Junior Jury

Concours 2026 – Junior JURY

The Junior Jury is made up of violin students from Montreal’s leading music training institutions: the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, and the Faculty of Music at the Université de Montréal.

Here is what two former members of the Junior Jury had to say:

I loved my experience. It allowed me to listen to many extremely gifted and talented singers, as well as sharpen my critical skills. Thanks to the Concours, I was also able to closely engage with the other members of the jury and open myself up to different points of view. Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity.
Daphné Dubois, Junior Jury, Concours 2025 – Voice

Listening to so many pianists of such a high level and being able to be in the same place as the great figures that made up the International Jury was an eye-opening, fun, and most of all an inspiring and motivating experience.
Fabrizzio Vargas, Junior Jury, Concours 2024 – Piano

The Junior Jury is responsible for assessing the performances of the violinists, in parallel to the work of the International Jury. Through careful and informed listening and discussion – under the guidance of the Jury President – the Junior Jury will develop its own criteria to evaluate the competitors.

The Junior Jury will evaluate the quality of the 24 competitors in the Concours 2026 – Violin over the course of the First Round. At the conclusion of the round, on May 29, 2026, it will determine the winner of the Robert Trempe Junior Jury Prize, valued at $1,500 and offered in partnership with Richard Tremblay.

This third appearance of a Junior Jury at the Concours promises to be an exceptional experience for its members, full of discoveries and encounters. It will offer these student violinists an invaluable opportunity to enrich their educational and professional careers, while sharpening their critical aptitudes.

President of the Junior Jury
CONCOURS 2026 – VIOLIN

Ana Drobac

Born in Serbia, Ana Drobac is an accomplished violinist and a sought-after teacher in Montréal, where she settled in 2003. She completed her master’s degree and doctoral studies in violin performance with Anne Robert at the Université de Montréal and is currently Associate Concertmaster and Orchestra Manager of the Orchestre classique de Montréal, as well as principal second violin with the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières. She has also been a member of the ensemble La Pietà with Angèle Dubeau, as well as the ensemble Appassionata, and regularly performs with I Musici de Montréal and the Orchestre Métropolitain.

As part of her training, Ana Drobac participated in the Britten Pears Young Artists Programme in England and Philip Glass’ Days and Nights Festival in 2011. As a member of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra from 2005 to 2009, she toured Japan, Brazil, Russia, Armenia, Lithuania, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico. She also held the position of concertmaster for the Orchestra of the Americas in 2010 and 2011 for concerts at Carnegie Hall during the World Economic Forum.

Throughout her career, Ana Drobac has collaborated with renowned musicians such as Midori, Lang Lang, Joshua Bell, Maxim Vengerov, Julian Rachlin, Thomas Hampson, Marc-André Hamelin, Ilya Gringolts, and Marie-Nicole Lemieux. She has also played under the baton of exceptional conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Jaap van Zweden, Christoph Eschenbach, Christopher Hogwood, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Kent Nagano, Jacques Lacombe, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, and Boris Brott. She is an active member of Duo Philia, which she cofounded with Caroline Chéhadé in 2009, and of the Quatuor Rhapsodie, since 2012. As a chamber musician, she has worked with Mate Szucs, Mary Ann and Craig Mumm, Matt Haimovitz, and Philip Glass, among others.

Ana Drobac teaches young violinists at the Peace Music Festival in Chicago, at El Sistema (Neojiba) in Brazil, and in Panama. She has been a professor at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal since 2022, after having taught at the Pré-Conservatoire for 13 years, as well as at Concordia University and the Université de Sherbrooke. Over the years, her students have won prizes at competitions such as the Concours de musique du Canada and the New York International Music Festival & Competition. Some have also been finalists of the Hong Kong International Young Musicians Competition and semifinalists at the Kloster Schöntal International Violin Competition in Germany.

Ana Drobac plays on a Jean-Baptiste Lefebvre violin from 1766 with a bow from Louis Bazin, graciously loaned by Canimex (Drummondville, Québec).