39th International Concerto Competition Judges

February 12-15, 2009

Fredel Lack	Fredel Lack is Laureate, Queen Elizabeth of Belgium International Competition; winner, Brooklyn Academy Young Artists Award; more than 20 European tours, 35 broadcasts for the BBC in England, and seven for Radio RIAS in Germany; soloist with orchestras including Halle Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic, Concertgebouw, Stockholm Philharmonic, symphonies of Berlin, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Houston, and the New York Philharmonic; recordings, Vox, CRI, Bay Cities, Centaur, and Albany.
Jeffrey Irvine	Jeffrey Irvine Fynette H. Kulas Professor of Viola, was professor of viola at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from 1983 to 1999 and was chair of the string division there from 1992 to 1999. His students have gone on to major orchestral, teaching and chamber music posts across the country and around the world. His students have often been first prize winners in major viola competitions, including the Primrose Competition, the ASTA National Solo Competition, and the Washington International Competition. Mr. Irvine has given master classes at major music schools in the U.S. and in 1985 gave master classes in Beijing and Shanghai in the People's Republic of China. Mr. Irvine previously taught at Wichita State University and the Eastman School of Music. During the summer Mr. Irvine is on the faculty of the ENCORE School for Strings and the Aspen Music Festival and has also taught at Meadowmount and the Quartet Program at Bucknell. He was formerly a member of the New World String Quartet, with whom he toured the U.S. and Europe. Mr. Irvine received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Philadelphia Musical Academy and his Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music. His teachers have included Heidi Castleman, Dorothy DeLay, Martha Katz, William Primrose, Margaret Randall, and Karen Tuttle. He is married to violist Lynne Ramsey, with whom he has two children, Hannah and Christopher. Mr. Irvine plays a viola by Hiroshi Iizuka, made in 1993. He was appointed to the CIM faculty in 1999.
Wendy Warner	Wendy Warner
Joseph Banowetz	JOSEPH BANOWETZ has enjoyed a remarkable career that has taken him around the world, appearing as a recitalist, orchestral soloist, and master teacher on five continents. His recordings on Naxos, Marco Polo, and Altarus labels include world premiere recordings of all eight of Anton Rubinstein’s piano and orchestra works. Toccata Classics of London has recently released two CDs in commemoration of the150th anniversary of the birth of Sergei Taneyev with Thomas Sanderling conducting the Russian Philharmonic of Moscow in the world premiere recording of the Piano Concerto by Taneyev. Banowetz’s four-hand transcription of Taneyev’s tribute to Tchaikovsky, “The Composer’s Birthday” is performed on a CD with colleague Adam Wodnicki. His recent recording of four-hand transcriptions and Fantasy on Russian Folk Songs by Balakirev was nominated for two Grammy Awards. In 2007 Banowetz performed and gave master classes in the U.S., Poland, Bulgaria, India, The People’s Republic of China, and Singapore. His book, The Pianist’s Guide to Pedaling” has been translated into Korean, Chinese, and Japanese. Banowetz is Professor of Piano at the College of Music of the University of North Texas in Denton.
Paolo Giacometti	PAOLO GIACOMETTI has won prizes at national and international competitions. Since winning the Brahms International Competition in Hamburg, Germany, Giacometti has performed as soloist with renowned orchestras and conductors, most recently touring with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Jaap van Zweeden conducting, in the United Kingdom. His recitals and chamber music performances have taken him to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Wigmore Hall in London, Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, and the Seoul Arts Center in South Korea. He records exclusively for Channel Classics. His recordings include Rossini’s complete piano works, a project that started in 1998. In Rossini’s homeland, critics say-- “Rossini has finally found his pianist”. For the third recording of the series, Giacometti received the Edison Classical Music Award in 2001. His recording of Schumann’s Humoreske, Fantasiestucke, and Toccata has received the BBC Music Magazine’s Benchmark and Performance of Outstanding Quality distinction. He is currently an artist-teacher at the Utrecht Conservatory of Music in the Netherlands.
Frank Weinstock	FRANK WEINSTOCK has toured throughout North America and in Europe, Asia, and South America. He has partnered with well-known soloists such as the late Leonard Rose and Glenn Dicterow, performed with the acclaimed Tokyo Quartet and members of the Manhattan, La Salle, Guarneri and Berkshire Quartets. He has appeared with conductors Keith Lockhart, Gunther Schuller, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, and Jorge Mester, among others. Mr. Weinstock is a member of the piano faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and serves as Associate Dean at the Cincinnati College Conservatory where he is also a member of the artist faculty. He is featured in Benjamin Saver’s book, “The Most Wanted Piano Teachers in the U.S.A.”, and the successes of former students who have come to study from six continents are notable. In addition to teaching and performing, Weinstock works as a software engineer, developing computer applications for the serious music performer and student. He is the creator and author of In Concert, which provides an automatic intelligent accompanist for a keyboard player.
Piano Screening Committee	Joan Allison, Adam Wodnicki
String Screening Committee