TENERIFE MUSIC FESTIVAL & COMPETITION
OUR TEAM
Judith Choi Castro - Artistic director / Violinist
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Judith is the Artistic Director of the Festival Academy of Music Tenerife and Co-founder of the Agustin Aponte International Music Competition. She graduated with a Masters degree from the Royal Academy of Music, after also studying at the Royal College of Music, London and the Manhattan School of Music, New York. She now performs worldwide as a chamber musician and orchestral player.
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For more information please visit her website :
www.judithchoicastro.com
Jung Chul Choi - Founder - Vice President / Conductor
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Jung Chul Choi studied orchestral conducting and composition with Armando Blanquer in Valencia, Lawrence Leonard and George Hurst in England.
Firstly trained as a trombonist, Jung Chul was principal of the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra and professor of the Conservatoire Superior of Santa Cruz, Tenerife. He then founded and became Principal Director of Arona Music School until 2007.
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Jung Chul has conducted around the world to countries such as Italy, Norway, Russia, South Korea and Spain and currently is in the process of publishing his methods of conducting techniques.
Sheng Li - Violist
Secretary of the general Party branch of the orchestral department, Professor of Viola and doctoral supervisor of Shanghai Conservatory of music, young backbone teacher of Shanghai Conservatory of music, and chief professor of Shangyin King United College. In 2002, he graduated from Shanghai Conservatory of music with a masters degree in Viola. In recent years, he has been invited to set up professional courses, lectures and master classes at Yang Xiutao School of music of National University of Singapore, Bard University Conservatory of music, China Central Conservatory of music, and music bridge of Royal mountain Conservatory of music in Canada. He was employed as a resident artist (Professor) by Curtis Conservatory of music in 2014-2015 and 2018-2019, and was a guest teacher of the Royal Conservatory of music (RCM).
In recent years, he has won the Shanghai gardener award, The Luting Foundation Award, Shanghai outstanding teacher award for literary and art talents, the first prize of principal award of Shanghai Conservatory of music, Shanghai Tang Junyuan outstanding teacher award, Shanghai Xuhui District Education System Horse Award; Shanghai May 1st Labor Medal winner, etc.
As the first author, he has published a number of academic papers in important academic journals at home and abroad, including national music, symphony, Yuefu Xinsheng, peoples music and music research. The art of Viola performance and teaching exploration. A large number of teaching materials have been published, such as: the training repertoire of student Chamber Orchestra and 41 Capriccios for Viola by Campanulli.
Ariana Kafeshi- Cellist
British- Persian cellist, Ariana Kashefi is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician and section principal.
As a soloist she has performed extensively throughout Europe, including at the Wigmore Hall, Pierre-Boulez Saal, and Berlin philharmonie. She is the winner of the Luigi Nono chamber music competition in Turin with and is a City Music Foundation Artist. She is also a top prize winner of the Rubinstein cello competition and a recipient of the Villa musica scholarship where she was awarded the use of a fine Gagliano cello. Ariana is also a previous Making Music ‘AYCA’ artist and Park Lane group artist where she premiered a new piece for solo cello dedicated to her by Deborah Pritchard at the Southbank Centre and also performed the work live on BBC radio 3’s In Tune. Ariana regularly performs with pianist Petr Limonov, and they are excited to release their debut album under the Champs Hill label later this year.
Ariana completed her masters degree at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’ in Berlin with the highest possible mark and is very grateful for the support of the Royal Philharmonic society for awarding her the Julius Isserlis scholarship which enabled her to study abroad. She then went on to study at the Barenboim-Said academy in Berlin for an artist diploma with Professor Frans Helmerson, completing it in 2019.
Andrea Kim - Violinist
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German violinist Andrea Kim, has performed as soloist and chamber musician in several international music festivals including her solo debut at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik
Festival in 2006 and her solo concert live recorded with the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra in November 2010 under the direction of K. Järvi.
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Since 2006, Andrea has been assistant concertmaster of the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra under Paavo Jarvi.
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Since January 2017 she is first violinist of the Bavarian Radio Symphonie Orchestra.
John Paul Ekins - Pianist / Piano accompanist
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John Paul Ekins is a concert pianist who has performed across Europe and beyond in some of the world’s most famous concert halls, also featuring on the BBC. He studied in London at the Royal College of Music with John Barstow and as a scholar at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Charles Owen. International Competitions have yielded him as many as nineteen prizes and scholarships, and career highlights have included performing Rhapsody in Blue and the Warsaw Concerto at The Royal Albert Hall. John Paul was also honoured to be presented to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace.
As a performer, John Paul is passionate about bringing music to life and communicating the human stories that lie behind the notes, greatly enhanced by his recent training in the field of psychotherapy. In concert, he offers musical insight and inspiration by way of spoken introductions, allowing audiences a more personal and deeper connection to the awesome power of music. His charismatic style was a much-loved feature of Cats, Chats & 88 Keys, an online concert series that he founded during the Covid pandemic, and through which he raised £5,000 for the NHS. More recently, his unique combination of pianistic and presentational flair has resulted in him being engaged as Star Headliner by Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.
As a piano teacher and chamber musician, John Paul works privately and at the Royal College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. This allows him to pass on his infectious love of music to the next generation, something he finds particularly enriching and inspiring.
Aurélien Pontier - Pianist / Piano accompanist
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Pianist Aurélien Pontier first performed on the stage of the Paris Opera at the age of
nine. At the age of 13 he entered the Conservatoire de Paris (class of Jean-François Heisser), being the youngest student of this institution. He graduated three years later with a First prize in piano and chamber music.
He is First-prize winner of the Vladimir Krainev Competition in Kiev ( Ukraine ) as well as Third Prize at the International Piano Competition in Chioggia ( Italy). He has played with numerous orchestras such as Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre National de Montpellier, Padova-Venezia Orchestra, Kharkov Philarmonia, Camerata Bohemiana of Pragua.
He has given solo performances including the Great Hall of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, the Auditorium du Louvre, l'Arsenal de Metz, in various countries such as Italy, England, Germany, Swiss, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Serbia, Ukraine, Russia,USA, Canada.
Jong-Gyung Park - Pianist
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Jong-Gyung Park has firmly established herself as one of the leading pianists of her generation. She made her orchestral debut at the age of thirteen with Boston Symphony Orchestra and has since appeared with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, Montevideo Symphony Orchestra.
Jong-Gyung has performed across the UK and abroad: in North and South America, Germany, Russia, Italy, and Netherlands.
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Ms. Park has received numerous international awards including Bronze medals at the Sviatoslav Richter International piano competition, the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition in Israel and the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Italy where she also received Busoni Prize for commissioned work and Laureate at the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition in Belgium. She was the winner of Haverhill Sinfonia International Soloist Competition in UK, which as result saw her touring and playing throughout the venues in England.
Jong-Gyung was Born in Korea, where she started studying the piano at age three. Her professional education followed at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he earned Bachelor’s program with full scholarship. After the studies in Boston, she was invited to take part in the prestigious “Il Fondazione per Il Pianoforte” in Como, Italy where he could interact with eminent figures in music world as Karl Ulrich Schnabel, Dmitri Bashkirov, Fou Ts’ong, Leon Fleisher, Alicia de Larocha, and Martha Argerich. She also studied at the Hochschule für Music in Munich where she received the Artist Diploma.
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Sviatoslav Belonogov - Violist
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Principal Viola at the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra (OST) since 1997, Sviatoslav has also incorporated the viola d'amore into his musical resources. A graduate of the Russian Music Academy under the tutelage of Professor Vyacheslav Trushin, he was awarded Master of Fine Arts Degree in 1992. During his training he was principal viola at the Young Symphony Orchestra of Socialists Countries, under the baton of Ádám Medveczky and JiÅ™í Belohlavek, and member of the International Quartet (1983-1987).
Sviatoslav was a prize-winner of the USSR National Viola Competition in Lvov (1988), and a laureate of the Dmitri Shostakovich String Quartet Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia (1993). He was soloist of the State Symphony Orchestra of Moscow (1989-1990) conducted by Vassily Sinaisky and Vladimir Ponkin, member of the National Orchestra of Russia (1990-1994) conducted by Mikhail Pletnev, and also soloist at the chamber orchestra camera Moscow Virtuosi (1994-1997) conducted by Vladimir Spivakov.
Sviatoslav Belonogov has toured under the baton of such world-renowned conductors as Mikhail Pletnev, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yehudi Menuhin, Vassily Sinaysky, Vladimir Spivakov, Mariss Jansons, Lu Jia, Vasily Petrenko, performing at venues as well known as the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Musikverein of Vienna, London's Royal Festival Hall, Châtelet Paris, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, Sala delle Benedizioni in the Vatican, Concertgebow Amsterdam, and Auditorio Nacional de Música de Madrid.
Highlights of Sviatoslav’s performances include the Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet by E. Chausson at the festival of Colmar, France (1996), with violinist Vladimir Spivakov and pianist Brigitte Engerer; Double Concerto by M. Bruch, with clarinettist Pierluigi Bernard, under Christian Badea (2000); Sonata per la Gran Viola and Orchestra by N. Paganini; and the Sonata da Chiesa by F. Martin both versions: for viola d'amore with strings and also with organ with Olesya Rostovskaya, organ.
Wenhan Jiang - Violist
Chinese violist Wenhan Jiang currently serves as section leader viola of the Ulster Orchestra and will join the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as No. 2 Principal Viola from 2025. He also appears as guest principal with the Welsh National Opera, Sinfonia Viva, and Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra. Wenhan graduated from the Royal Academy of Music under Paul Silverthorne and furthered his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music International Artist Diploma programme.
Committed to expanding the viola repertoire, he works closely with contemporary composers, premiering works by Harrison Birtwistle, Piers Hellawell, Rebecca Saunders, and others. His accolades include First Prize in the Theodore Holland Viola Competition and Third Prize in the Oskar Nedbal Viola Competition. His musical journey has taken him to some world’s most renowned venues, including the Lucerne Festival, Berlioz Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Suntory Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Berliner Philharmonie. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras/ensembles such as the Manson Ensemble, Ulster Orchestra, and BBC Philharmonic, with performances broadcast by BBC Radio.
Beyond the viola, Wenhan is an accomplished performer on the Violoncello da Spalla—a five-string historical instrument played on the shoulder. His instrument, crafted by Italian luthier Daniela Gaidano, brings a distinctive voice to his artistic repertoire.