Jury
An Vedi
An Vedi is an award-winning violinist, composer, chamber musician, singer, conductor and visual artist. In 2019, she became the youngest recipient of the Edward Elgar Medal in the United Kingdom. She graduated with honours from the Moscow Conservatory, where she also completed postgraduate studies, and has more than 25 years of performing experience.
She is a Voting Member and Mentor of the Recording Academy and is affiliated with a number of professional organisations, including BMI, the Boston New Music Initiative, the International Singer-Songwriters Association, the Indie Collaborative, the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers, the International Association for Music and Medicine, Sisters in Music, the International Conductors Guild, the National Union of Composers and the Russian Music Society. She has also participated in Carnegie Hall’s Musical Explorers programme and the Modern Conducting Academy.
An Vedi serves as a jury member for several international music competitions and awards. As a violinist and conductor, her performance repertoire comprises more than 700 works. She has composed over 100 works for orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles and solo instruments, as well as more than 300 songs.
Since 2018, she has conducted masterclasses for young musicians using her own teaching method, which has been recognised by music educators at schools, colleges and universities. She regularly collaborates with members of the Recording Academy and with GRAMMY®-nominated and award-winning artists. In November 2024, she participated as an artist on Antonio Vergara’s album The Fury, which received a GRAMMY® nomination.
Robert Mihovilić
Robert Mihovilić, born on 8 May 1978, is a Croatian composer, conductor and music educator whose work encompasses orchestral, wind, tambura and chamber music. He lives in Ciglenica Zagorska, in the municipality of Sveti Križ Začretje, Croatia. Originally trained as a road transport engineer, he later devoted himself fully to music and composition.
He earned a master’s degree in composition from the Franz Schubert Conservatory in Vienna in 2016, followed by a second master’s degree in composition from the Richard Wagner Conservatory in 2017. In 2018, he completed postgraduate studies in composition at the Accademia del Ridotto in Italy. He has also further developed his conducting skills through masterclasses.
Mihovilić has taught at the Franz Schubert Conservatory in Vienna, contributing to courses in composition, music theory and conducting. His teaching draws upon a thorough understanding of musical structure, harmony and orchestration, combined with practical, performance-oriented training. In his conducting instruction, he emphasises score analysis, ensemble communication and stylistic clarity. He combines contemporary compositional practices with traditional forms, encouraging students to develop both technical proficiency and an individual artistic identity.
Mihovilić serves as conductor of the KUD Lovro Ježek Tamburitza Orchestra, with which he has won major national and international awards. He also conducts the Ivo Tijardović Wind Orchestra and leads the tamburitza ensemble and choir of KUD Belec.
He has written numerous compositions and arrangements for tambura, wind, symphonic and chamber ensembles. Since 2014, he has taught tambura at the Dugo Selo Music School, where his students have received numerous regional and international awards.
He has been a member of the Austrian Composers Association since 2021. Since 2025, he has served as chief conductor of the orchestra of the Festival kajkavskih popevki.
Roberto Carnevale
Roberto Carnevale is an Italian composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. Born on 15 June 1966 in Catania, Italy, he studied piano with Roberto Bianco, composition with Angela Giuffrida and Franco Donatoni, musicology with Salvatore Enrico Failla, and conducting with Ferdinand Leitner.
He received a diploma in piano performance and graduated summa cum laude with a degree in modern literature from the University of Catania. He also attended summer courses at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena.
Carnevale has edited several musicological series for the Neopoiesis publishing house. In 1996, he served as an editor for the magazines CD Classica and Orfeo – Il mensile di musica barocca. In 1994, he was appointed Professor of Music History at the Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini in Catania. He became Deputy Director of the conservatory in 2001 and Director of the CEU in 2003. In 2004, he was appointed Professor of Music History, Music Aesthetics, and the History and Analysis of Music at the Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini.
He has composed approximately 200 works that have been performed internationally. His music has been presented by venues and institutions including the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Foerster Hall in Prague, Bocconi University in Milan, Teatro Nazionale in Vilnius, Casa de las Américas in Havana, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, the Gaudeamus Contemporary Music Center in Amsterdam, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Teatro Greco in Syracuse, and RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana.
Throughout his career, he has worked with distinguished musicians, orchestras and ensembles, including Aldo Clementi, Franco Donatoni, Alfred Brendel, Maurizio Pollini, Giovanni Sollima, Gidon Kremer, Ensemble Modern, the London Chamber Group, the West Chester University Orchestra and the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra.
Carnevale’s compositions have been recorded by Edizioni Carrara, Pongo Records, Suvini Zerboni, CIMS, Pagano, Union Records and NEN-CD Classica. His works have been published by LIM, Verlag Neue Musik, Suvini Zerboni, TEM – Taukay Edizioni Musicali, NEN, CULC, Nuove Edizioni Neopoiesis and Maimone Editore.
In 1988, Roberto Carnevale received the International Council of Europe Prize in Rome.