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2025 JUDGES

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MICHAEL KLOTZ has established an international reputation as a performer and pedagogue of the viola. Klotz made his solo debut with the Rochester Philharmonic at the age of 17 and has since then appeared as soloist with orchestra, as a recitalist, chamber musician, and orchestra principal worldwide. Michael Klotz joined the Amernet String Quartet in 2002 and has toured and recorded commercially with the ensemble throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Romania, Colombia, Belgium, and Spain. Passionately dedicated to chamber music, he has appeared as a guest with the Borromeo, Shanghai and Ying Quartets, and collaborated with artists such as James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Cho-Liang Lin, Paul Neubauer, Cynthia Phelps, Clive Greensmith and Gary Hoffman. His festival appearances have included Seattle, Newport, Caramoor, ChamberFest Cleveland, Festival Mozaic, Great Lakes, Cervantino, Festival Baltimore, Piccolo Spoleto, Sunflower, Martha’s Vineyard, Skaneateles, Virginia Tech Vocal Arts and Music Festival, San Miguel de Allende, Beverly Hills, Music Mountain, Bowdoin, Madeline Island, and Miami Mainly Mozart. Michael Klotz is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he was awarded the Performer’s Certificate. In 2002 he became one of the few individuals to be awarded a double Master’s Degree in violin and viola from the Juilliard School. At Juilliard, he was the recipient of the Tokyo Foundation and Gluck Fellowships. Michael Klotz serves as Teaching Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at Florida International University. He is currently a member of the artist faculty of the Heifetz Institute, a viola coach at New World Symphony and a founding member of the The Josef Gingold Chamber Music Festival of Miami. 

NICHOLAS TAVANI was born in Arlington, VA, and debuted in Washington, D.C.’s Gaston Hall at the age of eight. The New York Times lauded the "dusky lyricism" of his playing with the Aeolus Quartet, the Cleveland Plain Dealer recently praised him as “an alert and sensitive artist, with beautiful tone and exquisite phrasing,” and the Washington Post has hailed his “brilliant musicianship.” As a chamber musician, recitalist, and concerto soloist, Mr. Tavani has performed extensively to critical acclaim in the United States and around the world. As first violinist of the Aeolus Quartet, he was a winner of the 2011 Plowman International Chamber Music Competition, the 2011 Yellow Springs Chamber Music competition, and the 2009 Coleman International Chamber Music Competition. He is also a laureate of the Postacchini and Kingsville International Violin Competitions.


Mr. Tavani serves as first violinist in the Aeolus Quartet, who are currently Artists in Residence at Musica Viva New York. In addition, he serves as frequent guest musician and chamber artist with the St Paul Chamber Orchestra and is a member of the Mark Morris Dance Group Music Ensemble and the Smithsonian Chamber Players.

A passionate advocate of new music, Mr. Tavani has premiered and recorded several works by living composers, including Samuel Adler, Alexandra Bryant, Christopher Theofanidis, Missy Mazzoli, and Dan Visconti. His discography includes four albums with the Aeolus Quartet in wide release on the Azica, Naxos, and Innova labels. Solo performances with orchestra include the St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Arlington Symphony, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Prince William Symphony, New Orchestra of Washington, and many others. Collaborations include Renee Fleming, Peter Salaff, Jon Kimura Parker, Daxun Zhang, and Michael Tree.

Mr. Tavani’s current season includes chamber, recital and concerto performances across the US and extensive touring across the US with the Aeolus Quartet.

As a committed educator, Mr. Tavani has served on the faculties of the George Washington University School of Music, Point CounterPoint Music Festival, the MasterWorks Festival, and the University of Maryland High School Music Academy. He served as teaching assistant to the Juilliard Quartet at the Juilliard School, where he studied with Joseph Lin and Ronald Copes, and the Aeolus Quartet was 2013-2015 Graduate Quartet in Residence. Mr. Tavani completed a doctorate under the mentorship of David Salness at the University of Maryland. His thesis was titled Quantifying Dynamic Pitch Adjustment Decision Structures in String Quartet Performance. An alumnus of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Nicholas studied violin with William Preucil and chamber music with Peter Salaff and the Cavani Quartet. In addition to a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from CIM, Nicholas also studied mathematical physics at Case Western Reserve University.

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MICHAEL LUDWIG's multi-faceted musical career has taken him across four continents, appearing as solo violinist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Pops, KBS Symphony in Seoul, Korea, Beijing Symphony, and Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra amongst others, joining illustrious conductors such as Sir Georg Solti and John Williams. Michael has recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra. Michael’s discography includes recordings of the Beethoven Violin Concerto, Bruch Scottish Fantasy, and Dvorak Romance with the Virginia Symphony, as well as the Wieniawski Concerto No. 2, Corigliano Red Violin Concerto, and Sibelius Concerto with the Buffalo Philharmonic. Ludwig's recording of the Corigliano Red Violin Concerto with the Buffalo Philharmonic is "hot, sharp, and close to the edge" writes critic Norman Lebrecht. His recording of the rarely performed Dohnanyi Violin Concertos with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra has received extraordinary reviews worldwide and has revived interest in these neglected romantic works. Ludwig's discography has drawn critical acclaim from both sides of the Atlantic. Fanfare magazine writes: "His phrasing is so sensitive--it could serve as an object lesson to every budding violinist." And BBC Music Magazine praises his "persuasive playing, silky tone, sensitivity to colour and flair for golden-age' style." Michael Ludwig has been featured numerous times on Performance Today, a program that reaches approximately 1.2 million listeners on 230 radio stations nationwide. He has been featured on Bulgarian National Radio, Balkan Bulgarian Television, and the Korean Broadcasting System.

 

As a chamber musician, Michael has shared the stage with numerous

acclaimed artists, such as Christoph Eschenbach, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Yefim Bronfman, Sarah Chang, and Jean-Yves Thibaudet and he has appeared at numerous music festivals, including the Prague Spring Music Festival and the New Hampshire Music Festival. As an orchestral musician, Michael served as Associate Concertmaster of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Concertmaster of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

As a teacher, Michael has served as Adjunct Professor of Music (Violin) at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and Artist-in-Residence Professor of Violin at the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. Michael has led master classes at the Frost School of Music, the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the New World Symphony, Drexel University, and the National Repertory Orchestra, amongst many other schools. Michael’s deep commitment as a teacher has been shaped by his

 

studies with his father Irving Ludwig, who was a violinist in The Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as his studies with two of the great violin pedagogues of the 20th century, Josef Gingold and Raphael Bronstein.

 

An accomplished conductor, Michael has served as Music Director of the Roxborough Orchestra in Philadelphia since 2015. His guest conducting appearances include performances with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra, Delaware County Symphony, and Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra. He also regularly appears as a guest conductor of the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia. Additionally, Michael has conducted numerous school orchestras, including the Skidmore College Orchestra, the All Catholic High School Orchestra of Philadelphia, and the Luzerne Music Center String Orchestra. He has conducted the South Jersey Honors Orchestra, as well as the New Jersey All State Intermediate Orchestra. Ludwig studied conducting privately with Gustav Meier, and participated at workshops in Bulgaria, Ukraine, New York City, and South Carolina with Gustav Meier, Larry Rachleff, Donald Schleicher, Donald Portnoy, and Maurice Peress.

 

Michael and his wife Rachael Ludwig are the Founding Artistic Directors of the Stella Schaevitz Concert Series, based at the Katz JCC in Cherry Hill, NJ. Michael and his wife Rachael maintain a private teaching studio in Cherry Hill, teaching violin and viola lessons in studio as well as online.

 

Michael Ludwig is a Thomastic-Infeld artist.

 

For further information, please visit: www.michaelludwig.com

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