Jury

The members of the jury for the 32nd International piano competition Young virtuoso, Zagreb, 2026:

Ruben Dalibaltayan (chairman)

Born in Yerevan, Armenia, Ruben Dalibaltayan (1973) currently lives in Croatia. He works as a professor at the Zagreb and Ljubljana Academies of Music. As a guest professor he regularly holds masterclasses at the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein, the Academy of Music in Sarajevo, as well as at the “Talent Music Master Courses” in Brescia. Ruben is the President of the Alexander Scriabin Society of Croatia and Artistic Director of the Radovljica International Piano Competition in Slovenia. Ruben raised a new generation of young pianists who achieved tremendous results and became prize winners of various international competitions, such as Ferruccio Busoni, Queen Elizabeth, Robert Schumann in Zwickau, Ettlingen, etc. Some of them, such as Ivan Krpan and Aljoša Jurinić, succeeded in making an outstanding international career and became some of the most successful pianists of the young generation. As part of his pedagogical work, he holds masterclasses on a regular basis in Croatia and abroad. His noteworthy projects include the founding of the Piano Summer School in Makarska, Croatia, in 2005, together with Julia Gubajdullina. The seaside piano master course has since evolved into one of the most prominent events for young pianists in the region.

He studied at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory under the guidance of Anahit Shahbazyan, Arthur Berngardt, and Valery Kastelsky. His professional and personal formation has been greatly influenced by a number of outstanding musicians, such as Boris Berlin, Lazar Berman, and Alexis Weissenberg. Ruben is a winner of many prestigious international piano competitions in Armenia, China, Croatia, and Italy. His concert tours include numerous countries. The performances range from solo recitals and concerts with symphony orchestras to participation in chamber ensembles – a piano duo with his wife, Julia Gubajdullina, and the well-known “Amadeus Trio Zagreb” to be mentioned. As a pianist, he gives special attention and dedication to the promotion of the works of Armenian composers, whose interesting and original music is inseparably linked to the culture of his native country. At the end of 2020, he released the album KRUNK – Armenian Classical Piano Music. In collaboration with the Croatian Radio and the Croatian Music Institute, he recorded the entirety of the piano opus of the famous Croatian composer Blagoje Bersa. For this double CD, Ruben received the highest acknowledgement of the Croatian Ministry of Culture – the “Vladimir Nazor Award” for greatest achievements in music and arts.

Yurii Kot

Yurii Kot graduated and finished postgraduate courses at the Kyiv National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music under Professor V. Kozlov. He is a laureate of the National Lysenko Piano Competition (Kyiv, 1988) and the 1st International Prokofiev Piano Competition (Saint Petersburg, 1992). As a member of a piano duo with Iryna Aleksiychuk, he is a laureate of the 1st International Competition for Chamber Music Performance “Golden Autumn” (Khmelnitsky, 1993), the 45th International ARD Competition (Munich, 1996), and the 6th International Murray Dranoff Piano Duo Competition (Miami, 1997). Mr Kot performed recitals and played with significant orchestras of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, the USA and others in some of the world’s most famous concert halls.

His repertoire includes works from the Baroque era to the contemporary period: compositions for piano solo, piano concertos, and various chamber ensembles. Among notable cycles in the artist’s repertoire are all the piano sonatas, all the sonatas for piano and violin and all the sonatas for piano and cello by Beethoven; all the piano concertos by Mozart; two books of the Well-Tempered Clavier by Bach; as well as all of the 57 mazurkas, 4 scherzos and 4 ballades by Chopin.

Since 1994 he has been a professor of the piano department at the Kyiv National Academy of Music (from 2019 to 2022 he was the head of piano department nr. 1). He mentored more than 70 students of piano solo major, more than 20 of whom have become laureates of international piano competitions. In 1995 he was awarded the “Honored Artist of Ukraine” title. For his concert activities and performances of modern music, he was awarded the “Levko Revutski National Prize” by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the National Composers’ Union of Ukraine and the National All-Ukrainian Music Union. Mr Kot takes part in international music festivals, some of which are Musiksommer-97 (Dresden, Germany), Two Pianos Plus (Miami, USA), Modern Music Festival (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia), Kyiv Music Fest, Music Premieres of the Season (Kyiv, Ukraine), Regina and Vladimir Horowitz – in memoriam (Kyiv, Ukraine), Farbotony (Kaniv, Ukraine), Festival of Contemporary Krakow Composers (Krakow, Poland), Richter-Fest (Odessa, Ukraine), “Una tastiera per due mondi” Piano Music Festival (Carrara, Italy) and others.

He is a jury member in numerous competitions in Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Serbia, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Croatia and Montenegro, and he holds masterclasses in Ukraine (V. Horowitz masterclass, Kyiv), Serbia (Kragujevac, Belgrade, Šabac, Niš), Montenegro (Kotor, Tivat), Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima), North Macedonia (Skopje, Ohrid), Slovenia (Ljubljana), Austria (Graz, Gut Hornegg), the USA (Phoenix, Arizona) and others. Except for performing at the concerts, holding masterclasses and participating in juries of music competitions, Mr Kot also gives lectures, participates in scientific conferences and is engaged in charity work. In 2019 he was awarded the “People’s Artist of Ukraine” title.

Francesca Vidal

Francesca Vidal (San Donà di Piave, 1985) started learning the piano at a very early age. In 2002, she graduated with honours from the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro, and in 2008, she obtained a second-degree academic diploma at the Verdi Conservatory in Milan in the class of Prof. V. Balzani. She studied in the class of Prof. P. Rattalino at the Foundation of St Cecilia in Portogruaro, at the “Incontri col Maestro” International Piano Academy in Imola with F. Scala, B. Petrushansky and G. Valentini, and at the A. Cortot School of Music in Paris with M. Rybicki. At the Academy of Music in Basel she obtained a concert diploma with excellence in the class of Prof. F. Gamba, and she also studied at the Academy of Santa Cecilia in Bergamo in the class of Prof. K. Bogino. She attended masterclasses of L. Morales, P. Badura-Skoda, C. Berner, E. Fadini, M. Beroff and A. Jasinski. Since childhood, she has won numerous awards at national and international competitions, including the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe (1999), Taddei (2003), the Paul Harris International Competition in Milan (2005), the Val Tidone International Competition (2006), the Valsesia Musica Monterosa Kawai International Competition (2007), the Karl Drechsel Förderpreis International Competition (Nuremberg, 2009), the Mozart Prize, the Galbiati Prize (Milan), and the “Dino Ciani in the World” plaque from the Dino Ciani Association. She was a finalist at the Pecar International Competition in Gorizia (2005), won the third prize at the Città di Albano Terme International Piano Competition, the second prize at the Gaetano Zinetti International Competition in Verona, and, as a member of the piano duo, the first prize at the Hyperion International Competition in Rospigliosi (2014). She has performed in important concert halls: the Verdi Hall in Milan, the A. Cortot Theatre in Paris, the Grand Hall of the Royal College in Stockholm, the M. de Falla Theatre in Granada, the Hamamatsu Concert Hall in Japan, the Gran Teatro Fenice in Venice, the Italian Cultural Institute in Barcelona, ​​the Grand Hall of the Academy of Music in Basel, UNESCO in Paris and many others.

She has recorded for television and radio stations such as Radio Classica, Canale 5 and Italia Uno. She has collaborated with the Mihail Jora Philharmonic Orchestra of Bacau, the Piccolo Sinfonica and the Cantelli Orchestra of Milan, the Discovery Orchestra, and she has played in chamber ensembles with musicians such as V. Balzani, M. Massa and A. Vinnisky. In 2016, she performed Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto in Potenza with the Kiev Radio and Television Orchestra conducted by V. Sheiko.

She is a professor of piano at the A. Buzzolla Conservatory in Adria and has taught at the F. Cilea Conservatory in Reggio Calabria, the G. Donizetti Conservatory in Bergamo and the A. Peri Institute for Musical Studies in Reggio Emilia. She is the artistic director of the Città di San Donà di Piave International Piano Competition. She regularly gives masterclasses in Italy and abroad and is a member of the jury at several international competitions.

William Fong

William Fong’s international career was launched in 1984 when he won the first prize, gold medal and Rosa Sabater prize at the Concurso Internacional de Piano in Jaén, Spain. His concerto début at St John’s Smith Square with the Philharmonia Orchestra followed soon after.  He subsequently added successes in the Busoni, Cleveland, Iturbi, and Scottish International Competitions. Performances in New York, Moscow and St Petersburg (under the auspices of the Sviatoslav Richter Foundation), and in Europe have drawn critical acclaim and enthusiastic audiences. Invited to China, supported by Arts Council England, he has performed and given masterclasses in Shanghai. He has also performed in Australia at the invitation of the Chair of the Australian Piano Pedagogy Conference and was the keynote speaker, giving a recital and master classes, at the Institute of Registered Music Teachers of New Zealand conference in Auckland.

Mr Fong maintains a busy schedule of recitals, master classes, teaching and lecturing both in the UK and abroad, as well as regular commitments to some of the finest international piano summer schools. A musician of wide interests, he has performed with ensembles such as the Brodsky Quartet and members of Guildhall Strings. He has also collaborated with singers Steve Davislim and James Rutherford and has recorded some fascinating and little-known repertoire in the chamber music field. His concerts have been broadcast on television and on radio in Europe and the US. William has performed at all of London’s major venues.  His concerts have been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, and BBC television. A distinguished teacher, he is in demand for masterclasses and adjudication in the UK and overseas.

He is a professor at the Royal Academy of Music and head of keyboard at the Purcell School for Young Musicians – one of Europe’s leading specialist schools for talented young musicians, visiting professor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and artistic director of “Piano Star” – an educational project and festival for young pianists in Romania. His students’ achievements have included places and scholarships to study at Curtis Institute of Music USA, Universität der Künste Berlin, Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien (MDW), the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Trinity Laban.  His students have also won important international competitions, including the Liszt International Competition (Budapest), the Weimar Liszt International Competition, Jeunesses Musicales Romania, and the Lagny-Sur-Marne International Piano Competition. His students have also established successful careers as recording artists.

Jelica Kuzmin

Jelica Kuzmin completed her primary and secondary musical education at the School of Music Pavao Markovac in Zagreb in the class of Prof. Vilma Klajner, having also completed the Third Gymnasium. She graduated in 1978 from the Zagreb Academy of Music in the class of Prof. Ladislav Šaban. Since then, she has been teaching at the Pavao Markovac School of Music, where she also served as the head of the piano, harpsichord and organ department from 1997 to 2020.

Out of a total of thirty-eight graduates, twenty-two of them continued their musical education at the Zagreb Academy of Music and prestigious academies of music abroad, e.g., Kunstuniversität Graz, Universität Mozarteum Salzburg, Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, Mannes School of Music and The City University of New York in New York, Indiana University School of Music Bloomington, and the University of Miami, Florida. During her 42 years of work, her students have won over 120 national and international awards, most of which are first prizes.

Jelica Kuzmin received the annual award of the Croatian Society of Music and Dance Pedagogues for high pedagogical achievements. She regularly adjudicates at national and international competitions (the Young Virtuoso, the Zagreb International Competition, the Città di Minerbio International Piano Competition, the Young Euregio Piano Award, Germany, the Marbella International Music Festival, Matusja Blum, Sarajevo, Temsig, Slovenia, and others) and holds masterclasses for students and colleagues from music schools across Croatia. As an active member of EPTA Croatia, together with her students, she participated at congresses in Norway, Hungary, Italy and Slovenia.

Through her systematic work, she pointed out the importance of chamber music from the students’ youngest age, established the Piano Chamber Music Festival at the department, and in joint work with colleagues achieved great success and numerous awards by teaching piano four-hand, six-hand and eight-hand.

In 1994, she conceived and launched the international competition Young Virtuoso, piano/violin, Zagreb. Since 2004, the Agency for Education has elected her as the head of the expert council of piano teachers. In 2006, she was promoted to the title of professor mentor, and in 2008 to the title of professor advisor. In 1994, with the help of several parents whose children are involved in music, Jelica Kuzmin founded the Leopold Mozart Association, which has been taking care of the Zagreb Youth Chamber Orchestra, ZOKOR, for many years. In 2021, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Croatian Society of Music and Dance Pedagogues, and in 2023, she received the Recognition for exceptional achievements and contribution to music pedagogy, awarded to her by the EPTA of Croatia.