Auditions for the 2018 YBT final prove a tough call for the judges!

	Pianist Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden.	Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden was born in Brussels. He entered the Royal Conservatory of Brussels at the exceptionally young age of 12. He studied the piano both at the Conservatory and later at the Queen Elisabeth College of Music, under the leadership of Eduardo Del Pueyo. At the age of 16 he reached the finals of the Queen Elisabeth Competition and his career as a piano soloist was launched, taking him to all the continents of the world. He has played with several symphony orchestras including the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, the Residence Orchestra of Den Haag and several Belgian orchestras. Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden was recently appointed onto the board of directors of ‘Young Belgian Talent vzw’.
	Musicologist Greet Van ‘t Veld.	Musicologist Greet Van ‘t veld explored her passion for music first at the Antwerp Royal Conservatory, then during musicologist studies at Leuven University and at the Leuven Lemmens Institute. Her intrigue for music and word showed manifestly during her studies, and further blossomed throughout her career as a writer on classical music in many publications. Greet currently combines her two passions – language and music – programming and concept developing for national classical radio Klara. She participates in the making of cd’s, makes interviews and writes concert- and CD-reviews in Knack. Greet Van ‘t Veld was recently appointed onto the board of directors of ‘Young Belgian Talent vzw’.
	Clarinetist Roeland Hendrikx.	Roeland Hendrikx is one of today’s most prominent Belgian clarinet players. After training in Leuven and Antwerp (with Walter Boeykens), he followed master classes with Thea King and other acclaimed virtuosi. Having been the principal clarinet of the Belgian National Orchestra for many years, Hendrikx decided in 2017 to pursue a solo career. Still, he remains a passionate champion of chamber music. In 2015 he founded the Roeland Hendrikx Ensemble, which focuses on the small-scale repertoire for clarinet, piano and strings. Roeland Hendrikx teaches at the Conservatorium Maastricht and the LUCA School of Arts (Lemmens Institute) Leuven. In October 2018, EPR Classic will release his registration of concertos by Mozart, Finzi and Bruch, recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
	Violinist Kati Sebestyén.	Kati Sebestyén was born in Hungary. After qualifying in violin, she later became Professor at the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Music Chapel. Today she is Professor of violin and head of String Instruments at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. She is regularly asked to be a jury member and to give master classes in the Mozarteum, Saltzburg, Young Tal- ent, Amsterdam, Hannover, Lübeck, and the University of North Carolina. She is an active concert artist and has given recitals for radio and TV in most European countries and in the USA. She is a member of the Haydn Quartet, Sebastian Strings and Contrasts Ensemble and has released many CD’s with these ensembles.
	Clarinetist Nathalie Lefèvre.	Nathalie Lefèvre received her Higher Diploma with distinction at the age of 21. Today, she regularly plays as a soloist with many orchestras, including the Beethoven Académie and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, to name but two. Since 1993, Nathalie is a co-founder and clarinet player of the chamber music ensemble Oxalys with which she performs on some of the world’s finest platforms including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Brussel Bozar, Berlin Konzerthaus, Theatre Colon in Buenos Aires and the Library of Congres in Washington. When not on tour, or recording CD’s, Nathalie teaches clarinet at the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles and the Carré des Arts in Mons. Nathalie is an RZ artist for clarinet.
	Violinist Leonid Kerbel.	Leonid Kerbel began his violin studies at the age of 4 in Kharkov (Ukraine). At the age 6 he entered the Central Music school of Moscow under Professor Yankilevich. After studying in Israel, he completed his education in Belgium and Germany with Philip Hirshhorn and Rosa Fain. Having received master classes from artists such as Joseph Gingold, Janos Starker and chamber music ensembles like the Beaux-Arts Trio and Borodin Trio, Leonid has played with, and headed up many internationally renowned quartets and chamber ensembles. Today, apart from his international solo work, he holds the position of violin professor at The Royal College of Music in London and is a founder of the international music school, MusicaMundi, here in Waterloo, Belgium.
	Radio producer – RTBF Musiq’3 Laurent Graulus.	Laurent Graulus was born surrounded by music, his mother was a piano teacher and his father was passionate follower of the classical repertoire. From a young age Laurent studied trumpet and later joined IAD in Louvain-La-Neuve, where he studied sound engineering. In the late eighties, Laurent began working at RTBF Musiq’3 as a specialist classical music recording engineer. All the while, he continued his studies in jazz trumpet at the Royal Brussels jazz conservatory. After 20 years in Musiq’3 sound engineering’s department, Laurent moved to radio production. Today he is responsible for promoting young talent in RTBF Musiq’3 and is the producer, presenter of the weekly program ‘Puisque vous avez du talent’, a programme totally dedicated to young talent.
	Impresario Marjan Helraeth.	For as long as she can remember, music has always played an important role in Marjan Hellraeth’s life. As a young mother with five children, Marjan had the idea of organizing house concerts. From her original idea in 2003, ‘MUSICA ET POETICA’ has grown into one of the most important outlets for young classical musicians in Flanders. With nine locations and a full programme each year, hundreds of people can enjoy an eclectic mix of extraordinary talent (including the winners of ‘YBT’) performing everything from baroque to 21st. century realism, right in the heart of their living rooms. Today, Marjan heads up ‘AULOS’ her arts management company, connecting artists to an impressive national and international network and supplying them with the management support they need to bring their creative ideas to life.
	Professional Coach Katrin Derboven.	After an extensive professional career of more than twenty years in high-level management positions, in both for profit and non-profit organisations alike, Katrin switched directions, re-focusing on personal development and coaching. As a fully qualified psychotherapist, with her own practice based in Grobbendonk, Belgium, Katrin has become a leading innovator in her field. She has enjoyed a close working relationship with our ‘YBT’ finalists since our inception in 2010. Her work for ‘YBT’ and her professional clients has, on numerous occasions, lead to life changing personal developments for which her clients show her their utmost gratitude and respect.
	Violinist and ‘YBT’ winner, 2015 Vilmos Csikos.	Vilmos was destined to win the 2015 ‘YBT’ competition, after all he had either won, or was a finalist in, nearly every competition in Belgium and abroad that he ever entered. His playing reaches way beyond his years. A pioneer in new bowing techniques and as passionate as anyone, Vilmos pushes himself to the utmost of his ability. Today, in his last year of studies at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels under Yossif Ivanov, Vilmos stands at the breach of his full-time professional career. Ahead of him lies CD recordings, concert tours and everything that the life of a soloist violinist can bring. YBT is proud to support him and looks forward to a long and fruitful collaboration together.
	Chairman, Author, Public speaker Harley Lovegrove.	Harley Lovegrove was born in the UK in 1957. His father was an architect and his mother an artist. In his early years his only dream was to become a professional musician but somehow life and his entrepreneurial spirit got in the way and his career veered a path through recruitment, marketing, sales, photography and then onto running his own businesses. Today Harley is the Chairman of both The Bayard Partnership and ‘Young Belgian Talent vzw’. Author of four books: ‘Making a Difference’, ‘Inspirational Leadership’, ‘Transition’ and ‘The Change Manager’s Handbook’; apart from being a music fanatic and technical director of a high-end loudspeaker company, Harley is also a business coach, lecturer and public speaker.