Jury
Critics, colleagues and audiences regard Shlomo Mintz as one of the foremost violinists of our time, esteemed for his impeccable musicianship, stylistic versatility and commanding technique alike.
Shlomo Mintz
USA / Israel
'My challenge ? To connect the ear and the mind and to teach people to consciously search for beauty'
Mr. Mintz regularly appears with the most celebrated orchestras and conductors on the international scene and is heard in recitals and chamber music concerts all around the world. He also frequently performs as a violist with leading chamber ensembles as well as in recitals.
Next season Shlomo Mintz will celebrate his 50th anniversary on stage. To mark this occasion, many festive tours, concerts and events are scheduled.
Recipient of several prestigious music prizes including the Premio Accademia Musicale Chigiana, the Diapason D'Or, the Grand Prix du Disque, the Gramophone Award and the Edison Award.
Shlomo Mintz recorded the greater part of the important violin repertoire for labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, Erato, RCA Victor and Avie Records. He maintains an active recording schedule as both a soloist and conductor. In the late nineties, due to the high demand of the public, Deutsche Grammophon started to re-release the complete collection of Mr. Mintz's recordings.
Mintz frequently appears as a soloist in concerts that are part of 'Violins of Hope', a project for hope and peace initiated by Amnon Weinstein, master violinmaker in Tel Aviv and Blue Press Agency in Paris.
Born in Moscow in 1957, he immigrated two years later to Israel with his family, where he studied with the renowned Ilona Feher. At the age of eleven, he made his concerto debut with the Israel Philharmonic. He made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of sixteen in a concert with the Pittsburgh Symphony, and subsequently began his studies with Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School of Music.
At age eighteen, Shlomo Mintz added the role of conductor to his artistic endeavors. Since then he has conducted acclaimed orchestras worldwide, and was Music Adviser of the Israel Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Adviser and Principal Guest Conductor of the Maastricht Symphony (1994-1998) and Zagreb Philharmonic (2008-2010).
Shlomo Mintz has dedicated 18 years of his career as the patron and one of the founders of a International Violin Mastercourse (Keshet Eilon) in Israel until the end of summer 2010. He frequently gives master classes worldwide and spends a lot of time in encouraging young talents.
He has been a jury member of several important international competitions including the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Brussels. President of the Jury of the International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in Poznan, Poland, and since 2002 he has been President of the Jury of the Sion Valais International Violin Competition in Switzerland. He also presides over the Munetsugu Angel Violin Competition in Nagoya, Japan (since 2007) and the Buenos Aires International Violin Competition since its first edition in 2010.
