ANNOUNCING THE RESULTS OF THE 2005 VAKHTANG JORDANIA INTERNATIONAL
CONDUCTING COMPETITION - Top Three Finishers From Armenia, Italy and
the United States

New York, NY - The Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition
has announced the results of its 2005 competition held in Kharkov, Ukraine
between August 29 and September 4.  This year's competition featured 29
competitors from 16 countries around the world.

The jury did not award a Jordania Grand Prize, but did decide on two
William L. Montague, Jr. Second Prizes - Harutyun Arzumanyan of Armenia
and Matteo Pagliari of Italy.  Third Prize was awarded to Christopher
Chen of the United States.

Mr. Arzumanyan is a graduate of the Yerevan State Conservatory as a
violinist and conductor.  He founded the Armenian Chamber Orchestra and
has frequently conducted at the National Opera and Ballet Theatre of
Armenia.  He was the first prizewinner of the 1999 National Competition
for conductors and was 3rd Prizewinner of the 8th Fitelberg International
Competition for Conductors in Katowice, Poland.

Mr. Pagliari currently holds assistant conductor positions to both
Riccardo Frizza and Roberto Abbado.  He has made many guest appearances
with opera companies and orchestras throughout Italy and the United
States.  He holds a conducting degree from the Conservatorio Arrigo Boito
in Parma, Italy.

Mr. Chen is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory and is currently
Assistant Conductor of the Baltimore Opera.  He is a frequent guest
conductor in Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia and Finland.  He was
recently selected as one of eight conductors in the American Symphony
Orchestra League's 2005 National Conductor preview.

As William L. Montague, Jr. Second Prizewinners, Mr. Arzumanyan and Mr.
Pagliari will receive concert engagements during the 2006-2007 concert
season with orchestras in Ukraine, the U.S., and other countries to be
named.

Third Prizewinner Mr. Chen will receive a concert engagement during the
2006-2007 concert season with an orchestra in Ukraine.

The Orchestra Favorite prize was awarded to Boguslav Kobierski of Poland,
who is the current conductor of the Etela-Karjala Sinfonietta of Finland.

The Audience Favorite prize and a special distinction certificate was
awarded to Shigekazu Yonezaki of Japan, who is a regular guest conductor
of many orchestras in his country, including the New Japan Philharmonic.

Jennifer Bailey of Australia was also a Third Round participant and
special distinction certificate awardee.  She is the Conductor and
Director of the Orchestra at St. Mary Magdalen in Oxford, England.

Other participants in the competition included:

Kerim S. Anwar, a citizen of Canada who lives in the Czech Republic,
Rihards Buks of Latvia, Shawn Eugene Burke-Storer of the United States,
Timothy Dixon of the United States, Lawrence Golan of the United States,
Yasuhiko Ishige of Japan, Vladimir Kern of Russia, Sergey Kiss of Russia,
Maksim Kuzin of Ukraine, Sang-Hwan Lee of South Korea who lives in
Austria, Tai-Wai Li of Hong Kong, Christian Lombardi of Germany, Octavio
Mas Arocas of Spain, Paolo Paroni of Italy, Georgi Patrikov of Bulgaria,
Benjamin Rous of the United States, Elior Sharivker of Israel, Yosyp
Sozanskyy of Ukraine, Jin Tanaka of Japan who lives in Wales, Yasutaka
Tsuda of Japan, Viatcheslav Valeev of Russia, Shin Watanabe of Japan
and Alexander Zverunov of Russia.

The competition jury was composed of Jooyong Ahn of the United States,
Yuri Alzhnev of Ukraine, Giorgi Jordania of Republic of Georgia, Joan
McNeill Murray of the United States, Jonathan Sternberg of the United
States and Yuri Suchkov of Moscow.

This year's Third Round Contemporary Compositions selections were a new
orchestral work by Yuri Alznev, Christopher Kaufman's Island, Dana Paul
Perna's Bucks County Ballad and Judith Lang Zaimont's Stillness - Poem
for Orchestra.

The 2005 Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition was a
great success, both artistically and as a means for continuing to bring
the Kharkov Philharmonic Orchestra
(http://www.jamesarts.com/KHRKVPHILWEBPAGE.htm) to the rest of the world.
In addition to the lively competition, contestants also participated in
a series of Master Classes and special events and enjoyed the opportunity
to have individual and small group instruction and interaction with jury
and orchestra members.  Also important was the chance to meet and spend
time with other conductors from around the world.  More about the
competition at http://www.jamesarts.com/VJKRKVCNDCMP05.htm.

Building on the great success of this year's event, planning for an
expanded and even more international 2006 Vakhtang Jordania International
Conducting Competition has already begun.

For more information about the Competition, please contact Jeffrey James
Arts Consulting at 516-797-9166 or [log in to unmask]

Jeffrey James Arts Consulting
Tel/Fax: 516-797-9166
Website: http://www.jamesarts.com