Third round jury

Walter Auer, flute (Austria)

The Austrian flautist, Walter Auer, graduated from the Mozarteum in Salzburg and from the Karajan-Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker. He began his professional musical career as the first flute at the Dresden Philharmonic and he currently holds the same post at the Vienna Philharmonic. He has received a number of awards as a soloist and chamber player at international competitions (Cremona, Bonn and Munich). He has performed on stage with personalities such as Daniel Barenboim or Cecilia Bartoli. He is also involved in teaching activities; he leads master classes at the famous Juilliard School and the Summer Music Festival in New York and at the Conservatory in Sydney, in Japan, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.

Jana Boušková, harp (Czech Republic) 

The excellent harpist of international standing, Jana Boušková, graduated from the State Conservatory in Prague and the University of Ostrava. She then continued her studies at the renowned Indiana University. To date, she is the only Czech to have won the most renowned harp competition in the USA. She regularly performs both as a solo performer and in chamber ensembles on significant domestic and world stages and at festivals. She is the solo harpist at the Czech Philharmonic, a professor at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, the Royal College of Music in London and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and a jury member at prestigious harp competitions. Her extensive discography includes almost fifty CDs.

Jakub Hrůša, conductor (Czech Republic)

Jakub Hrůša is one of the best-respected conductors of the younger generation. He studied conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, including under Jiří Bělohlávek, and he won three significant awards in the Prague Spring competition when aged just eighteen. Three years later, he won the international Lovro von Matacic Competition for conducting in Zagreb. To date, he has cooperated with the majority of Czech orchestras and with a number of international orchestras. He currently leads the Bamberg Symphony and is the principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Orchestra. He conducts at the National Theatre in Prague, at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen and at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival in England.

Václav Hudeček, violin (Czech Republic)

Václav Hudeček has started his exemplarily steep journey to the Czech and international interpretative elite in the sixties. Being already fifteen, he appeared at a concert in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on 12 November 1967. One day later, the legendary David Oistrach heard him and foretold him a great future and offered him his pedagogical help. Since 1970 until Oistrach's death in 1974, he was a pupil of this great Master. Since his London debut he has appeared all over the world on the most prestigious stages (Carnegie Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Suntory Hall, Osaka Festival Hall) with the best world's orchestras (Berliner Philharmoniker, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, NHK Philharmonic Orchestra) as well as on the world festivals (Osaka, Salzburg, Istanbul, Perth Helsinki). He keeps acknowledging the legacy of David Oistrach and other giants of Russian violin school. And so even today he purposefully cooperates with the holders of Oistrach's, Kogan's and Sitkovetsky's traditions as can be proved by his records in Supraphon company. In 2007, he was recognized by the President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus through the “National Award for Achievement in the Area of Culture and the Arts”. In 2015 he has received from the President of the Italian Republic prestigious award “ Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia”.

Ivo Kahánek, piano (Czech Republic)

As a laureate of several international competitions and a winner of the Prague Spring International Music Competition, Kahánek performs regularly at Czech republic and abroad. He was invited to perform at BBC Proms, Beethovenfest Bonn, Prague Spring, Dvořák Prague Festival, MiTo Settembre Musica etc. He performs regularly with the Czech Philharmonic and has also recently appeared with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker, BBC SO, and several others. He has collaborated with some of the greatest conductors as V. Ashkenazy, J. Bělohlávek, S. Bychkov, A. Orozco-Estrada, P. Steinberg, J. Hrůša, T. Netopil and Sir S. Rattle. His recordings were awarded the prestigious Diapason d’Or, Disc of the Month BBC Music Magazine, Choc de Classica and one of the most prestigious awards BBC Music Magazine Award.

Francois Leleux, oboe, conductor (France)

The French oboist and conductor François Leleux, is well known for his untamed musicality and drive. He was the first oboe at the Paris Opera at the tender age of eighteen and he later held the same position in the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. As a conductor, he cooperates with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. He is due to perform with the renowned Camerata Salzburg in the upcoming year of the Salzburg Music Festival. He has contributed to the creation of twenty CDs including the music of Bach, Zelenka, Mozart, Dvořák or Britten. He is also involved in teaching. His wife is the celebrated violinist, Lisa Batiashvili.

Thibaut Maillard, R.T.S, EBU (Switzerland)

Thibaut Maillard, a native of France, initially studied the piano and later graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris where he especially focussed on music theory, conducting and music direction and production. As a producer, he has a wide range of experience in the area of radio and television broadcasting and the publication of audio and video media, as well as in the production of live cinema broadcasts. He has contributed to the creation of more than forty DVDs and CDs by renowned performers and he cooperates with significant concert halls in Moscow, Barcelona, Madrid, Vienna, Berlin, Stockholm or Paris. He has worked as a classical music producer for the Swiss television and radio company Radio Télévision Suisse since 2015.

David Mareček, piano, CEO Czech Philharmonic (Czech Republic)

David Mareček graduated from the Brno Conservatory in piano and he later continued studying music at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, where he completed his doctorate in the fields of performance and performance theory. He was the Deputy Principle and a piano teacher at the Brno Conservatory. Since 2011, he has been the Managing Director of the Czech Philharmonic where he has regularly achieved excellent results in finding prestigious opportunities to showcase the artistry of our leading orchestra on the international scene. As a pianist, he has a recent award-winning recording of Schubert’s Winter Journey with the bass Jan Martiník.

Daniel Ottensamer, clarinet (Austria)

The Austrian clarinettist, Daniel Ottensamer, originally devoted his talent to playing the piano and the violoncello. He graduated from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna in 2009 and became the first clarinet in the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera. He also won the clarinet section of the prestigious Carl Nielsen International Competition in Denmark in the same year. He is regularly invited to perform with renowned orchestras such as the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Vienna Symphony or the NHK Symphony Orchestra and with conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Gustavo Dudamel, Andris Nelsons or Ádám Fischer. He is also intensively involved in chamber music. He is part of the trio known as the Clarinotts along with his brother Andreas and his father Ernst.

Dmitry Sitkovetsky, violin (Great Britain)

The Russian violinist and conductor Dmitry Sitkovetsky graduated from the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in Moscow and also from the renowned Julliard School in New York after emigrating to the USA. His dazzling solo career has been documented, amongst other things, by a significant number of highly regarded recordings with leading international conductors, including Colin Davis, Mariss Jansons or Sir Neville Marriner. He has performed as a conductor with top flight orchestras, including the Academy of St. Martin In The Fields or the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also involved in the management of a number of music festivals, such as the Finnish Korsholm Music Festival, the Seattle International Music Festival and the Festival del Sole in Tuscany. He is often invited to be a jury member in leading music competitions, including in Indianapolis, the USA, or Montreal, Canada.

Lukáš Vondráček, piano (Czech Republic)

From the very beginning of his artistic career, Lukáš Vondráček has been considered to be something of a Wunderkind. His first ever performance was at the age of four. He later debuted with the Czech Philharmonic under Vladimir Ashkenazy aged fifteen and one year later he went on tour to the United States. His phenomenal technique coupled with his natural musicality quickly gained him a substantial international reputation. He is the laureate from a number of performance competitions, including the absolute winner at the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition in Brussels. He performs with many top-flight orchestras and conductors, including Paavo Järvi, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Marin Alsop, Christoph Eschenbach, Vasily Petrenko and Jakub Hrůša.

Marek Zvolánek, trumpet (Czech Republic)

Marek Zvolánek began playing the trumpet at the age of the seven. He graduated from the Prague Conservatory and became a member of the Czech Philharmonic as an eighteen-year-old. He has repeated performed at the Prague Spring, Smetana’s Litomyšl or Janáček MMay festivals and contributed to the creation of a range of CDs for the Crystal Records and Cube Bohemia record labels and to soundtracks for more than 250 films in international production. In 2004, he led master classes in Osaka, Japan. He has been a member of the prestigious Ten of the Best ensemble, which consists of ten top trumpeters from all over the world, since 2006. At present, he is active as the solo trumpeter at the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Prague Symphony Orchestra.