Adjudicators 2024

Mimi Zweig is professor of music in violin at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and director of the Indiana University String Academy. She joined the Jacobs School of Music faculty in 1976. Zweig studied with Louis Krasner, Samuel Kissel, Raphael Bronstein, and Tadeusz Wroński.

She has been a member of the Syracuse Symphony, American Symphony under Leopold Stokowski, and Indianapolis Symphony. She has developed pre-college string programs across the United States since 1972. Zweig has given master classes and pedagogy workshops in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Israel, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, and throughout Europe. Her innovative web-based teaching tool, Mimi Zweig StringPedagogy.com, is accessed worldwide. American Public Television released the Emmy-nominated documentary Circling Around —The Violin Virtuosi, featuring IU String Academy students, in Spring 2006. In 2019, Zweig was the recipient of the American String Teachers Association Artist Teacher Award. Her students have won numerous competitions and teach and perform worldwide.

Celebrated pianist Robin McCabe is recognized as one of America’s most communicative and persuasive artists. She has delighted audiences across the United States, Europe, Canada, South America and the Far East.

Her debut album featuring the premiere recording of Guido Agosti’s transcription of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite was praised as “mightily impressive.” Stereo Review described her Bartok disc as “all that we have come to expect from this artist, a first-rate performance!” She was commissioned to record four albums for Grammofon AB BIS which remain distributed internationally. She was profiled in New Yorker Magazine’s “Pianist’s Progress,” later expanded into a book of the same title. 

McCabe earned her Bachelor of Music degree summa cum laude at the University of Washington and her master’s and doctorate degrees at The Juilliard School. She was a member of the Juilliard faculty and is a UW piano faculty member. She has held Ruth Sutton Waters and Donald Petersen Professorships and served as Director of the School of Music from 1994 to 2009. With colleague Craig Sheppard, she launched the Seattle Piano Institute. She is a highly sought teacher, with students from around the world seeking admission to her studio.

In 1995 she was chosen as the first professor of music to present the University of Washington annual faculty lecture. The Juilliard School profiled McCabe as one of 100 living alumni in its centenary publication which recognized international distinction and accomplishments. She is a dedicated nationwide ambassador and advocate for arts audience development.

In 2022 she was appointed Artistic Advisor to the Beijing Royal School, a K-12 institution with an international Arts curriculum.  She often appears as an invited jurist for international piano competitions.  

John Michel, Cello Professor at Central Washington University, enjoys his career as a soloist, collaborator and teacher. In addition to solo recital programs, he has recently performed concertos with the Yakima Symphony, Rainier Symphony, Seattle Festival Orchestra and the Everett Philharmonic.

Michel has performed all six Bach Cello Suites and regularly appears in the Seattle Bach Suite Marathon.  He presented a solo recital at the First Kobe International Cello Festival and performed in the orchestra with 750 cellists and returned with several students for the 1000 Cellists Concert.  At the World Cello Congress III, he premiered Maria Newman’s Solo Sonata “Othmar”.  He has recorded performances of Dvorak, Shostakovich, Bach and Newman.

Michel is a founding member of Kairos (formerly Kairos Quartet), a CWU endowed resident ensemble.  Recently, Kairos performed at the National Recital Hall of Taiwan and collaborated with distinguished pianists, violinists, choreographers, and visual artists. The Kairos Quartet has performed throughout the Northwest and beyond and recorded Maria Newman’s “Birthday of the Infanta” on the Raptoria Caam label.  

On occasion, Michel subs with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. He has performed and taught at the InterHarmony International Music Festival, Music & More SummerFest, Banff International Orchestra Festivals, Kairos Chamber Lyceum, Marrowstone Festival, Interlochen Arts Camp, Icicle Creek, Chautauqua Festival and the Evergreen Festival. 

Michel established the Internet Cello Society, cello.org, a cyber-community of 20,000 cellists.  He serves on the board of New Directions Cello Association and hosts the Central Cello Celebration. In 1996, the American String Teacher Association, Washington chapter, named him Outstanding College String Teacher.

Flutist Donna Shin has been praised for her beautifully-spun phrases, seductive sound, sterling technique, and charismatic exchanges with the audience. Described as “dazzling” by the Boston Globe, Shin has built an enviable reputation as a versatile performer of solo, chamber, orchestra, jazz and ancient Asian repertoire. Performing in concert halls throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, she is admired for her adventurous programming and expressive flair.

Devoted to the role of artist-teacher, she is the flute professor at the University of Washington School of Music. Shin previously held faculty posts at the University of South Carolina School of Music and Oklahoma State University. She frequently appears as artist-performer and master class clinician at universities and flute clubs throughout the world, modeling the artist-teacher path for young flutists. Shin has been featured in solo performances with the North Korean National Symphony Orchestra, People’s Liberation Army Band of China, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Sewanee Symphony, and many others. Recent international concert tours include: Brazil, China, Japan, South Korea, and Uzbekistan.

Shin earned degrees with the highest honors from the Interlochen Arts Academy, Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory. During the summer months, Shin performs as artist-teacher at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival in Tennessee, ARIA International Summer Academy in Massachusetts, and Snowater Flute Festival in Washington. Other summer activities have included the creation of study abroad performance courses in Italy, performing at the Bay View Music Festival in Michigan, and coordinating the National Flute Association Young Artist Competition.

Sharon Stanis has a multi-faceted career as a performer and educator. As a co-founder of the Lafayette String Quartet, she has toured extensively in North America and Europe. The quartet garnered prizes from the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and the Portsmouth (England) International String Quartet Competition. The repertoire of the quartet spanned from Haydn, Beethoven, and Shostakovich to contemporary commissioned works. In August 2023 the members of the Lafayette Quartet took their final bows after 37 years of performing together. A documentary about the Lafayette String Quartet, Creating Harmony, was released in 2023.

In addition to appearing as a soloist with the Victoria Symphony and the Palm Court Orchestra, Ms. Stanis has served as their concertmaster. She has also performed with double bassist Gary Karr in the Bottesini Grand Duo.

A dedicated and enthusiastic teacher, Stanis taught at the University of Victoria from 1991-2023. Her students have become soloists, orchestral musicians, educators and researchers worldwide. She adjudicates festivals and master classes across Canada and the US.

Stanis was a member of the Renaissance City Chamber Players, and on faculty at Oakland University and The Institute of Music and Dance in Detroit. 

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Stanis received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Indiana University, where she coached with Rostislav Dubinsky, who was integral in the formation of the Lafayette String Quartet. Other coaches include members of the Cleveland, Alban Berg, and Amadeus Quartets. In addition to recordings on the Dorian and CBC labels with the Lafayette Quartet, Stanis has recorded the Murray Adaskin Second Violin Sonata and the John Mills-Cockell Concerto of Deliverance.

Acclaimed as “a pianist who lets her piano work do the talking, transporting her audience not only to a clearly defined place but also into a colorful adventure” (Hyde Park Herald), Yoon-Wha Roh has been acknowledged for her versatile and sophisticated performances. Roh has appeared as a celebrated soloist with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, New Jersey Garden State Orchestra, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Seoul National Symphony Orchestra, Sungnam Philharmonic Orchestra, and New York Classical Symphony Orchestra. Roh has been featured on WFMT and KPBX radio stations and Korean monthly music magazines, and , for her performances and interviews.

Roh has won awards and prizes from London International Music Competition, Clara Schumann International Competition, Manhattan International Music Competition, National Artists Competition, American Prize, International Moscow Music Competition, Carles and Sofia Piano Competition, Piano Texas Concerto Competition, and Hakata Fukuoka International Piano Competition among others.

Notable performances have been presented at the Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center Bruno Walter Auditorium, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, Seoul Arts Center, Aspen Harris Concert Hall, New York Steinway Hall, and Jordan Hall. Her international appearances include performances in Prague, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Germany and South Korea.

Roh is also active as a clinician and competition judge. She has served as a competition judge for Manhattan International Music Concours, East Coast International Competition, and New York International Music Concours among others. Roh currently teaches at Washington State University as Assistant Professor of Piano.

Charles has enjoyed a long career spanning a wide variety of roles and styles in opera and concert music. In his 20 years in New York City, he sang leading roles with the New York City Opera and was reported by the New York Times to be ” a baritone of smooth distinction.” He also appeared frequently in Carnegie Hall with the Opera Orchestra of New York in a variety of roles and was active in regional opera throughout the US. On the international stage, he sang opera roles in Montevideo Uruguay, Taiwan, Santo Domingo, and Mexico City.

Now based in Seattle, Charles has sung with the Seattle Symphony, Northwest Sinfonietta, Tacoma and Spokane Symphony, Spokane Opera, Portland Chamber Orchestra and many other orchestras and opera companies in the Pacific Northwest.
 Career highlights include the role of Tiresias in the Boston Early Music Festival’s lavish production of Steffani’s Niobe, Queen of Thebes. With the New York City National Company, he sang the role of Germont in La Traviata in forty-three performances across the US. Among his ten appearances with the Seattle Symphony include Beethoven’s 9th, Messiah and “Opera Festival.” He premiered and recorded the role of Rudyard Kipling in John Muehleisen’s world premiere cantata entitled But Who Shall Return to Us Our Children? A Kipling Passion.

The 2022-23 season includes performances of the Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony and Messiah (Spokane Symphony), Judge Turpin in Sweeny Todd (Helena Symphony), Bach B Minor Mass(St. Paul Music Guild, Salem , OR), Mozart Requiem, Bellingham Symphony, Mozart C minor Mass, Seattle Pro Musica, Haydn The Seasons (Harmonia Seattle), Verdi Requiem (Symphony Tacoma) and a Paris debut in Bach’s St. John Passion (Les Fetes Galantes).