Judges for 2026
There will be an international panel of six Judges who will take into account choice, variety and balance of programme items across all rounds. A very high standard of performance will be expected.
Piano
Kathryn Stott
Kathryn Stott has been in love with music since the age of 5. Throughout her career, Kathryn has enjoyed exploring many aspects of this wonderful musical world, both as soloist and collaborative pianist, and has given performances in many of the worlds major concert venues for 46 years. Her discography is vast and demonstrates a wide range of repertoire which has always been paramount in Kathryns’ music making. Amongst her solo recordings is the complete solo repertoire by Gabriel Fauré (Hyperion) and it is for this composer, that she was awarded the Chevalier de L’Ordre et des Arts from the French government after creating a major Festival in 1995. That event turned out to be the first of many such curations and Kathryn has since continued to enjoy the role of Artistic Director for 35 years, both here in the UK and in Italy and Australia. Bringing musicians together for a feast of outstanding repertoire she describes as being incredibly challenging, rewarding and exciting. Since being a student at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Kathryn has always enjoyed collaborating with other musicians. Her partnership with Yo-Yo Ma took them around the world for 40 years and in 2024, they made their final album ‘Merci’ (SONY) which reflected on this extraordinary collaboration while also paying homage to their teachers and their connections. In recent times, Kathryn has been enjoying more involvement with radio and in particular had an amazing experience making ‘Fauré and Me’ on location in Paris for BBCRadio3. Other appearances include Record Review, Building a Library to name but a few. Kathryn has now stepped down from performing life and is relishing the opportunity to devote more time to young musicians. This primarily concerns teaching both solo and chamber music at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Coaching regularly takes place around the UK and abroad, and she is regularly invited to sit on competition juries. Kathryn is also a Trustee of the Munster Trust and a Patron of Young Sounds. Away from music, she enjoys walking anywhere from Bhutan to the Yorkshire Dales!
Philippe Dinkel
Philippe Dinkel was born in Switzerland has completed his piano studies in Geneva (premier prix de virtuosité, class of Harry Datyner), Bloomington (Indiana University, Alfonso Montecino) and Brussels (Pascal Sigrist). Chamber music is highly important in his concert activities, notably within the Trio Musiviva (1st prize of the Colmar competition), the Quatuor Sine Nomine and various other artists and ensembles. He holds a Master in Musicology of the Geneva University. Author of numerous articles and conferences, he has taught musicology, music history and analysis before becoming director of the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, and from 2009 to 2021 of the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève (Geneva University of Music). He is now vice-chair of Uni3 Geneva (Seniors University) and chair of the academic council of the Scuola Universitaria di Musica of Lugano. Philippe has been president of the Conference of the Swiss Music Universities and has served on the board of the Association Européenne des Conservatoires and in various juries of musical competitions (Clara Haskil, Enesco, Thaïland international piano competition, Tchaikovsky competition for young musicians). He has also been chair of the artistic committee of the Geneva Music Competition and dean of the Music and Performing Arts department of the University of Applied Arts and Sciences of Western Switzerland (HES-SO). Philippe works as an expert for the European foundation MusiQue, active in the field of evaluation and accreditation in higher music education, and in this quality has served in various international locations (Austria, Belgium, Lebanon, Lithuania, Singapore, Sweden, Tunisia...). He is Fellow of the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester).
Wind/Brass
Rachel Gough
Rachel Gough read anthropology and music at King’s College, Cambridge, before gaining scholarships for postgraduate study at the Royal Academy of Music and the Hannover Hochschule für Musik with Klaus Thunemann. During this time, she was Principal Bassoon of the European Community Youth Orchestra and won Gold Medal at the Royal Overseas League. Prior to joining the LSO in 1999 as Principal bassoon, Rachel was Co-Principal with BBC Symphony Orchestra and a professor at the Royal Academy of Music, where she is now a Fellow. Rachel has appeared as a soloist with Sir Colin Davis, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Sir Neville Marriner, Gianandrea Noseda and Gennady Rozhdestvensky. Several solo works have been written for her, including the London Concerto by Huw Watkins, commissioned as part of the LSO’s centenary celebrations. She has been a jury member on the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition and the ARD International Music Competition in Munich.
Michael Thompson
Internationally acknowledged as one of the world's leading horn players, Michael Thompson is a Fellow and holder of the Aubrey Brain Chair at the Royal Academy of Music, where he has taught since 1985. As a conductor, he is known as a fine orchestral trainer, and has received acclaim for his work with young musicians. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music, and at the age of eighteen was appointed Principal Horn with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Within three years he was offered the Principal Horn position of both the Philharmonia and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He joined the Philharmonia, and remained in that post for ten years, before leaving to pursue his solo and chamber music career. Michael has performed worldwide, and his discography includes the major solo horn repertoire, period instrument recordings, and a number of critically acclaimed CDs with his wind quintet and horn quartet. As a member of the London Sinfonietta, with whom he is Principal Horn Emeritus, he has been at the forefront of new music, working with composers ranging from Sir Peter Maxwell Davies to Sir Paul McCartney. As a studio musician, he has played on numerous sound tracks, including Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and the Bond films. Michael Thompson plays on an instrument made by Paxman of London.
Strings
Jennifer Pike
Renowned for her unique artistry and compelling insight into music from the Baroque to the present day, Jennifer Pike has firmly established herself as one of today’s most exciting instrumentalists. In demand as soloist with major orchestras worldwide, her recent tours have included performances of Dvořák with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Sibelius with the Tokyo Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic and Oslo Philharmonic, Mozart with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and Singapore Symphony, Brahms with the London Philharmonic and Vaughan Williams with the Philharmonia and Chamber Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall. As guest director her credits include the BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata and English Chamber Orchestra. An enthusiastic promoter of new music, Jennifer has had many works written for her including Hafliði Hallgrímsson’s violin concerto, premièred with the Scottish Chamber and Iceland Symphony and a violin concerto by Deborah Pritchard premièred with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre. Jennifer has curated concert series at LSO St Luke’s for BBC Radio 3 and the Wigmore Hall, where she celebrated her Polish heritage with three recitals of Polish music, including several world premières. She recently toured China with harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani and performs regularly with sarod stars Ayaan and Amaan Ali Bangash, bringing together Eastern and Western classical traditions. Her early international career was launched after making her concerto debut with the Hallé in 2001, as a BBC Proms featured artist and BBC New Generation Artist, winning BBC Young Musician and becoming the youngest major prizewinner in the Menuhin Competition. In recognition of the impact she made in the performing arts, she was awarded a postgraduate scholarship by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama at the exceptional age of 16. She has studied with David Takeno and Robert Jacoby, and in 2012 she graduated with First Class Honours from Oxford University, where she was subsequently invited to take up the position of Artist-in-Residence. Her prolific and critically-acclaimed discography on Chandos, Sony, Naxos and ABC Classics includes the Sibelius, Rózsa and Mendelssohn concertos, Brahms and Schumann sonatas and two volumes of Polish music celebrating well-known and rarer gems of the violin repertoire. Her disc of Elgar and Vaughan Williams with Martin Roscoe was described as “an irresistible release”, received five-star reviews and won Limelight Magazine's Chamber Recording of the Year award.A keen advocate of music education, Jennifer is regularly invited to give masterclasses across the globe. She is a violin professor at the Royal College of Music in London and an ambassador for the Prince's Trust, Music Masters and Foundation for Children and the Arts. In 2020 she was awarded an MBE for services to classical music.
Alasdair Tait
Alasdair Tait is an internationally recognised cellist, performer, recording artist, educator, mentor and industry leader, dedicated to inspiring and encouraging the next generations of young classical musicians. On completing his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music with Emma Ferrand and Ralph Kirshbaum and in Basel with Thomas Demenga, he was cellist of the Belcea Quartet until 2006, performing internationally and was ‘Resident Quartet’ at London’s Wigmore Hall. Recordings for EMI of Schubert, Brahms, Britten, Mozart, Fauré and Barber (collaborating with Ian Bostridge, Thomas Ades and Thomas Kakushka) were awarded both Gramophone Awards and Diapason d’Or. The quartet were twice recipients of the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award and were the first BBC New Generation Artists. Prior to his current role as Chief Executive of Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT), he was Head of Chamber Music at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the RNCM, professor at Reina Sofia School in Madrid and regularly teaches on the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA), Pro Quartet Foundation and at Britten Pears Programme at Snape Maltings. He has given masterclasses at the Banff Centre for the Arts and the Glenn Gould School in Canada, New England Conservatory and Stanford University in USA. He is frequently invited as jury member on international competitions such as Banff, Osaka, Melbourne, Harbin, Wigmore and Vienna/Haydn Competitions, and Sydney International Piano Competition. Alasdair has also collaborated with artists including Piotr Andrezewski, Christian Zacharias, Kathryn Stott, Imogen Cooper, Aleksander Madzar, Robert Levin, Isabelle van Keulen, Valentin Erben, Borodin Quartet, Heinz Holliger, Michael Collins, Simon Keenlyside, Dame Anne Murray and Christine Schäfer. He is currently a council member for Britten Pears Arts and trustee of the Countess of Munster Trust, Radcliffe Trust and the Ann Driver Trust, having previously served as a UK governor of Live Music Now. Alasdair is a Fellow of the Royal Northern College of Music, Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music and was awarded the ABO (Association of British Orchestras) 2016 Artist Manager of the Year. He is a Fellow and Vice Chair of the Fellows Council of the Westminster Abbey Institute in London and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Alasdair also worked for ten years as a psychodynamic psychotherapist in private practice in London.
