Participants

Lin Jiajie was born in 2001 in Putian, Fujian Province, China. Since 2022 he has been studying composition at the Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory, where he is currently in his third year, under the guidance of Artur Zobnin.

He serves as Head of the International Department of the Children’s Earth Festival.

Lin is a prizewinner of the composers’ competition held during the 1st All-Russian Summer MoloT-Orchestra School of Contemporary Academic Music (2023), and a laureate of the 17 th Open All-Russian Choral Laboratory: 21st Century Composers’ Competition (2024).

At the 11th Jean Sibelius International Composition Competition in Finland (2023), he was awarded First Prize in the Vocal and Choral Music category and Third Prize in Chamber Music.

He has participated in the Night of Museums festival in St. Petersburg (2023, 2024), the 10th and 11th All-Russian Summer Choral Composition School (2023, 2024, class of Professor Yevgeny Petrov), and the Sound Way Festival (2023, 2024).

In 2024 he also took part in the Petersburg Spring music festival.

Competition essays

THE BELLS I--- for piano solo

THE BELLS II -- “The bells”,Vocal romancefor piano and soprano,text from Boris Yulianovich Poplavsky

THE BELLS III--- CONCERT for piano with orchestra

Graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 2008, where she studied composition with Alexander Mnatsakanyan.

Laureate of international, national, and regional competitions.

Her output spans a wide range of genres, including ballet, concertos, symphonic and vocal-symphonic works, chamber music, vocal and choral pieces, and scores for documentary films.

She is a member of the Union of Composers of Russia and the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Ziganova’s works have been performed in Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Perm, Vladivostok, Vladikavkaz, and many other cities across Russia, as well as abroad. Currently based in Ufa, she actively collaborates with musicians and ensembles from Bashkortostan. Her music is regularly featured in concerts and festivals throughout the republic.

Competition pieces

Pranks for solo piano

Three romances on poems by Marina Tsvetaeva:

• Where does such tenderness come from?

• This little mirror – barely glowing…

• Two suns…

Remembrance for piano and symphony orchestra

(Dedicated to the victims of the Beslan tragedy)

Born in 2001, Cao Xu began studying composition in Beijing at the age of 17 Since 2019, he has been living in Moscow, where he studied under Vladimir Tarnopolski and currently continues his education at the Moscow Conservatory in the composition class of Olga Bochikhina and orchestration class of Evgeny Shcherbakov.

A laureate of an international composition competition, he has collaborated with such ensembles as the Russian Folk Ensemble Rossiya named after L. Zykina and the State Kremlin Orchestra. His works have been performed in concert halls across Russia and China, including the Moscow International Performing Arts Center, the Moscow Conservatory, and the Wuhan Concert Hall.

In 2022, his orchestral work Water of the Heart for Russian folk instruments received Second Prize at the Open Space International Creative Laboratory for Contemporary Composers.

Competition pieces

Walking Swing for piano

I Remember, My Love, I Remember, for tenor and piano

Tai Ping II for piano and orchestra

Born in 1998 in Taraz, Kazakhstan. He holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in composition from the Kazakh National University of Arts. His interests span academic, film, and contemporary music. He is a two-time winner of the New Music Generation international competition.

His Violin Concerto with Symphony Orchestra and string quartet have been the subject of academic research and graduate theses. His work Friedensgebet for string quartet earned Second Prize at the MAP 2023 competition. Express-Concerto for two violins and orchestra and Water of the Heart for folk orchestra were premiered by the Russian Folk Ensemble "Rossiya" and the State Kremlin Orchestra. One of his works for prima kobyz is being prepared for publication. He actively combines creative work with ethnographic research, drawing on Kazakh folklore and modern techniques.

Program

1

Qusni-Qorlan, Fantasy for Piano and Symphony Orchestra

2

Sonata for Piano

3

Romance for Voice and Piano (lyrics by Alexander Blok)

Composer and pianist Eduard Kiprsky was born in 1986 in Leningrad. He graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory and completed postgraduate studies both as a pianist (under Alexander Sandler) and as a composer (under Grigory Korchmar). He later earned his Master’s degree and completed an Artistic Excellence program at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany (under Boris Bloch).

Kiprsky is the Grand Prix winner of the 5th International Alexander Karamanov Music Competition (Kaliningrad, 2022). He won First Prize at the “Svetlaya Doroga” International Composers’ Competition (St. Petersburg, 2023) for his Express-Concerto for two violins and symphony orchestra, and Second Prize at the MAP 2023 International Competition for his string quartet Friedensgebet. In 2024, he won First Prize in the “Academic Music” category at the 1st Eduard Artemyev International Competition for Musical and Multimedia Art Sibiriada (Novosibirsk) for his work Recuerdos for trumpet and symphony orchestra. He is also a First Prize winner in the “Composition” category at the World’s Best Musicians International Competition (Warsaw, 2024).

He is a member of the Union of Composers of Russia, the Austrian Society for Contemporary Music (ÖGZM, Vienna), and the Russian Harp Society. Kiprsky is also a soloist with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra.

Program

"Sacred Signs" - Romance for mezzo-soprano and piano after poem by

Nicholas Roerich

Legend for piano after reading Charles Dickens novella "The Chimes"

Piano Concerto for the left hand and orchestra

Born in 1976 in Yekaterinburg, Svetlana Nesterova began composing under the guidance of Ural composer Valentin Barykin. She graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where she studied composition with Boris Tishchenko, orchestration with Gennady Banshchikov, and piano with Vladimir Polyakov.

She has participated in the festivals Musical Spring, Sound Ways, From Avant-Garde to the Present, and in conferences such as Laboratory of 21st-Century Music Theater (Sochi).

Nesterova won the All-Russian Mariinsky Theatre Competition for her one-act opera The Lawsuit based on Gogol (2005), and the Andrei Petrov Competition for her violin fantasy In the World of High Technologies (2007). The ballet The Magic Ring, co-written with Vyacheslav Kruglik, was awarded a prize from the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia (2008).

She is a board member of the Union of Composers of St. Petersburg and has taught at the St. Petersburg Conservatory’s Department of Composition and Improvisation since 2002 She regularly collaborates with the Mariinsky Theatre as an arranger and orchestrator.

Her portfolio includes three operas, the oratorio The Bronze Horseman, two ballets, the musical The Blue Crone's Well, a number of instrumental concertos, vocal cycles, and chamber and choral music. Her works are performed in Russia and internationally.

Competition works

Second Wind, variations for piano

I Love You, Creation of Peter, to words by A.S. Pushkin, for voice and piano

Piano Concerto No. 2

Born in 1976 in Almaty. He has been a member of the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra since 1999 Graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory with a degree in violin under Alexander Stang (2004) and later in composition under Prof. Alexander Mnatsakanyan (2011).

Member of the Union of Composers of Russia and the Union of Composers of St. Petersburg since 2011 He currently serves on the board and chairs the chamber music section of the St. Petersburg Union of Composers.

Winner of the First Prize at the All-Russian Alexander Petrov Composers’ Competition (2012), the AVANTI! All-Russian Composers' Competition (2020), and recipient of a grant from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation (2023).

His works have been performed in Russia at international festivals such as Leningrad Musical Spring, Moscow Autumn, St. Petersburg Rains, Sound Ways, as well as abroad. In 2015, his opera Ominous Days was performed in Vienna by the Austrian contemporary music ensemble Wiener Collage.

Competition pieces

Rodnoye, on a poem by Dmitry Merezhkovsky, for soprano and piano

Variations on the theme Dies Irae for piano

Piano Concerto

Born in Málaga, José Manuel García Hormigo studied composition at the Higher Conservatory of Music of Aragon with Agustín Charles, Jesús Navarro, Juanjo Eslava, and Nacho de Paz, while also training in improvisation and jazz piano. During this time, he collaborated with the C.S.M.A. Chamber Choir, which sparked his interest in choral composition.

In 2020, he was awarded the International Frederic Mompou Prize for his piece Neon Issues: Saxophone and Accordion Duo. In 2021, he took part in the Innopraktika and Russian Seasons School Music Session in St. Petersburg, where he composed and presented the orchestral work The Nightingale and the Rose: Romanza on Bulerías.

Commissioned by the Goya Foundation, he created the opera Francisco de Goya: Going Elsewhere through Music, which won the SGAE prize in 2023 He also pursued studies in music for visual media at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon and the Royal Conservatory of Ghent.

In 2023, he was selected for the RBC Emerging Composers Program in collaboration with the Canadian Music Centre, where his piece Tres Cantes Flamencos for the Vancouver Chamber Choir was premiered and awarded.

Competition works

The Vineyard for piano

In the Snow for soprano and piano

Synapsis, concerto for piano and orchestra

Composer, music theorist, and French horn player. He graduated from the composition faculty of the Moscow Conservatory under Yuri Kasparov and completed his postgraduate assistantship there in 2021.

A member of the Union of Composers of Russia, he performs with the Vyatka Symphony Orchestra and teaches at the Kazenin Kirov College.

He has participated in masterclasses led by Raphaël Cendo, Peter Ablinger, Beat Furrer, Allen Gossen, François Paris, and Isabelle Duha.

His work has been featured at the All-Russian Festival of Young Composers Exposition XXI (2016) and the Ecoles d’Art Américaines de Fontainebleau (2016).

He won First Prize at the Edison Denisov International Competition for Young Composers for his string trio Angel or Demon? (2016), First Prize at the New Generation Composition competition (Kazakhstan, 2019), and the Grand Prix at the Samal International Competition for Young Composers (Kazakhstan, 2020).

Competition pieces

Grand Intermezzo for piano

On Praise and Blame, a philosophical art song on a poem by N. Mokhina

Piano Concerto

Composer and pianist. Born in Novosibirsk. Studied piano at the A. F. Murov Music College.

Graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg Conservatory in 2024 (composition and improvisation, class of Prof. N. Khrushchyova), currently a postgraduate assistant in the same class.

Laureate of national and international competitions in both piano and composition. Member of the Youth Division of the Union of Composers of Russia (MolOt), participant in various masterclasses and seminars. Teaches at the St. Petersburg Specialized Music School.

Author of dramatic, vocal, and orchestral works, including music for Brand by Henrik Ibsen (Yermolova Theatre, Moscow, dir. V. Antipov, 2023), and the ballet Puss in Boots within the “Perrault Tales” project (Ural Opera Ballet, Yekaterinburg, chor. K. Khlebnikov, 2024).

Program

Toccata-Fantasy for Piano (In Memory of S. M. Slonimsky)

Romance-Fantasy on Poems by Olga Berggolts (Dedicated to St. Petersburg)

Leningrad Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra

Born in 1996. Graduated from the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music, where he studied

composition and orchestration with Prof. Valery Kikta. Winner of several national and international competitions, including the Partitura All-Russian Young Composers Competition (Film Music category, 2020), the V. Ya. Shebalin Orchestration Competition (2020), the Contemporary Bashkir Opera Laboratory (2021), and the S. N. Vasilenko Competition (Moscow, 2024).

Recipient of the I. S. Kozlovsky Foundation Award (2023).

Teaches orchestral conducting at the Schnittke Moscow State Institute of Music.

Member of the Union of Composers of Russia.

Author of symphonic, chamber, choral music, and works for Russian folk orchestra. His music has been performed by folk and symphonic ensembles of Bryansk, Smolensk, Vyatka, and Tver, as well as the Nekrasov Russian Folk Orchestra and the Moscow State Academic Symphony Orchestra under Pavel Kogan, with the choir of the Moscow Conservatory.

Competition peices
“Dorog mne, pered ikonoy...” to a poem by A. Maykov, for baritone and piano Sonata-Fantasy for piano
Concerto for piano and orchestra

A graduate of the M.I. Glinka Minsk Music College, the St. Petersburg Conservatory, the Cologne University of Music, and the Acting School of the Belarusian Guild of Film Actors.

As a composer and pianist, she works across a wide stylistic spectrum—from academic music to jazz and crossover.

Winner of the Andrei Petrov Competition in St. Petersburg and a recipient of the Saint Petersburg Government Prize, she has also held scholarships from German and American foundations.

Sinyakova has appeared as a composer and pianist on prestigious stages such as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Harvard University, the Beethoven House, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and the philharmonic halls of St. Petersburg and Minsk.

Her 2024–2025 season includes premieres and presentations at the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, several U.S. universities, and the Royal Conservatories of Belgium.

Competition pieces

Nocturne for piano

My Solitude (poem by Zinaida Gippius) for voice and piano

Aquatinta, concerto for piano and orchestra

Born in 1996, José Antonio Tolosa is a composer, pianist, and improviser. He studied flute and piano at the Conservatory of Valencia and graduated in 2019 from the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya in piano performance under Rafael Salinas. He performs actively as a répétiteur, arranger, and in a duet with tenor Rodrigo Herrero. Since 2022, he has been a scholarship recipient of the “Música en Compostela” composition program led by Professor David del Puerto.

Tolosa has appeared at international festivals, including in Moscow and Camprodon. In 2022, he released his debut album Soledats Tràgiques, showcasing his work as composer, pianist, and improviser. The album was nominated for Best Classical and Contemporary Music Album by Enderrock magazine. He is a laureate of several competitions, including the Maestro Clavel Competition (2022), and was a finalist of the Bartók World Composition Competition (2022).

His mentors include pianist Josu de Solaun and composer David del Puerto.

He is currently fully dedicated to composition, focusing on new chamber and vocal music projects.

Competition works

Five Memories for piano

I Will Say Nothing to You (text by A. Fet) for voice and piano

Piano Concerto No. 3

I. Allegro agitato – Pesante con moltissima passione

II. Intermezzo

III. FINALE. Allegro energico

Born in 2000, Xiao Jinghan began studying composition with Zhou Xianglin in 2017 and has been a student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music since 2018, in the composition class of Qian Shenying.

Her work spans a wide range of genres—from songs and solo instrumental music to ensemble, choral, orchestral, and electronic compositions. She has participated in masterclasses with Tristan Murail, Unsuk Chin, and Rebecca Saunders.

A laureate of the I Rachmaninoff International Competition for Pianists, Composers, and Conductors (Fourth Prize, 2022), she was also a finalist in the IV Basel Composition Competition and the II Luciano Berio International Composition Competition. Her music has been performed by leading orchestras and ensembles, including the Shanghai Philharmonic, Basel Sinfonietta, the State Symphony Orchestra “New Russia,” and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Several of her works have been published.

Competition pieces

I Loved You, for soprano and piano

Wind, Silver of the Moon, Water, for piano

Legend of Ten Thousand Years Ago, for piano and orchestra

Graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music under Professor Chen Qianbin and received his master's degree from the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. His work Youth of Dream-seeking was named one of the “Top 10 Original Songs” at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing. His electronic piece Zuihuayin was selected for performance at the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) in 2022 The work for cello and electronics 2Deeply Vibrate from Inside won First Prize at the “Huichuang” competition in Shanghai in 2022 His composition Two Worlds of Monks received an award at the “UPISketch” competition in Rouen (France), and Road to Madness was selected for the New York–IRCAM forum in 2022 His orchestral works Fei dao and Wind and Time were performed by the Shenzhen

Symphony Orchestra (2023) and the Hunan National Symphony Orchestra of China. The piece

Tide·Rippling received an award at the Rivers Awards in 2024.

Competition works

Reverie of Spring for piano

I Die in the Desert for voice and piano

Reverse Light for piano and orchestra