Adjudicators for 2022

Kimberly Barber, voice

Canadian mezzo-soprano Kimberly Barber’s eclectic and varied career combines not only the standard repertoire sung on some of the great opera house and concert stages of the world for the last 30 years, but also contemporary and baroque works with smaller, experimental companies. With performances at Opéra de Paris, Opéra de Marseille, Frankfurt Opera, English National Opera, New York City Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Seattle Opera, L’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Wigmore, Barbican, Avery Fisher and Weill Concert Halls, and every major opera company and orchestra in Canada, her operatic repertoire encompasses more than 50 roles, many of them from 20th and 21st century or lesser-known works, and her concert repertoire stems from every genre. She is a champion of the music of our time, frequently giving world and Canadian premieres of new music. In May 2017 she returned to Toronto’s Tapestry Opera to create the role of Asa in the world premiere of OKSANA G (the entire cast nominated for two Dora awards—Best Ensemble and Best Opera Production), and also premiered a new work, THIS LAND, commissioned for her, with NUMUS concert series in Waterloo, Ontario. Recent seasons featured concerts in Lyon (with jazz pianist Franck Avitabile) and Vienna, Ottawa and Waterloo (with pianist Anna Ronai and flutist Ulrike Anton) as well as streamed concerts with Confluence Concerts (John Beckwith Songbook in March 2021) and at Laurier (Pierrot Redux, March 2022). In May 2022 she will debut with Winnipeg’s Little Opera Company in the Canadian premiere of Jake Heggie’s THREE DECEMBERS in the role of Madeleine Mitchell. She has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon (Concepción in Ravel’s L’HEURE ESPAGNOLE with the LSO under André Previn), CBC Records, Naxos, Teldec and Dutton Classics. Her wide-ranging career in Europe, Asia and North America, with years of experience as an operatic performer, concert, recital and recording artist, and breadth of pedagogical training, qualify her ideally to guide emerging vocal artists who hope to excel at an international level. 

In demand as a guest lecturer, panellist, consultant and pedagogue, Kimberly Barber gives master classes and workshops around the world at universities, conservatories and Young Artist Programs. She adjudicates widely, and is frequently called upon to serve on advisory panels for the arts. Professor of Voice at Wilfrid Laurier University since 2002, she is Administrative Coordinator for their Opera Program, and was appointed Associate Dean, External for Laurier’s Faculty of Music in July 2017. Her research interests are centred on the Art of Practice and effective use of the body in vocal pedagogy. Licensed as an Andover Educator®, she teaches Body Mapping for Musicians in workshop settings, privately, and as a cornerstone of her pedagogical model in the voice studio.

Dmitri Vorobiev, piano

Dmitri Vorobiev first came to international attention after winning the Casagrande International Piano Competition in Italy in 1994, followed by performances at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto and numerous recitals throughout Italy. Mr. Vorobiev has been a major prize-winner in the Busoni, Cincinnati World, Ibla Grand Prize, A.M.A. Calabria, Iowa and Alabama international piano competitions. In 2000, he placed first and also took three special prizes at the UNISA International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa, and in 2003, Dmitri won the first prize in the New Orleans International Piano Competition. He appeared as a soloist with Cape Town Symphony Orchestra, Pretoria Chamber Orchestra, Durban Symphony, Terni Philharmonic, Manhattan School of Music Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony and Western Piedmont Symphony. His solo recitals took him throughout the United States, Israel, Russia, Germany, Czech Republic, Ireland and South Africa.

Dmitri Vorobiev maintains a dynamic concert schedule and one of his current projects is performing complete solo piano works by Ludwig van Beethoven. As a frequent recording artist with the Blue Griffin label, Mr. Vorobiev’s most recent production in progress is a double CD set with lesser known works by Beethoven. An acclaimed soloist, Dmitri is also an active chamber music player. Some of the highlights include recordings of complete sonatas for violin and piano and complete piano trios by Bohuslav Martinu with violinist Stephen Shipps and cellist Richard Aaron for Naxos label. Mr. Vorobiev’s collaborations include frequent performances with violinist Ivan Zenaty as well as performances with Zemlinsky String Quartet, violinist Rodney Friend and appearances in duo-piano recitals with his wife, Polina Khatsko.

A native of Moscow, Russia, Dmitri began his piano studies when he was five. He attended the School of Music and the Music College of the Moscow State Conservatory where he studied with Nina Levitzkaya and Victor Bunin. In 1992, he was invited by Eric Larsen to study at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he received his Bachelor’s Degree. Mr. Vorobiev completed his Master’s Degree at the Manhattan School of Music as a full scholarship student of Marc Silverman and winner of the Harold Bauer award. He earned his Doctor of Music Arts degree in Piano Performance from the University of Michigan School of Music, working with Arthur Greene.

Currently, Dmitri Vorobiev is an Associate Professor of Piano at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Dmitri is in constant demand as an adjudicator and previously was on piano faculty at the University of Northern Iowa, International Music Academy in Pilsen, Czech Republic and the Cambridge International String Academy in Cambridge, England.