Lorraine Campet won the title of “Révélation Soliste Instrumental” at the French Victoires de la Musique 2025 — France’s most prestigious classical music award. She is the solo double bassist of the Orchester de l’Opéra de Paris and previously worked in the Orchester Philharmonique de Radio France. He plays the extraordinary instrument of Pietro-Antonio Testore. Winner of the Leopold Bellan, Bass 2014 Amsterdam and Bottesini Competitions.

Roman Patkoló is the winner of the first ever international Sperger competition (2000) — one of the most important double bass competitions ever. Since 1999, he has been a member of the Bassiona Amorosa quartet ensemble, with which he performs all over the world. As a Slovak soloist, he promotes double bass literature at home and abroad.

Miloslav Gajdoš is a teacher at the JAMU secondary school of art in Brno and a composer whose works for double bass are included in the repertoire of this competition as compulsory compositions. His Toccata SDBC and other compositions have won a place on double bass stages around the world. It combines the player experience with a pedagogical and compositional match.

Artem Chirkov is the solo double bassist of the St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonic, one of the oldest and most important musical institutions in Russia. Winner of the Bradetich International Competition — competitions with a prize exceeding $30,000, including a debut recital at Carnegie Hall. President of the Russian Double Bass Society and founder of the international festival Double Bass World.

Piotr Zimnik has been a member of the Berlin Philharmonic since 2022 — an orchestra that most musicians consider the pinnacle of the orchestral world. A graduate of the Karaján Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic and JAMU Brno. Before that, he held the position of co-principal double bassist of the Helsinki Philharmonic and permanent collaborator of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Juraj Kukan is an active performer and teacher rooted in Slovak musical life. He cooperated with the Slovak Philharmonic and regularly participates in Slovak Double Bass Club events. His teaching practice leads him directly to the question that the Dittersdorf competition poses to every contestant: where exactly lies the limit of a player’s potential.

Since 2020, Ján Prievozník has been the deputy head of the double bass section of the Orchestra of the Slovak National Opera — an institution where every rehearsal and every evening in front of the audience place high demands on precision, musicality and collective interplay. Active chamber musician, collaborator of the Haydn Ensemble and Harmonique Musique à Presbourg.

At the age of six, Maria Krykov chose the biggest instrument in the room at a music school in Helsinki — and this decision led her to the position of solo double bassist of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin (from 2022) and co-principal double bassist of the Helsinki Philharmonic. She was a guest at the Berlin and Royal Concertgebouw Philharmonics. Winner of the Sperger, Markneukirchen and Bottesini competitions (2nd prize, ex aequo, 2019).

Marek Švestka works in the Brno Philharmonic and is also the artistic director of the Brno Double Bass Orchestra — an ensemble that makes the double bass a protagonist, not an accompaniment. Teacher at JAMU in Brno and organizer of double bass cultural life in the Czech Republic. His enthusiasm for the instrument is contagious.

Juraj Valenčík is a Slovak double bassist who built his career in one of the most important Scandinavian orchestras — the Helsinki Philharmonic. He moves equally freely in the classical symphonic repertoire as well as in chamber music and jazz, collaborating with ensemble partners such as Brünnwerk. It gives the double bass a width that few can imagine.