2024 Adjudicators

Pianist Alexander "Sasha" Malikov performs extensively across Canada and the United States both as a soloist and a chamber musician. Most recent highlights include Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire with the Happenstancers in Toronto, solo recitals in Austin, Texas, at Vancouver's Müzewest Concerts, and at Toronto's Arts & Letters Club. In 2021, he also recorded Beethoven's Cello Sonatas Nos. 2 & 5 with Joseph Johnson, principal cellist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He is a prize winner of the Knigge, Shean, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Manhattan International and Carl E. Baldassare Composer-Performer Competitions.

As a teaching artist with a unique blend of passion and expertise, Alexander is committed to fostering a love for music while inspiring the next generation of artists and audiences. In recognition of his dedicated approach to music education, Mr. Malikov was awarded the Young Arts Educator Award in Florida in 2020. He regularly teaches masterclasses across Canada and the United States and has studied piano pedagogy with Prof. Sophia Gilmson at the University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. Malikov is a graduate of the Juilliard School (MMus), Oberlin College (BMus), and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Upon completing a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree at the University of Texas, Alexander went on to receive an Artist Diploma at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. His principal teachers have been Sergei Babayan, John Perry, James Anagnoson, Angela Cheng, Julian Martin and Anton Nel.