Birgitta Svendén
Head of the jury

Randi Krogvold Lundqvist
Woodwinds

Jens Kristian Søgaard
Brass

Judith Ingolfsson
Strings

Martti Rousi
Strings

Francisca Skoogh
Piano

Birgitta Svendén

Birgitta Svendén has had a successful international career as an opera singer and was appointed ‘hovsångerska’ in 1995. From 2009 to 2022, she was director of Kungliga Operan and also became its CEO in 2010. She has also been principal of Operahögskolan in Stockholm and is chair of Blåsarsymfonikerna and Svensk Scenkonst.

Randi Krogvold Lundqvist

Randi Krogvold Lundqvist has a deep and versatile background as a musician and teacher, with a special focus on talent development. She is currently head of the wind department at Barratt Due Musikkinstitutt in Oslo and has for many years held the same position at Valdres sommersymfoni. Randi studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music, has worked in all the major Norwegian orchestras and performed at leading festivals in Norway and abroad.

Jens Kristian Søgaard

Jens Kristian Søgaard was born in Denmark and studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen and at Northwestern University in Chicago. Between 1994 and 2011, Jens Kristian played the tenor trombone with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and since 2011 he has been the orchestra’s bass trombonist. Alongside his work with the GSO, he has been employed as a senior lecturer at the School of Music and Drama at the University of Gothenburg and is active as a chamber musician in various smaller ensembles, such as the Gageego Ensemble for New Music and Swedish Brass, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra’s Brass Ensemble. 

Judith Ingolfsson

Violinist Judith Ingolfsson is recognized for her intense, commanding performances, uncompromising musical maturity, and charismatic performance style. Based in Berlin and Baltimore and enjoying a global career, she performs regularly as soloist, chamber musician and in recital. Judith Ingolfsson studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Jascha Brodsky, David Cerone and Donald Weilerstein. A Gold Medal winner at the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis in 1998, Judith Ingolfsson was honored by National Public Radio as Debut Artist of the Year 1999. She is currently Professor of Violin at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, co-artistic director and founder of the Festival “Aigues-Vives en Musiques” in France and the International Bach Academy Eisenach in Germany.

Martti Rousi

Martti Rousi studied under Arto Noras at the Sibelius Academy and under Janos Starker at the Indiana University. In 1986 Rousi won the Silver Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and has since then performed as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors all over the world. In 1995 he was appointed professor of cello at the Sibelius Academy, where his cello class is attracting talents from around the world. He is invited to do masterclasses in leading academies on all continents and frequently serves as a jury member for major competitions.

Francisca Skoogh

Francisca made her debut at the age of 13 with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and has studied in Copenhagen and Paris. In 1998 she won the Soloist Prize in Stockholm and two years later she was awarded second prize in the Michelangeli competition in Italy. In recent years she has worked closely with conductor Leif Segerstam. Francisca has also premiered several works by contemporary composers. In addition to her soloist career, she teaches at the Malmö Academy of Music. In 2018, she was admitted to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.