Arie Van Lysebeth was the President of the Jury of the Queen Elisabeth Competition from 1996 to 2018. He took up the violin at the age of four. He completed his higher education at the Brussels Conservatory in music theory, bassoon, chamber music, and orchestral conducting. Following a competition, he was appointed bassoon soloist of the Belgian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra. Two years later, he came joint first in the Prague International Bassoon Contest. He also studied conducting under Bruno Maderna in Salzburg and under Pierre Boulez in Switzerland. Starting in 1970, he conducted the Flemish Chamber Orchestra, both in Belgium and abroad. As a guest conductor, he has appeared with the major Belgian orchestras as well as with symphony orchestras in the United States of America, Argentina, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany. He has performed with many famous soloists, including Igor Oistrakh, José Van Dam, Murray Perahia, and Augustin Dumay. From 1995 to 2004 he was the regular conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Brussels Conservatory, where he taught chamber music for many years (1970-1994) and served as director (1994-2003). From 2004 to 2014, he was the artistic director of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel.

Pierre Amoyal won First Prize in the violin at the Paris Conservatory at the age of 12. At 17 he moved to study in Los Angeles under Jascha Heifetz, with whom he played chamber music and made his first recordings. Five years later he was playing all over Europe and in Japan, performing with the most prestigious orchestras and the greatest conductors (including P. Boulez, S. Ozawa, C. Dutoit, G. Herbig, L. Maazel, K. Sanderling, and M.W. Chung). His many recordings for Decca have included Fauré’s sonatas, the Chausson Concert, and the Franck sonata, as well as the Dutilleux, Saint-Saëns, and Respighi concertos. Appointed a professor at the Conservatoire National in Paris at a very young age, he has also taught at the Lausanne Conservatory, Haute École de Musique, where he founded the Camerata de Lausanne in 2002, recently renamed CameratAmoyal. Made up of 14 talented young musicians from all over the world, the Camerata has recorded a number of CDs. Pierre Amoyal teaches as well at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. He is a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and a Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite. In 2006 he received the Prix de la Ville de Lausanne. Pierre Amoyal owns one of the world’s most celebrated violins, the 1717 ‘Kochansky’ Stradivarius, which was miraculously found in 1991 after being stolen in 1987.

A laureate of the 1980 Queen Elisabeth Competition, Véronique Bogaerts has been entirely trained by Belgian violin teacher Carlo Van Neste. She has won several international competitions and has given many concerts in Europe, the Far East and South America. She has also participated in the juries of international contests, such as the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 1997 and 2001 and the Competition of Prague in 2004.

An accomplished player of chamber music, she plays the violin in piano duos and trios, string quintets and piano quintets (Ensemble César Franck). Her very extensive repertoire has also allowed her to interpret numerous concertos from all periods with conductors of world renown.

Véronique Bogaerts is a much sought-after violin pedagogue. Having started teaching at age eighteen at the Brussels Royal Conservatory of Music, she subsequently was nominated as a violin professor at the Royal Conservatory of Mons and at the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth. Currently, she teaches at the Brussels Royal Conservatory and the Centre Eduardo Del Pueyo.

Véronique Bogaerts plays a 1699 violin by Jean-Baptiste Roggerius.

Born in Italy of Russian origin and Argentinian and German nationality, Ana Chumachenco started playing violin at the age of four under the supervision of her father - a disciple of Leopold Auer - and later with Ljerko Spiller in Buenos Aires.

After enjoying considerable success in her early years in South America, she returned to Europe at the age of 17 to continue her studies. Just one year later she was awarded the gold medal at the Carl Flesch competition in London and, a few years later, 4th prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition. Her musical mentors in those years included Joseph Szigeti, Sandor Vegh and Yehudi Menuhin.

Besides her appearances in recitals and as a soloist with leading orchestras, Ana Chumachenco devotes much of her time to chamber music. For more than 20 years she has played in the Munich String Trio with violist Oscar Lysy and cellist Walter Notas.

Ana Chumachenco spent many years as Violin Professor at the Munich University of Music; many of her students went on to outstanding international careers. She has been a juror in the Queen Elisabeth Competition and the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki. Ana Chumachenco is a professor at Kronberg Academy Masters.

Tuomas Haapanen studied the violin at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. After his debut in 1948 he pursued his studies in Paris with Léon Nauwinck and René Benedetti. In addition to a fine career as soloist and chamber musician, he has also been appointed concert master for the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Chamber Orchestra. In 1962 he was appointed head violin teacher at the Turku Conservatory, and in 1978 he became violin professor at the Sibelius Academy; where, from 1987 to 1990, he also acted as principal. He has held master classes in Europe, America and Japan, and many of his students have won prizes in international competitions. Tuomas Haapanen acted as the chairman of the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition from 1981 to 2001, and has regularly been invited to serve as member of the jury in most major violin competitions. In 1999 he received the Finnish State Music Prize.

Born in Chelm, Poland Ida Haendel began playing the violin when only three and a half years of age. Her father, an artist, recognised her talent and subsequently devoted as much time as possible towards furthering her career. Her studies began at the Warsaw Conservatoire where she gained a gold medal at the age of seven and won the Huberman Prize. After leaving Poland she continued her studies with Carl Flesch and later with George Enescu.

Ida Haendel began her professional career as a child prodigy at the Queen's Hall in London under the baton of Sir Henry Wood, playing Brahms Violin Concerto. During the War she lived in London becoming a British subject, and gave many concerts for the troops. Her international career developed as soon as the War was over, performing world-wide throughout Europe, Israel, North and South America and the Far East and the USSR.

A regular visitor to all UK major orchestras she has accompanied them on many foreign tours; the London Philharmonic to the first Hong Kong Arts Festival (1973) and on their subsequent tour of China, the BBC Symphony to Germany, Australia and Hong Kong and the English Chamber Orchestra to Mexico. Ida Haendel collaborated with such eminent conductors as Haitink, Rattle, Decker, Sanderling and Ashkenazy. She made regular appearances at major festivals such as Edinburgh and the BBC Proms, as she did in 1994 with the BBC Symphony and Andrew Davis.

As well as in the UK, she worked with leading conductors and prominent orchestras around the world, and in 1998 took part in a tour to Japan with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. Engagements have included the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic and Bayerisches Staatsorchester.

Ida Haendel speaks seven languages and has published the first part of her autobiography (Woman with Violin, Victor Gollancz). In 1982, she was awarded the Sibelius Medal by the Sibelius Society of Finland on the 25th Anniversary of the composer's death, in recognition of her distinguished performances of his Violin Concerto. In the 1991 New Year's honours list she was awarded a CBE for her outstanding services to music.

Ida Haendel has recorded for EMI and Decca. In 1996 her recording of Bach solo works on the Testament label was released and she completed her chamber music recordings with Vladimir Ashkenazy for Decca.

Viktor Liberman (1931 - 1999) graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory and was a member of the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra under Mavrinsky from 1950 until 1979, the last eleven years of which he was first concert-master. During this period he was also professor at the Leningrad Conservatory where he had a special violin class. In 1958 he was a prizewinner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

Meanwhile, Viktor Liberman built up his concert experience as a soloist with the leading symphony orchestras of the former USSR under famous conductors such as Kondrashin, Dmitriev, Svetlanov and Sanderling. Furthermore, he was an active chamber musician and maintained excellent contacts with contemporary Soviet composers some of whom have dedicated violin concertos to him, for instance Falik and Tishenko. In 1971 he was awarded the honorary title of 'Merited Artist of the USSR'. Outside Russia Viktor Liberman appeared as a soloist in the USA, Germany, Austria, the U.K., Holland and the Scandinavian countries.

Since 1979, Viktor Liberman lived in the Netherlands where he worked as concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra until 1985. In that year he was appointed concert-master of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. With that orchestra he has made solo appearances with conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Riccardo Chailly, Charles Dutoit, Mariss Jansons and Kurt Sanderling.

Internationally in demand for coaching and masterclasses, Viktor Liberman held a professorship at the Utrecht Conservatory and was a tutor with the European Community Orchestra. He regularly conducted the Dutch National Youth Orchestra.

Viktor Liberman regularly appeared as a soloist in the Netherlands and abroad and had a busy recital career. He was very active as a conductor working with the North Netherlands Orchestra, the Orquestra Filharmonica de Gran Canaria, L'Orchestra Da Camera di Padova e Del Veneto and the Copenhagen Philharmonic, the Kölner Philharmoniker, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Royal Danish Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders and The Rotterdam Philharmonic.

Mihaela Martin was born in Romania and has won many prizes at international competitions. After winning 2nd Prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition at the age of 19, she also distinguished herself at the Montreal, Sion, and Queen Elisabeth competitions. Her 1st Prize at the Indianapolis Competition opened the way to a distinguished international career. Her debut at Carnegie Hall was enthusiastically received. Since then, Mihaela Martin has made a name for herself as a soloist with a vast repertoire and has been the guest of many orchestras. She has performed with the BBC Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Salzburg Mozarteum, and the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester under such conductors as K. Masur, N. Harnoncourt, C. Dutoit, and N. Järvi. She also regularly performs at chamber music festivals with a variety of partners, including M. Argerich, Y. Bashmet, E. Leonskaya, N. Imai, L. Fleisher, and M. Pressler. In 2003 Mihaela Martin set up the Michelangelo String Quartet. A regular jury member at the Indianapolis, Enescu, and Tchaikovsky competitions, she teaches at the Musikhochschule in Cologne, the Kronberg Academy and the Barenboim-Said Akademie of Berlin, and also was a professor at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva.

Yehudi Menuhin was born in New York of Russian-Jewish parents, but later became a British subject. He made his violin debut at the age of seven with the San Francisco Symphony in Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole, following this with a recital in New York a year later. By the time he was eleven he had made his historic debuts in Paris and Carnegie Hall, at twelve in Berlin and at thirteen in London, thus launching himself at an early age on a career that was to take him all over the world for the ensuing decades, playing with all the leading conductors and orchestras. In addition to his renown as a great musician he is equally recognized for his committed humanism, exemplified by his interest in and work for the young, for international understanding, and all the many causes he finds close to his synoptic mind and generous spirit.

lt was on his first visit to lndia in 1952 at the invitation of Prime Minister Pandit Nehru, that he met Ravi Shankar, developing a deep admiration for both Shankar and Indian music. Subsequently, they gave many concerts together and made numerous recordings which sold into the millions; the proceeds of all the coneerts given on his tours of India were donated to charity. In 1960 he was awarded the Nehru Peace Prize for International Understanding. Some thirty years later, in 1992, he was honoured with the title of Ambassador of Goodwill to UNESCO.

In recognition of the many concerts he gave for the Allied Forces during the second World War, flying over from America whenever he could find space in a military plane, Yehudi Menuhin was awarded numerous honours, amongst which were the Legion d'Honneur and the Croix de Lorraine from France, the Order of Merit from Germany, the Ordre Leopold and the Ordre de la Couronne from Belgium, from England the Royal Philharmonic Society's Gold Medal and in 1995 from Spain the Gran Cruz de la Orden del Merito Civil. Queen Elizabeth II bestowed a knighthood on him in 1965 and gave him the Order of Merit in 1987, followed by a life peerage in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 1993.

He is an Honorary Doctor of over 30 universities in different countries, including those of Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrew's and the Sorbonne as weil as being a Freeman of the cities of Edinburgh, Bath, Reims and Warsaw and holding the Gold Medals of the cities of Paris, New York and Jerusalem. He was also the first Westerner to be made an Honorary Professor of the Beijing Conservatoire in recognition of his concerts in China and of his endeavours in helping many young Chinese violinists to continue their studies in the West.

In 1963 he achieved one of his greatest ambitions, creating a boarding school for promising young musicians, starting from the age of seven and based on the Central School of Moscow, where the students receive both their scholastic and musical education under one roof. Numerous students of the Yehudi Menuhin School, which is officially associated with its Moscow equivalent, have gone on to earn university scholarships.
In 1977 he founded the International Menuhin Music Academy for young graduate string players in Gstaad, Switzerland, the site of the Menuhin Music Festival, of which he was artistic director for 40 years and for which he was awarded Swiss citizenship.

Yehudi Menuhin made his first record at the age of twelve and a year later began his long association with HMV/EMI, with whom he continued to record for many years. He has also recorded for Deutsche Grammophon (the complete Beethoven sonatas with Wilhelm Kempff) and conducted numerous orchestral works for Philips, Virgin, Nimbus and other labels. A great number of his early recordings have been reissued on CD on the occasion of his 75th and 80th birthdays by Biddulph Recordings, and IMG Records issued a boxed set of the complete Beethoven symphonies, performed by the Sinfonia Varsovia under the baton of Lord Menuhin.

After a thorough musical education in Paris and London under Jacques Thibaud, Carl Flesch and Max Rostal, Yfrah Neaman (1923-2003) made his sensational debut in London in 1944 and rapidly conquered the great concert houses of the world. He was an eloquent and tireless champion of twentieth-century composers, whose works - many written especially for him - he has introduced to audiences around the world. He was Professor of Violin and Department Head of the Guildhall School of Music in London and had been offered guest professorships at conservatories and colleges of music all over the world.

As an internationally acclaimed teacher, Yfrah Neaman gave regular master classes troughout Europe, the United States and the Far East. He was also a regular member of the jury of all the major international violin competitions and the joint Artistic Director of the London International Quartet Competition.

He was made a Freeman of the City of London in 1980, and in 1983 was honoured with the Order of the British Empire. In 1997, the Worshipful Company of Musicians offered him the prestigious Cobbett Medal. In 1998, he was awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the National Academy of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria, and received the title of Professor Emeritus for service to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Launched very early onto the international stage, Clemens Quatacker first studied with his father and then with J. DeLoof, H. Gadeyne and Y. Menuhin. After winning numerous prizes, among them the Prix Vieuxtemps in Verviers and in 1955 the 10th prize of the Queen Elisabeth Competition, he was invited to undertake concert tours in Europe, Africa, Mexico, Canada, Haiti, Uruguay, Brazil, ... He had many contacts with David Oistrakh, who had a high opinion of his young talent. In 1967 he founded the string quartet that bore his name, an ensemble that found rapid success. His group was regularly asked to perform at festivals, national and international. Clemens Quatacker has taught the violin at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel and has an honourary chair at the Brussels Conservatory.

Born and educated in Russia, Eduard Schmieder amalgamates and creatively transforms the great traditions of American and European art as artist and teacher. He maintains a concert schedule as conductor and violinist and teaches an internationally selected class of students.

As violinist, conductor, and chamber musician, he has performed in such prestigious halls as Cité de la Musique in Paris, Crown Hall in Jerusalem, Grand Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Mozarteum Grosse Hall in Salzburg, Wagner Hall in Riga, Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, and other major concert halls worldwide. He has collaborated with such musicians as Ida Haendel, Brooks Smith, Nathaniel Rosen, Jon Kimura-Parker, Erick Friedman, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Ron Leonard, Maria Kligel, Atar Arad, John Perry, Dame Diana Andersen, Fou Ts’ong and many others.

He was a founding member and artistic director of the Venice International Violin Institute and the Moscow Trio. In Dallas, he formed iPalpiti Chamber Orchestra, which grew into ensemble of international recognition, establishing residencies in Holland and Beverly Hills, California, culminating in sold-out concerts at the famed Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), Nikkei Hall (Tokyo), Mozarteum (Salzburg) and European and Asian tours. In March 2007 he took iPalpiti for its New York debut at the Carnegie Hall, and in 2009 returned for the east coast tour. Fifteen CDs of iPalpiti were released on both TELOS Records and YAI Records.

One of the most highly regarded violin pedagogues of his generation, Eduard Schmieder holds the Temple University Carnell Distinguished Professor in Philadelphia. Prior to this appointment, he was Distinguished Algur H. Meadows Chair of Violin and Chamber Music in the Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas (1990-2006), and tenured professor of the violin at the University of Southern California, the position formerly held by Jascha Heifetz. Students of professor Schmieder consistently win top prizes at the most prestigious international competitions and perform as soloists, chamber musicians, and hold leading positions in orchestras in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Dr. Eduard Schmieder has taught master classes in virtually every foremost conservatory in the world, performs, teaches, and conducts at international music festivals in Canada, Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands, and other countries. In the United States he has worked in music festivals at Aspen, Interlochen, Musicorda, Idyllwild, and Summit in New York. Since 2004, he teaches at the Mozarteum Summer Academie Salzburg. He frequently represents the United States as a jury member at leading international competitions including Sibelius, Paganini, Sarasate, Lipizer, and ARD. In 2003, he was invited and accepted position as Artistic Advisor to the Sarasate International Violin Competition in Spain. He is also an Artistic Advisor to the Foundation "Remember Enescu" in Romania.

Most recent awards include: Proclamation from the City of Beverly Hills for his accomplishments as a Musician and Teacher and recognition for his invaluable contributions to culture; Certificate of Commendation from the City of Los Angeles for providing the world with cultural enrichment; honors by Holland Music Sessions for 15 years of contribution to the culture of The Netherlands; Lifetime Achievement in Music Education, Russian American Center, Dallas, TX; Irving Symphony honor dedication, City of Irving, TX; Diploma de Excelenta, Remember Enescu Foundation, Romania. In 2006 he received President’s Associates Faculty Award at Southern Methodist University - only a 12th such recipient in the history of the university and the first ever in the Meadows School.

Berl Senofsky was accepted by the Juilliard School in 1931, at the age of six. There he studied with Louis Persinger and later with Ivan Galamian. Invited to the celebrated Malboro Festival and then to be second concert master of the Cleveland Orchestra, it was in 1955 that he won the Grand Prize of the Queen Elisabeth Competition.

From 1965 until his retirement, Berl Senofsky was on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore as principal professor of violin. He was principal of string classes from 1965 to 1977. That same year, he founded the American Artists International Foundation, an institution that has been able to aid Peter Zazofsky and Irina Tseitlin, among others.

To his international career as soloist, Berl Senofsky adds an extensive discography on Philips, Epic, RCA and Deutsche Grammophon.

Takashi Shimizu was born in 1953, in Yokosuka, Japan. Having started playing the violin at the age of 6, he won the all-Japan violin competition just three years later. That same year, he made his television debut, playing with the NHK Symphony Orchestra for the wedding celebrations of H.I.M. Prince Hitachi. At 17, laureate of three national competitions, he was awarded a scholarship to study under Jasha Heifetz for three years, at the University of Southern California. In 1975, he won the 3rd prize in the Long-Thibaud International Competition in Paris, and subsequently took 2nd prize in the 1978 Carl Flesch Competition (London), the 1st prize in Granada (1979) and then, the 3rd prize in the Queen Elisabeth Competition (1980). He also studied at the Guildhall School of Music, with Yfrah Neaman. Takashi Shimizu is now combining a career as soloist with that of a teacher at the University of Fine Arts, Tokyo.