi Menuhin stated enthusiastically that he “was most impressed” with Mr. Kameda's performance, and Sir James Galway proclaimed, “he is one of the most remarkable players of his generation”. The German press praised his virtuosity, with Scala magazine saying Mr. Kameda “sounds like Heifetz”, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung exclaiming that he is “miraculous“, and in Brasil Zero Hora marveled that “his Stradivarius turned into a Magic Violin”. His teachers have included Josef Rissin at the Hochschule für Music in Karlsruhe, Germany, and Pinchas Zukerman at Manhattan School of Music in New York.
 
Mr. Kameda is a top prizewinner of numerous national and international competitions including first prize at the National German Competition for Young Musicians and first prize at the Kloster Schöntal International Violin Competition. In addition he was a prizewinner at the Eurovision Contest in Vienna and has received various awards including the Music Award of the European Industry, the Jürgen-Ponto Foundation award, the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben award, the Baden-Württemberg Art Foundation award, a scholarship from the international Richard Wagner Society, and the Dora Zaslavsky-Koch Scholarship Award. He is a sought-after artist for solo appearances with orchestra and recitals on many great concert stages and prestigious festivals around the world.
 
Mr. Kameda taught at the Zurich School of Music, Drama and Dance (Hochschule für Music und Theather, Zürich) from 2004 until 2009. From 2010 until 2018 he was a  professor at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold. Since 2019  he is a professor at the Universität Münster Musikhochschule.
 
Koh Gabriel Kameda plays the "Holroyd" Antonius Stradivari violin of 1727.

https://www.kameda.de

Clarisse Rinaldo (Guadeloupe/France)

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Violist Clarisse RINALDO began her musical studies in Guadeloupe, then in metropolitan France at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Lille. She began her violin studies, in which she obtained the Gold Medal with the jury's congratulations and the Advanced Training Prize in the class of Fernand IACIU (super solo violin of the Orchestre National de Lille), as well as a First Prize in Chamber Music, a First Prize in Musical Analysis with very good honors and congratulations from the jury and a unanimous gold medal with the SACEM prize for musical writing. She also is an equal accomplished violist and studied at the Conservatoire Régional de Boulogne-Billancourt where she obtained the First Prize in the class of Isabelle Lequien.
 
Holder of a State Diploma of Music Teacher, she is also a viola teacher in the conservatories and music schools of the Lille Metropolis.
 
Mrs. RINALDO she gives numerous concerts in France and abroad with prestigious groups including the National Orchestra of Lille, the Douai Orchestra, the Amsterdam Academy (Netherlands), the Valenciennes Chamber Orchestra, the Valentina Orchestra, etc. In 2005, she joined La Grande Ecurie and La Chambre. Du Roy and became Les Ambassadeurs-La Grande Ecurie and is currently a member of the acclaimed Sirius quartet.

www.ambassadeursgrandeecurie.com

Collaborative Artists

Matthieu Cognet (France)

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A laureate of the Concours Musical de France and 1st Prize in the Entraide Française Competition, French pianist Matthieu Cognet is an soloist and chamber player who performs extensively in Europe and the United States and His recital and chamber music performances have been featured on Radio France and Chicago WMFT Radio broadcasts.
 
He has appeared in major venues and festivals in Europe and the United States, including Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, the Cultural Institute of Chicago (Dame Myra Hess Series), Hemptinne Festival (Belgium), Rushmore Music Festival, SD, Memphis in May Festival, and Prades Festival (France). He has been a soloist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Stony Brook University Orchestra, Indiana University Student Orchestra, and the Paris Sorbonne Orchestra.
 
Mr. Cognet received degrees from the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris–CNR (Bachelor of Arts) and the University of La Sorbonne in Paris (Master of Musicology). In 2007, he received his Master of Music in Piano Performance with High Distinction from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and a Performer Diploma from Indiana University. In 2017, he graduated with his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University, under the guidance of Professor Gilbert Kalish. His other teachers have  included Emille Naumoff, Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden and Bruno Rigutto, respectively and in the master-classes Jacques Rouvier, Aquiles Delle-Vigne in Salzburg, Dominique Merlet, Boris Berman and Paul Badura-Skoda.
 
He has also had the privilege to work with Janos Starker, Joshua Bell and Andre Watts. 
 
Currently, He is also the Artistic Director and Masterclass Director of the French-American Piano Society and on the Collaborative Pianon faculties of the Curtis Institute, The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music.

www.matthieucognet.com

Lucas Wong (Hong Kong, Canada)

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Pianist Lucas Wong, acclaimed for his “brilliant and sensitive” playing (Fanfare) and “gifts for color, nuance, and tasteful dynamic contrasts” (Gramophone), brings his artistry to solo, chamber, and opera performances. His performances have graced renowned organizations such as Carnegie Hall, New York City Opera, The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Banff Centre, Music Academy of the West, and Songfest in LA. He has collaborated with esteemed artists including Joseph Alessi, Soovin Kim, Frank Morelli, Suzanne Mentzer, David Shifrin and Lee-Chin Siow. He has been invited to guest lecture and give masterclasses at Peking University, Seoul National University, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, and The Juilliard School.
 
Born in Hong Kong and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Lucas Wong received his Bachelor of Music from University of British Columbia (UBC), followed by Master’s and Doctorate of Music degrees from Yale School of Music. Lucas Wong is currently on piano faculty at UBC School of Music. Previously, he was a founding member of the faculty at Soochow University School of Music, where he coordinated the chamber music program, and served as a Visiting Professor at University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
 
Dr. Wong is a Fazioli and Naxos Recording Artist.

www.lucaswong.com