Arnold Marinissen (chairman of the jury) composes, performs, teaches and gives masterclasses around the world. He is a praised percussionist, and as a composer he wrote for the Residentie Orkest, La Biënnale di Venezia, Asko|Schönberg and Slagwerk Den Haag, among many others. Marinissen holds a PhD from Bournemouth University after his research on conceptual, musical and aesthetic aspects of music creation. He was artist in residence at De Doelen Rotterdam, programmer for Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam and curator for various festivals. He is faculty member at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.

Having performed in four continents and more than forty states, Michael Burritt is one of his generation’s most accomplished percussionists. He is in frequent demand performing concert tours and master classes throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia and Canada. His works for solo marimba have become standard repertoire, with commissions by The World Marimba Competition in Stuttgart, Nexus Percussion Ensemble and Third Coast Percussion. He holds a Distinguished Professorship and is the head of the Percussion Department at the Eastman School of Music and is the President for the Percussive Arts Society.

Emil Kuyumcuyan was born in Istanbul. He has Armenian, Greek, African, and Croatian roots. He studied in Germany with Marta Klimasara, Klaus Dreher, Juergen Spitschka and Harald Loehle in Stuttgart and with Jean Geoffroy in Lyon in France. Emil won first prize at the TROMP International Percussion Competition in 2016. As a composer, he has received commissions from the IPEA Competition Shanghai and the Philharmonie Cologne. He has performed in many countries with Ensemble Intercontemporain, Orchestre Nationale de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and the Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Asko|Schönberg, Slagwerk Den Haag, and Staatsorchester Stuttgart to name a few.

‘Bart Quartier may have created our genre's Mikrokosmos!’
‘Keith Jarrett meets Erik Satie.’
Jason Baker – Percussive Notes, USA Sept 2019

Bart was invited by more than sixty orchestras and ensembles. A 40-year experience in various fields such as classical, opera, contemporary, chamber music, jazz… forms his own unique voice, which is translated into more than 100 mallet compositions for the young, including the bestseller Image. Bart teaches mallets (classical/jazz) at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. He has played on more than 70 cd’s and has toured as a performer, clinician and jury member throughout Europe, USA, Argentina, South Korea and Japan. Bart is a Yamaha and Resta-Jay endorser. More info at www.bartquartier.be

Emmanuel Séjourné is a percussionist, teacher and a composer. His works have been commissioned or recorded by artists including Bogdan Bacanu, Christoph Sietzen, Alexej Gerassimez, Gary Cook, Ju-Percussion group, Nancy Zeltsman, Marta Klimasara and Katarzyna Mycka. As a soloist, as well as with the ensemble Accroche-Note with saxophonist Philippe Geiss (European Audiovisual Grand Prix), he has performed all over the world and premiered over a hundred pieces of music. Emmanuel Séjourné is head teacher of the Percussion Department at the Académie supérieure de musique of Strasbourg and teaches master classes in all major conservatories in Europe, Asia and the USA. Emmanuel Séjourné is an Adams & Resta-Jay artist.

Zhou Xiong has been the Principal Timpanist for the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra for 30 years. He has worked with many international renown musicians and is also a passionate music educator. Zhou Xiong has given many masterclasses and has worked at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in establishing China’s most influential percussion festival: the IPEA (International Percussion Education Association) International Percussion Competition. Currently, Zhou Xiong is percussion professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He also served as Vice President of the Chinese Percussion Association and deputy director of the percussion professional committee of the Shanghai Musicians Association. Staring in 2015, he has also taken on the responsibility of IPEA’s CEO & Executive Director.

In 2006 Yi-Ping Yang won 1st prize, the audience award and the prize of the youth jury in the TROMP competition in addition to a list of impressive achievements in renown competitions and a scholarship of the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe. She has taken part in numerous premieres with the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain and regularly performs recitals throughout the world. Parallel to be principal timpanist in Orchestre des Pays de Savoie, she is also soloist in collaboration with Grame. She performs as a composer, musician and actor in theatre. Yi-Ping Yang is associate professor at the Conservatoire de Lyon, guest professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and artist director for Collective RIT-Infinity (Rendez-vous Internationaux de la Timbale).