Classic Violin Olympus marks the final stage of the groundbreaking ‘Six Ways to Classic Violin Olympus’ initiative, which consists of six international violin competitions held across the world’s major music capitals. Each of these preliminary contests carries with it a prize fund of €35,000, and features a jury board made up of 5 Internationally-acclaimed artists. To be eligible for entry to Classic Violin Olympus, participants must first compete, and rank as one of the top two contestants, in any of these six competitions listed below.
Open to participants of all ages
The events at Classic Violin Olympus shall be brought to the eyes of the world thanks to a number of leading press organisations who have lent their support to this unprecedented competition, including The Violin Channel, with press reports and briefings about the proceedings in Dubai set to be released daily.
The entirety of the competition shall also be streamed live online on the official platforms of our Media Partners, incorporating the performances on stage as well as various full-length interviews with participants and jury members, and behind-the-scenes segments offering viewers all around the globe a unique glimpse behind the curtain.
DEAR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
I am very proud to welcome you all to the first ever edition of Classic Violin Olympus!
There is no shortage of violin competitions in this day and age, it is true, but with the birth of this competition we are truly marking the beginning of something that has never been tried before, all brought to life in a manner that the violin world has yet to experience.
will consist of two obligatory parts:
DEAR LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
I am very proud to welcome you all to the first ever edition of Classic Violin Olympus!
There is no shortage of violin competitions in this day and age, it is true, but with the birth of this competition we are truly marking the beginning of something that has never been tried before, all brought to life in a manner that the violin world has yet to experience.
With six pre-selection contests held in all the music centres around the globe, Classic Violin Olympus is guaranteed to be an exclusive event of the highest level, open only to those musicians who have what it takes to shine on the world stage. Participants must be no more than 40 years of age by the start of the contest, to ensure that our younger talents will be given the prominence they deserve, while all violinists will be presenting a painstakingly-cultivated artistic programme specially designed to allow all our applicants to thoroughly showcase their full musical potential, be it in individual performance, technical virtuosity, intellectual interpretation and even leadership skills.
Even more uniquely, these artists will be judged by a panel of the very highest calibre, with 23 world-famous conductors and directors representing some of the most historic and influential musical institutions of our time. Under their discerning gaze, our competitors will be going head-to-head for an unmatched series of prizes, including a record-breaking prize fund of €300,000, as well as the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be selected by one of the jury members to perform in live concert with their respective orchestra.
All these factors are being brought together with one clear goal – to identify the best violinists playing today and give them the resources and exposure they need to forge their career on the global stage.
This goal is why Classic Violin Olympus has been conceived, and it is a mission that we are very excited to be embarking on together with you.
Pavel Vernikov, a student of David Oistrach and S. Snitkowsky, gained a reputation as a virtuoso violinist more than twenty years ago. Among other prizes he won the International ARD Violin Competition in Munich and the Grand Prix at the International Violin Competition “Vittorio Gui” in Florence. He has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, La Salle Gaveau in Paris, La Scala in Milan and Santa Cecilia in Rome.
For the past 30 years he has been a member of the Tchaikovsky Trio.
His artistic partners have included Sviatoslav Richter, James Galway, Alain Meunier, Patrick Gallois, Maria Tipo, Natalia Gutman, Oleg Kagan, Yuri Bashmet, Elisso Virsaladze, Christian Zimmermann and Anthony Pay. He inaugurated the Russian Academy of Higher Learning in Portogruaro and was the Artistic Director of the Gubbio Music Festival, the Dubrovnik Chamber Music Festival and the Eilat Chamber Music Festival.
He teaches and gives masterclasses around the world, in Italy, France, Finland, Spain (Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia Madrid), Israel (Rubin Academy), Germany (Kronberg Academy), etc. and has been invited to be a member of the jury at international competitions (Szigeti, Kreisler, Gui, ARD-Competition in Munich, Sendai (Japan), Budapest, Sarasate, Wieniawski, etc.).
Pavel Vernikov has recorded for RCA, Ondine and Dynamic.
He was a Professor at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Lyon. At present he is a Professor at the famous Konservatorium Wien University and at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne (Site de Sion).
Among his many laureate students are people like Massimo Quarta (1. Prize Paganini International Violin Competition, Genua), Fumiaki Miura (1. Prize Hannover International Violin Competition), Lorenza Borrani (Leader of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe), Fanny Clamagirand (1. Prize Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition, Vienna and 1. Prize International Monte Carlo Violin Competition) and Miki Kobayashi (2. Prize Wieniawski Competition).
In 2013 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Sion Festival in Switzerland, and in 2023, he was appointed as the Artistic Director of the Classic Violin Olympus International Competition, whose inaugural edition is set to take place in 2025 in Dubai, UAE.
Pavel Vernikov plays a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, 1757, violin.
Born on the 23rd of January 1970 in Baku, Azerbaijan Konstantin Ishkhanov has now gone on to become one of the world’s leading cultural philanthropists, spearheading countless initiatives around the globe within the realms of classical music, ballet, opera, motion pictures, and many more.
From early life, Konstantin Ishkhanov was surrounded by arts and culture, with his parents both being heavily involved in the sector and fostering an appreciation for cultural heritage that would remain with him all his life.
In later years, he put this appreciation to good use and began to focus his efforts on cultural projects, dedicating himself to the strengthening of international cultural relations and educational development and laying the groundwork for various major projects, many of which have now gone on to become internationally-established endeavours with a wide international following. In addition, Konstantin Ishkhanov is the President of many highly-esteemed competitions. Together, these projects represent some of the most important contemporary entries in the world of music competitions, offering daring new formats, an unprecedented global reach, record-breaking prizes and awards, and jury panels made up of the most celebrated classical music personalities active today.
Konstantin Ishkhanov is also behind the organisation of several major original productions, including ice shows, ballet performances, among many others, and is further involved in hundreds of other projects, ranging from music academies, concerts and conferences to exhibitions, international tours, movies and many more, in various different capacities.
Alexey Shor was born in Ukraine in 1970, immigrated to Israel in 1991, and now lives primarily in the USA.
His compositions have been performed at some of the most prestigious concert halls, including Wiener Musikverein, Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center (Washington DC), Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Mariinsky Theatre (St. Petersburg), Kremlin Palace (Moscow), The Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Gasteig (Munich), Wigmore Hall (London), Teatro Argentina (Rome) and many others. Concerts with his music have been broadcast on MediciTV, Mezzo and Euronews. Mr Shor’s music has been showcased on Fox Business News and the websites of Bloomberg News, the New Yorker, Yahoo and the Huffington Post. The Overture to his ballet “Crystal Palace” was performed at the 40th Gramophone Classical Music Awards ceremony in London. In 2018 he has been awarded an honorary professorship at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan. In 2022 Mr.Shor has been appointed as Yehudi Menuhin School’s first associate composer.
Mr. Shor’s scores are published by Breitkopf & Hartel, Universal Edition and P.Jurgenson.
CDs with his compositions have been issued by Warner Classics, DECCA, SONY Classics, Naxos, Delos, Berlin Classics and Melodiya.
Mr. Shor is the Composer-In-Residence for the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra.
Many internationally acclaimed artists have performed Mr Shor’s music, including (in alphabetical order) Behzod Abduraimov, Salvatore Accardo, Ray Chen, Steven Isserlis, Evgeny Kissin, Denis Kozukhin, Shlomo Mintz, Mikhail Pletnev, Gil Shaham, Yeol Eum Son, Yekwon Sunwoo, Maxim Vengerov, Nikolaj Znaider and many others.
He also holds a Ph.D. in mathematics.
Armenian conductor Sergey Smbatyan is the Founding Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Armenian State Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra performing internationally to great acclaim. Under Smbatyan’s artistic direction, its players are energetic, enthusiastic musicians with the shared objective of raising cultural awareness in Armenia and pursuing spiritual excellence through classical music.
Smbatyan has presented the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and the Malta Philharmonic throughout Europe, Russia and the United States. Performances include Vienna’s Musikverein, the Berlin Philharmonie, Salzburg’s Großes Festspielhaus, London’s Barbican Centre, the Gasteig Munich, Rudolfinum in Prague, Grand Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory and New York’s Carnegie Hall where he made his debut at the age of 28.
The 2022-23 highlight includes touring with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and the Romanian National Philharmonic Orchestra in the United Kingdom in a series of venues including Cadogan Hall, London; Usher Hall, Edinburgh; Bridgewater Hall, Manchester; Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham.
Born in Yerevan, Smbatyan was first introduced to music by his grandmother, the violinist and teacher Tatyana Hayrapetyan, who gave him violin lessons from an early age. He later studied at the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan and the Moscow P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory, receiving lessons from Bagrat Vardanyan and Zakhar Bron. Whilst studying for a PhD in Fine Arts in Yerevan with Yuri Davtyan, Smbatyan developed his passion and conducting skills working with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra which he founded aged 18. As a conductor, Smbatyan has been significantly influenced by his lessons with Riccardo Muti and Sir Colin Davis which he undertook during his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
A winner of multiple European conducting and violin competitions, Smbatyan has developed an international reputation that includes guest conducting engagements at the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, and many others.
In 2015, Smbatyan became the youngest recipient of the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters. He was presented with the award by the French Minister of Culture attended by Krzysztof Penderecki and Charles Aznavour, among other guests of honour. In recognition of his efforts to promote Armenian music and culture, the President of the Republic of Armenia presented Smbatyan with the title of Honoured Artist of the Republic of Armenia.
Smbatyan’s championing and commissioning living composers, promoting cultural heritage and developing new audiences are central to his artistic life and are reflected in his work as the Founder and Artistic Director of the Armenian Composing Art Festival; the Penderecki Contemporary Classics' Festival; the “Armenia” International Music Festival and the Khachaturian International Festival. The latter has its distinct positioning in Smbatyan’s cultural activities as a calling card for the Armenian performing arts. These values also define his work as Artistic Director of the Khachaturian International Competition.
Smbatyan deeply believes that only culture can shape our future and unite everyone by spreading harmony and peace. This is the main message conveyed in the orchestras he has founded: 24/04 World Orchestra, the “Generation of Independence” All-Armenian Choir and Orchestra and the Pan-Armenian Symphony Orchestra. Smbatyan’s passionate advocacy for increasing the level of cultural education and engagement, and social responsibility among young people was fulfilled by founding the UNICEF Children’s Chamber Orchestra and DasA, an educational program for high school students offering a close-up experience with classical music.
Sergey Smbatyan founded the "Music for Future" Cultural Foundation (M4FF) in 2019 and has been the President of its Board of Trustees since then․
A recognised pioneer in the uses of AI and other technologies in classical music, Smbatyan has developed multiple collaborations with leading institutions. As part of the 2019 World Congress of Information Technology he conducted the first-ever concert of music written live by AI. An audience of over 75,000 people watched the open-air concert performed by the WCIT World Orchestra, a specially created orchestra of players from the fifteen countries that had ever hosted the Congress.
A creative concert programmer, Smbatyan has worked with the world’s leading soloists and actors including John Malkovich who performed and toured with him several projects in Latin America, Asia and Armenia including narrating excerpts from The Book of Lamentations by the Armenian medieval poet Grigor Narekatsi.
Smbatyan’s discography is rich and includes many recordings for ArmSyphony Records including Khachaturian’s Symphony No.2, The Bell, which was made to celebrate the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra’s 15th anniversary. The recent collaboration included the release of Joseph Calleja’s new album of sacred music AVE MARIA with Decca Records.
A particular focus of Smbatyan’s recording activities is contemporary music which he primarily records with the Armenian State Symphony and Malta Philharmonic orchestras, alongside other orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra.
Sergey Smbatyan has been UNICEF Armenia Ambassador since 2023.
