Dorran <br>Alibaud — Classic Cello · International Competition

Dorran
Alibaud

(France)

Born in 1989 in the South of France, Dorran Alibaud has established a distinguished career as both an elite cellist and a visionary artistic leader. He has served as Guest Principal Cellist with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Les Siècles, and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, among many others. His extensive international performing career includes tours and collaborations with the Utopia Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Opéra de Paris, Kammerorchester Basel, Staatskapelle Dresden, SWR Symphonieorchester, Orchestre Romantique et Révolutionnaire, and the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

Beginning in 2011, at the invitation of Claudio Abbado, Dorran joined his Orchestra Mozart in Bologna. Throughout his career, he has collaborated closely with the world’s most renowned conductors, including Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Herbert Blomstedt, Riccardo Chailly, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Teodor Currentzis, and Antonio Pappano. His profound affinity for the orchestral repertoire was forged during his years as Principal Cellist of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (GMJO); his relationship with the institution continues today, having served as a tutor board member since 2021.

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Deborah <br>Borda — Classic Cello · International Competition

Deborah
Borda

(USA)

Deborah Borda has extended the artistic, commercial, and technological boundaries of what a 21st century orchestra can be through creative leadership, commitment to innovation, and progressive vision. She transformed top orchestras on both American coasts — the New York Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic — through the opening of contemporary yet elegant concert halls, introduction of dynamic programming initiatives, and hiring of Gustavo Dudamel as Music and Artistic Director at both orchestras. In 2023 she established BordaArts, a consulting firm dedicated to developing innovative leadership for the future.

When Borda was appointed to the NY Phil in the 1990s she was the first woman to serve as the chief executive of a major American symphony orchestra. Upon returning to New York in 2017 she worked with Philharmonic and Lincoln Center leadership to transform David Geffen Hall, deepened connections with the community, and engaged Dudamel. On deciding to step down as President and CEO, the Orchestra named her its first-ever Executive Advisor, and in September 2025 she was named President Emerita, again making her the first given that title. While at the LA Phil she oversaw the completion of the construction of Walt Disney Hall and the addition of a new shell for the Hollywood Bowl, and appointed Dudamel, collaborating with him to found Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA). The orchestra’s success during her 17-year tenure was chosen for case studies by Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School.

Deborah Borda was the first arts executive to join Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership as a Hauser Leader-in-Residence. Her accomplishments over her career (including top posts at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra) have been acknowledged through a host of honors, including honorary doctorates from The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and New England Conservatory. Among her many other accolades include being named an Honorary Member of the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York; the Gold Baton award — the League of American Orchestras’ highest honor; and election to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. She serves as Chair for the Avery Fisher Artist Program, a judge of the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition, and chair of the 2025 jury of the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam.

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Angela <br>Dixon — Classic Cello · International Competition

Angela
Dixon

(UK)

Angela Dixon is Chief Executive of Saffron Hall, a 740 seat concert hall within Saffron Walden County High School.

Angela was born in London, educated in Essex and Suffolk and studied guitar, clarinet and piano. She attended the Junior Academy of Music and went on to study Music at the University of London.

After a few years spent in the marketing and market research departments of major car manufacturers, Angela moved into the music industry touring orchestras. From 1999 she was classical music programmer at the Barbican Centre, principally working on festivals, commissioning projects and major orchestral residencies. In 2007 Traced Overhead, the musical world of Thomas Adès won a South Bank Show Award and Phases: Steve Reich at 70 was nominated for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award. In 2011 Angela became Head of Music at the Barbican Centre heading up three major projects that formed part of the Cultural Olympiad in 2012 and leading on Barbican Britten in Autumn 2013 celebrating the composers 100th birthday.

In March 2014 Angela took up her current position as Chief Executive of Saffron Hall Trust and in 2016 won ABO/Rheingold Concert Hall Manager of the year. Saffron Hall is a unique model of arts and education. Over the ten years it has been open, Angela has built a world-class public programme that is fully integrated into an extensive schools and community programme.

In addition to her work for Saffron Hall Trust, Angela also works with the composer, conductor and pianist Thomas Adès, managing his performing engagements. She is a trustee of YCAT (Young Classical Artist Trust), a board member of BACH (British Association of Concert Halls), a member of the oversight group for Essex Music Hub and in May 2024 became the first ever female Chair of the Royal Philharmonic Society.

Angela lives in Cambridgeshire with her husband and three children.

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Kathryn <br>Enticott — Classic Cello · International Competition

Kathryn
Enticott

(UK)

After many years running the Conductors and Instrumentalists Department at IMG Artists, Kathryn Enticott founded her own boutique Music Management company, Enticott Music Management, in 2014. She manages an elite roster of conductors and instrumentalists and consults to Artistic institutions and organisations. Over the years she has worked with many of the world’s leading artists and is one of the most respected international Artist Managers in the UK. In 2017 she won the prestigious ABO/Rheingold Artist Manager of the Year Award.

Kathryn studied Music and English at the University of Birmingham and, after graduating, she joined Intermusica Artist Management working on both Artist Management and Orchestra Touring.

In 1987, she joined Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group where she worked in the Music Production Department on touring and special projects. Her five-year tenure at RUG spanned the opening of Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, the opening of Aspects of Love in London’s West End and culminated in a new production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium. Kathryn was also responsible for setting up and planning the inaugural “Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber” tours in the UK featuring Sarah Brightman and Michael Ball.

In 1991, Kathryn returned to her classical routes and joined IMG Artists as a Manager. She was promoted to Associate Director in 1998, Director in 2004 and made Managing Director of Artists Management in 2009.

Kathryn has managed and worked with many of the world’s leading conductors and soloists. Enticott Music Management represents an elite list of artists including conductors Semyon Bychkov, Dinis Sousa, Alan Gilbert and Franz Welser-Möst; conductor and violinist Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider; violinist Johan Dalene, pianists Leif Ove Andsnes, Mitsuko Uchida, Kirill Gerstein, Isata and Jeneba Kanneh-Mason; cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and guitarist Miloš Karadaglić.

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Michael <br>Haefliger — Classic Cello · International Competition

Michael
Haefliger

(Switzerland)

For nearly 40 years, Michael Haefliger has led the most significant festivals in the world, fostered innovation in the new music space, and created lasting and meaningful educational and early-professional opportunities for young artists. A violinist and graduate of Juilliard, Haefliger began his career as a performing artist; he carries that training with him in his management career, with an arts-forward approach that prioritizes cooperation, education, and musical innovation. Over his lengthy career, Haefliger has built bridges between the arts and society at large, pioneered festival formats and themes that have set the standard for programming at institutions around the world, and cultivated an extensive network of contacts at all levels of classical and contemporary music: from emerging artists and composers to seasoned institutional figures, legendary conductors and instrumentalists, and high-value sponsors.

As Artistic and Executive Director of the Lucerne Festival since 1999, Haefliger has utterly transformed the institution, working together with fellow visionaries Claudio Abbado and Pierre Boulez to establish the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Lucerne Festival Academy, elevating the festival into a world-renowned international brand synonymous with musical excellence and innovation, and doubling the festival budget while maintaining a 95% self-funding rate. Now spread across multiple venues—ranging from the KKL Concert Hall and the streets, hotels, and restaurants of Lucerne, to the innovative Ark Nova Mobile Concert Hall and Connected streaming platform—and with several tours and extended residencies throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States, the Lucerne Festival, Orchestra, and Academy have had a profound impact on the cultural, musical, and educational landscape around the world.

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Paul <br>Hughes — Classic Cello · International Competition

Paul
Hughes

(UK)

Paul Hughes joined the BBC in 1999 and for 23 years was Director of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and Director of the BBC Singers for ten of those years. A graduate of Trinity College of Music where he studied piano, composition and conducting, Paul Hughes came to the BBC following key roles with The Academy of Ancient Music (General Manager), IMG Artists, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Chief Executive) and the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra (General Manager).
Under his directorship, the BBC ensembles toured the world, recorded extensively, expanded audiences live, on air and on social media, undertook a wide range of innovative education and audience development projects and championed new music, new composers and new artists.

A former Governor of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for nine years, Paul has a passion for discovering and nurturing the next generation of musicians and audiences and is a member of the conducting faculty at the Royal College of Music, as well as a guest lecturer at several of the UK’s leading conservatoires, mentoring young conductors and composers.
He is the recipient of honorary membership from Trinity College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Royal College of Music and has been honoured by the Finnish government with the award of Knight First Class of the Order of the Lion, for services to Finnish music and musicians.

Paul Hughes’ career now focuses on mentoring, nurturing and teaching early career conductors, composers and arts administrators; and on orchestral programming and strategic planning.

He is Director of Programming and Mentoring for the Lead Foundation in Finland; a guest lecturer to Norway’s prestigious Dirigentløftet programme where he gave the keynote speech at the Conducting Change conference in 2023; is a market advisor to Music Norway, consultant to the National Concert Hall, Dublin, a visiting lecturer for the International Conducting Competition Rotterdam, and later this year will give his first lecture at the Tokyo College of Music.

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Florian <br>Leonhard — Classic Cello · International Competition

Florian
Leonhard

(UK)

Florian Leonhard has forged a distinguished career in violin making, restoration, and expertise. Following his education at the Mittenwald Violin Making School, Leonhard honed his skills at W.E. Hill and Sons, where he ascended to the role of Head Restorer. His professional journey has since expanded to include the establishment of Florian Leonhard Fine Violins, with ateliers situated across Europe, America, and Asia.

Leonhard is recognized as a foremost expert in the appraisal and study of Italian stringed instrument masterpieces. His consultancy services are sought by leading orchestras, music institutions, and renowned soloists. Among those he advises are violinists Alina Ibragimova, Leonidas Kavakos, Anne Sophie Mutter, and Maxim Vengerov, as well as cellists Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Julian Lloyd-Webber, and Steven Isserlis.

With four decades of research underpinning his work, Leonhard's 'True Copy' instruments stand out for their remarkable acoustic fidelity and aesthetic resemblance to the original masterpieces. His contributions to the field extend to numerous scholarly articles and publications. He has authored significant works on Italian instrument-making, including "The Makers of Central Italy" and "The Makers of Tuscany," and has contributed to esteemed publications such as The Strad and Archi.

Leonhard's dedication to classical music and violin making is further evidenced by his active participation in the international music community. He frequently serves on jury panels for prestigious violin competitions, including Kloster Schöntal, Lipinski-Wieniawski, and Tonali, as well as in violinmaking competitions in Sofia, Pisogne, and Nemessányi. Through his expertise and passion, Florian Leonhard has made a substantial impact on the field of violin making and restoration, earning respect and recognition from peers and professionals within the classical music and instrument crafting communities.

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Julian <br>Lloyd Webber — Classic Cello · International Competition

Julian
Lloyd Webber

(UK)

Julian Lloyd Webber enjoys one of the most creative careers in music today. As a solo cellist he has performed with many of the world’s great orchestras and conductors including the Berlin Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra’s under conductors Georg Solti, Lorin Maazel, Yehudi Menuhin, Neville Marriner, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mark Elder and Andrew Davis.

Julian’s many recordings include his BRIT Award-winning Elgar Cello Concerto conducted by Yehudi Menuhin – chosen as the ‘finest ever version’ by BBC Music Magazine, the Dvorak Cello Concerto with Vaclav Neumann and the Czech Philharmonic, Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with the London Symphony Orchestra under Maxim Shostakovich, a coupling of Britten’s Cello Symphony and Walton’s Cello Concerto with Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields described as ‘beyond any rival’ in Gramophone magazine and ‘Variations’, famous as the theme to ITV’s long running ‘South Bank Show’. Julian has also inspired more than fifty new works for cello from composers as varied as Malcolm Arnold, Joaquín Rodrigo, Andrew Lloyd Webber, James MacMillan, Philip Glass and Eric Whitacre.

In 2007 Julian founded the UK Government’s In Harmony programme which has introduced music to more than sixty thousand school children from the least privileged parts of England. Julian was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in 1994 and received the Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum (1998) the Independent Society of Musician’s Distinguished Musician of the Year Award (2014) and the London Cello Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2023).

In 2014 Julian was forced to retire from playing the cello due to a neck injury. In July 2015 he was appointed principal of Birmingham Conservatoire. In September 2017 the Conservatoire was awarded the Royal status by Her Majesty the Queen.

Julian continues to promote young musicians through his ongoing series of Rising Stars with Classic FM and Sky Arts TV.

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Jury members

Dorran
Alibaud

Deborah
Borda

Alexander
Chaushian

Angela
Dixon

Kathryn
Enticott

Michael
Haefliger

Ursula
Haselböck

Paul
Hughes

Florian
Leonhard

Julian
Lloyd Webber

James
Williams

Jury members

Dorran Alibaud

Deborah Borda

Alexander Chaushian

Angela Dixon

Kathryn Enticott

Michael Haefliger

Ursula Haselböck

Paul Hughes

Florian Leonhard

Julian Lloyd Webber

James Williams

Dorran
Alibaud

Deborah
Borda

Alexander
Chaushian

Angela
Dixon

Kathryn
Enticott

Michael
Haefliger

Ursula
Haselböck

Paul
Hughes

Florian
Leonhard

Julian
Lloyd Webber

James
Williams