Judges for the 2023 Russian Chamber Music Competition
PIANO DIVISION:
Dr. Ronaldo Rolim
With “a special ability to present touching interpretations” (El Norte), Brazilian pianist Ronaldo Rolim has performed extensively over four continents, in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Zurich’s Tonhalle, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Great Hall of the Liszt Academy in Budapest, and Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts. Acclaimed for his “consummate elegance” (New York Concert Review) and “mastery of phrasing and dynamics” (Oberbaselbieter Zeitung), he is a Winner of the 2017 Astral National Auditions and has captured top prizes at numerous prestigious international competitions, including the Géza Anda, James Mottram, Bösendorfer, San Marino, Lyon, and Teresa Carreño competitions. In 2019, Mr. Rolim released his latest album on Odradek Records, Szymanowski – The Wartime Triptychs, devoted to the programmatic works the Polish composer wrote during World War I. Diapason magazine considers Mr. Rolim “an ideal guide to [Szymanowski’s] magic world”, whereas Classica magazine hails his “clear but thunderous pianism”. The album’s topic was extensively discussed in Mr. Rolim’s doctoral thesis, completed in 2016 at Yale University.
Recent guest soloist performances include Ravel’s G major Concerto and Falla’s Noches en los Jardines de España with the Minas Gerais Philharmonic, Beethoven’s Concerto No. 5 with the Louisiana Philharmonic and on a tour of Germany with Ukraine’s Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra, Grieg’s Concerto with the European Philharmonic Orchestra of Switzerland and the Brazilian Symphony, Liszt’s Concerto No.1 and Schumann’s Concerto with the Youth Orchestra of Bahia, and Brahms’ Concerto No. 1 with the Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg State Academic Capella. Other recent engagements include performances at the Septembre Musical Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, a chamber music recital at New York’s Merkin Hall with members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Chausson’s Concerto with the São Paulo String Quartet, a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Enrique Granados with performances of the composer’s complete Goyescas in venues in the U.S., Europe, and Brazil, and an appearance in Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety in the Bernstein Centenary Festival hosted by the Minas Gerais Philharmonic.
Mr. Rolim has performed with the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Concerto Budapest, Phoenix Symphony, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as many of Brazil’s foremost ensembles. A frequent presence at international music festivals, he has been featured in solo recitals and chamber music performances at Ravinia, Rio Folle Journée, Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Musikdorf Ernen, Académie Musicale de Villecroze, and the Kingston, Walla Walla and Crescent City Chamber Music Festivals. His performances have been featured in radio broadcasts in Brazil (Radios MEC and Cultura), the U.S. (Spokane Public Radio and WBJC Baltimore), and Europe (Radios SWR 2, BBC 3, Rai 3, and France Musique). He has also been featured in several television programs in his home country, including Brasil Piano Solo, a series of recitals dedicated exclusively to Brazilian music, presented by the TV Cultura Channel. He has also participated in the documentary Magda Tagliaferro: A World Inside The Piano, in which he performed music of Scriabin.
A passionate advocate of chamber music, Mr. Rolim was a founding member of Trio Appassionata, which during 15 years of activities cultivated multiple projects such as tours of the U.S., Europe, Brazil and China, a strong commitment to community engagement, and the release of the album gone into night are all the eyes, dedicated to piano trios by American composers. Mr. Rolim is a frequent chamber music collaborator to ensembles such as the Aizuri, Jasper, Guimarães and São Paulo string quartets, and has performed with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Brazilian Symphony, Ensemble Connect, and Bronx Arts Ensemble.
Ronaldo Rolim began musical studies with his mother, Miriam Correa, and gave his first public performance at the age of four. He was admitted to the Magda Tagliaferro School in São Paulo as a student of Zilda Candida dos Santos and Armando Fava Filho. After winning the Nelson Freire and the Magda Tagliaferro national piano competitions at the age of 18, he moved to the U.S., where he studied with Flavio Varani at Oakland University (Michigan), Benjamin Pasternack at the Peabody Conservatory, and Boris Berman at the Yale School of Music. Mr. Rolim has just been appointed Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA, as well as pianist of the Puget Sound Piano Trio.
PIANO DIVISION:
Dr. Yerin Kim
Praised by the International Piano Magazine as a “pianist of beautiful finesse and golden tone”, and “powerful and engaging, poetic and expressive with some truly original interpretive insights, all performed with a great technique” by Phoenix Classical, pianist Yerin Kim is a recitalist, chamber musician, and educator. She has given concerts in various festivals and recitals in major venues internationally, including The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Carnegie Hall in New York, and Place Flagey in Brussels.
Her solo debut album “First and Last Words” can be heard on Sheva Label and her duo album “The Sound and the Fury” and “All Roads” with violinist Brendan Shea by the Blue Griffin records. Her duo is managed by the Parker Artist Management and has been praised by major magazines and critics such as Strings Magazine, the BBC Music Magazine, the Calgary Herald, and Gramophone Magazine. Kim is also passionate about outreach and education and she is the founder and director of Sensory Friendly Music and Autism Concert Series, Co-artistic Director of Chamber Music in the Bend, as well as Pianofest at CWU and Music & Autism concert series.
Kim is currently the Director of Keyboard Studies at Central Washington University where she teaches piano and chamber music. Prior to CWU, she taught at the University of Notre Dame as Adjunct Assistant Teaching Professor and has taught at pre-college programs at Indiana University Bloomington and Stony Brook University.
Kim holds a Double Degree in Piano Performance and Psychology from Oberlin Conservatory and College, a Master of Music from Indiana University Bloomington, and Doctor of Musical Arts from Stony Brook University.
STRINGS, VOICE, WOODWINDS, BRASS, MISC:
Maestro Tigran Arakelyan
Tigran Arakelyan is an Armenian-American conductor, executive director, radio host, podcaster and producer. 425 Business named Tigran in the 40 under 40 for 2023. He is the Music Director of Northwest Mahler Festival, ORS of Tacoma and Artistic Director of Port Townsend Symphony. Previously, he was the assistant conductor of California Philharmonic and made his Walt Disney Concert Hall conducting debut in 2019. Tigran played alongside Sir James Galway during Galway’s induction into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. He received awards from The American Prize in Programming and the Global Music Awards.
He held conducting positions with the California Philharmonic, Los Angeles Youth Orchestra, Bellingham Symphony, CSU Northridge Youth Philharmonic, Rainier Symphony, Whidbey Island Orchestra and the Bremerton Youth Symphony. During his tenure as Music Director of Federal Way Youth Symphony (2014-2022) and Bainbridge Youth Orchestras (2015-2022); the organizations reached their highest enrollment, added multiple ensembles, premiered pieces and collaborated with dance companies and choirs. Tigran led the Federal Way Youth Symphony on three tours to South Korea (2014, 2017, 2019), conducting in Seoul, Busan, Jeju, Daejeon, Gwangju, among other cities. Bainbridge Island Youth Orchestra was one of the few youth orchestras in the U.S. to continue in-person rehearsals (outdoor) and present virtual concerts.
He has programmed diverse concerts with works by William Grant Still, Amy Beach, Alma Mahler, Mieczysław Karłowicz, Fanny Mendelssohn, Alan Hovhaness, Vasily Kalinnikov and conducted regional premieres by renowned composers Paul Hindemith, Keith Jarrett, Jovino Santos Neto, Brenno Blauth, Jeff Manookian and James Cohn. Since 2009, Tigran has taken orchestras to unconventional venues, from bars and cideries to cafes and homeless shelters. He has initiated and is a founder of the Port Townsend Chamber Orchestra, Bainbridge Island String Festival, PTSO Young Artist Competition, Whidbey Competition for Young Composers and numerous scholarship/grant and funding initiatives. Tigran was the founder and Music Director of the Cadence Chamber Orchestra (WA) and the Youth Orchestra at Lark Musical Society (CA). The Port Townsend Symphony saw unprecedented financial and audience growth during his tenure.
During his time at the University of Washington, he was the conductor of the Campus Philharmonia and the Summer Orchestra. Tigran has conducted the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Olympia Chamber Orchestra, numerous youth orchestras in South Korea, Armenian Pops Orchestra, Juneau Symphony, Ballard Civic Orchestra, Bainbridge Symphony, Inverted Space Ensemble, Lark Orchestra (CA), Yakima Symphony Chamber Orchestra and innovative collaborations with the Olympic Performance Group and Olympic Youth Choir.
Tigran received the Ludovic Morlot Fellowship at the Pierre Monteux Festival, is a three time awardee of the Armenian General Benevolent Union Performing Arts Fellowship and is the 1st prize winner at the Armenian Allied Arts Competition. He participated in the Conductors Guild Workshop, Monteux School and Music Festival, Idyllwild Music Festival and Dilijan Chamber Music Series, among others. Tigran conducted in masterclasses with notable conductors David Loebel, Frank Battisti, Donald Thulean, Michael Jinbo and David Effron. He has worked with numerous composers and has premiered works by Iosif Andriasov, Eleanor Aversa, Michael Austin Miller, Yiğit Kolat and many others.
Invited by Maestro Ludovic Morlot, Tigran earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from the University of Washington where he was the first student in the inaugural class of David Rahbee and Morlot. His mentors are Victor Vener, John Barcellona, Paul Taub, and Laura Osborn. In his youth he played in the Los Angeles Junior Philharmonic Orchestra and attended Lark Musical Society.