Jury Music Competition 2024

Martin Frutiger

Martin Frutiger, born in Bern, completed his oboe studies with Prof. Hans Elhorst at the Bern University of the Arts with honours. He completed his masterclass diploma at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich with Prof Günther Passin. From 2001 to 2003, the award-winning musician played with the Berlin Philharmonic as part of the Karajan Academy. Frutiger has been Professor of Oboe at the Zurich University of the Arts ZHdK since August 2023.

Martin Frutiger has won several prizes at the Swiss Youth Music Competition. He has also won many important international competitions, including first prize at the international oboe competition at the Handel Festival in Halle an der Saale in 2000 and second prize at the Sony oboe competition in Tokyo in 2003. In 2007, he performed Stanisław Skrowaczewski's English horn concerto with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.

In addition to his orchestral and teaching activities, he regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician. Invitations to give concerts and masterclasses have taken him all over Europe, Asia and the USA. His CD "Works for cor anglais" with original works for cor anglais and piano was released in spring 2014.

Lajos Lencsés

Lajos Lencsés, also known as the "oboe legend", was born in 1943 in Dorog, north-east of Budapest. He began his musical studies at the Béla Bartók Conservatory and the Budapest Academy of Music with Pierre Pierlot and continued his training at the National Higher Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris in the class of Etienne Baudo.

Lencsés has performed at the highest international level with conductors such as Sergiu Celibidache, Karl Münchinger, Sir Neville Marriner, Christoph Eschenbach and Jean-Pierre Rampal. He has also been in constant demand as a teacher in masterclasses and as a juror at international competitions. Numerous concerts have taken him to many European countries, the USA and Japan. In his memoirs, which he published in 2000 under the title "A thinking reed", he wrote: "A musician who goes through life with open ears, eyes and heart is certainly living a rich existence. Music, the arts, literature, human encounters and travelling are some of the fascinating building blocks of this wealth that he can pass on. So should every musician write a book? Viellicht. I do it because I am happy to reflect on my life, which has taken me from a very humble background far out into a wondrous world."

Discography: https://www.jpc.de/s/lajos+lencses
A conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcMZ8-ap73c

Clara Dent-Bogányi

Clara Dent-Bogányi comes from a family of musicians and grew up in Salzburg. She studied with Prof Arthur Jensen at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and with Prof Günter Passin at the University of Music in Munich. Clara Dent-Bogányi already won international prizes during her studies, including at the ARD Competition in Munich and the International Geneva Competition (CIEM), so that her career began at an early stage.

She was principal oboist with the Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin for many years and now plays in this position with the Budapest Festival Orchestra. She is also a member of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. She regularly performs as principal oboe with renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic and the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra. In 2009, Clara Dent-Bogányi accepted a call from the University of Music in Nuremberg and has held the professorship for oboe there ever since. She holds international masterclasses and has been invited to festivals throughout Europe and Asia.

Piano accompaniment

Tatsuya Ohira was born in Sapporo and received his first piano lessons at the age of six. In 2008, he began his bachelor's degree at the Tokyo University of the Arts with Katsumi Ueda. Tatsuya Ohira has been studying at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart since 2015 and completed his master's and post-master's degree. During his studies, he had piano lessons with Prof Thomas Hell and Prof Péter Nagy. In October 2021, he also completed his concert exam at the Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts and performs as a soloist with various orchestras.

Sayaka Okazaki received her first piano lessons at the age of five. Since then, she has been able to demonstrate her talent in various competitions. She began her bachelor's degree at the Elisabeth University of Music in Hiroshima and completed it with Professor Atsushi Kakiuchi in March 2020. In 2018/19, she completed an exchange programme at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart with Prof. Péter Nagy. She has been continuing her master's degree in Stuttgart since September 2020. She has also performed several times as a concert soloist.