JURY MEMBERS
The honorary jury members safeguard the impartial, fair, and transparent results of the competition.
Vahram Sargsyan
Canada
Composer
Vahram Sargsyan (Sarkissian) is a Montreal-based Armenian-Canadian composer, conductor, and experimental vocalist whose work bridges medieval Armenian chant, extended vocal technique, and collaborative creation. Educated in composition and choral conducting at the Yerevan State Conservatory (with Ashot Zohrabyan) and later at McGill University (with Philippe Leroux), he gained early international attention when Oxford University Press commissioned his arrangement of the medieval chant “Great Mystery,” premiered by the BBC Singers; his choral work “Joyful Light” has since been performed over one hundred times worldwide. He co-founded Montreal’s experimental vocal ensemble Phth, and his commissioners include UCLA (Los Angeles), Norddeutscher Rundfunk (Germany), and CBC Radio (Canada). His music has been heard at Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Elbphilharmonie, the Palais Garnier, and Stockholm’s Konserthuset. Vahram Sargsyan has presented at major symposia and conferences, including WSCM (Barcelona), ACDA conference (Pittsburgh), Europa Cantat festival (Tallinn), and Podium conference (Toronto). Recent honors include the 2023 Jules Léger Prize and CALQ’s 2024 Artist of the Year in Laval.
