04/10/2026
Last Call for Music Competitors! 🎶
The application is almost closing — don’t miss your chance! We warmly welcome talented young musicians to join this exciting competition and share your artistry on stage. Apply at https://www.icvmi.com✨
We are also proud to present our amazing panel of jurors for this year’s event. Stay tuned and get ready for an inspiring musical journey!
🌟Stella Markou-Voice
Hailed as “exquisite” by Gramophone, Greek-American soprano Stella Markou enjoys an international career as a soloist in opera, oratorio, and contemporary music. She has appeared at major festivals including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, International Computer Music Conference, SEAMUS, and many more, with a strong passion for new music and cross-genre collaboration.
As a performer, she has been featured with leading ensembles and organizations across the U.S. and Europe, with repertoire spanning Carmina Burana, Messiah, Requiem, Ein Deutsches Requiem, and numerous contemporary works and operatic roles.
An award-winning stage director, Dr. Markou’s opera productions have received top honors from the National Opera Association and The American Prize. She is also a nationally recognized educator and currently serves as Associate Professor of Music, Director of Opera, and Coordinator of Voice at the University of Kansas.
🌟 Thomas Pandolfi-Piano
American pianist Thomas Pandolfi is celebrated for performances that combine Romantic virtuosity, poetic color, and a deep emotional connection with audiences. Equally at home in the grand concerto repertoire and intimate solo works, he is widely recognized for his commanding yet deeply expressive artistry at the piano.
His repertoire focuses on Romantic and early modern masters including Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Ravel, and Gershwin, through which he explores the piano’s full expressive and narrative range. From Beethoven’s architectural brilliance to the shimmering colors of French Impressionism and the vitality of American classics, his performances are known for clarity, depth, and storytelling.
As a concerto soloist, Pandolfi has performed with orchestras across the United States in major works such as Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Gershwin’s Concerto in F, earning praise for both virtuosity and musical sensitivity.
A Juilliard-trained artist, he continues to be a distinguished interpreter of the Romantic tradition—bringing both intellectual insight and heartfelt communication to the stage.
🌟Marta Simidtchieva-Strings
Bulgarianborn cellist Marta Simidtchieva is an accomplished string educator, a passionate performer with uncompromising artistic integrity, and an important advocate for the music of her native country and the music of historically underrepresented composers. Classical Voice of North Carolina describes her as a musician “with superb intonation while spinning seamless melodic lines. Her lower range is rich while her highest notes and tricky harmonics are pure.” Her award-winning album of 20th-century works for cello by Bulgarian composers titled “Bulgarian Sketches” was released in 2018; the new collection of chamber works by Bulgarian composers titled “Irminden” was released in November 2022.
As a versatile musician, Simidtchieva has performed with vocalist Bobby McFerrin, the Eppes String
Quartet under the guidance of Ellen Zwillich, Illinois Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, Tallahassee Symphony, and the New Symphony Orchestra in Sofia, Bulgaria. She is also a regular performer with the Chamber Project of Saint Louis, presenting innovative concerts of contemporary programming, and a guest performer with Saint Louis Chamber Soloists. Marta is the Professor of Cello at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where she teaches cello, chamber music, string methods, and courses in general music. Marta completed her undergraduate studies at the Bulgarian State Academy of Music in Sofia before emigrating to the United States for graduate study at Florida State University.
🌟 Nini Wang-Voice
As a lyric soprano, Professor Wang Nini has performed in collaboration with numerous renowned conductors and artistic directors across the United States, France, China, and South Korea. In December 2019, she participated in a joint production of Bizet’s opera Carmen by the China National Opera House, Fujian Opera House, and Hong Kong Opera, performing the role of Micaëla. She is a long-term contracted artist with the Northwest Lyric Opera in the United States, where her principal roles have included Angelica in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Musetta in La Bohème, Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata, Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and the Page in Verdi’s Rigoletto.
Professor Wang Nini currently serves as an Associate Professor and doctoral advisor at Midwest University in Missouri. She holds a Graduate Diploma in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music, and earned her DMA degrees in Vocal Performance from Kunsan National University in South Korea and Midwest University in the United States.
🎼We are honored to welcome them to our distinguished jury panel!
