2026 Adjudicators

Susan Millar Boldissar holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Darrett Adkins, Andor Toth Jr. and Frances-Marie Uitti. She was the recipient of both the Dean's Merit Award and the International Conservatory Student Award. She earned her Master of Music from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she was recipient of the coveted Eva Heinitz Award, and served as Associate Instructor of Violoncello and Teaching Assistant to Professor Eric Kim. Susan received her pedagogical training for stringed instrument instruction through completion of the minor cognate string pedagogy graduate program at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

In addition to her classical foundation, Ms. Boldissar boasts a mastery of improvisational music, use of looping and effects pedals, performance on the Morin Khuur (Mongolian Cello), the stroh cello (a cello with a brass bell from 1915), use of extended and experimental techniques. She composes and arranges music fitting the unique specifics of instrumentation in her teaching, both for individual lessons and group/orchestral settings.

Susan has performed across the U.S. and Canada as a soloist, chamber musician and with orchestras. Solo performances include The Jeffery Concerts in London Ontario, the Bach Around the Clock festival in New Orleans, Oberlin Conservatory's faculty guest recital series, Here, Here and Aeolian Musical Arts Association in London Ontario as well as improvised music series such as Instant Opus with Lori Goldston (of the band Nirvana), in New Orleans. 

Performances as soloist with orchestra include the National Academy Orchestra, as Susan was the winner of the NAO concerto competition in 2008, Music Box series with The Furniture Music Ensemble in New Orleans. Ms. Boldissar has performed in many orchestras including the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and served as principal cellist of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic during her tenure at Indiana University. Susan’s teachers include Eric Kim, Emilio Colón, Janos Starker, Darrett Adkins, and 
Frances-Marie Uitti.

Ms. Boldissar was the founding director, conductor of the Mount Carmel Academy Chamber Orchestra and Instrumental Ensemble program, providing instruction as well as composing/arranging all music performed in the program.   She served as Instructor of Chamber Music for the Greater New Orleans Youth Orchestras, and 
director of  the Homer Plessy strings program.  She has held positions of Instructor of Violoncello with the Young Artist’s Academy, the Endangered Instrument Project in New Orleans, and has taught for Indiana University String Academy.   In London, Susan leads the cello instruction at El Sistema Aeolian, and maintains a busy teaching studio offering both in-person instruction and virtual lessons to students all over the world, with students performing as soloists in North Carolina, and Indiana.

Julie Ludwig is a soprano and voice teacher based in Norfolk County. She holds a BMus (Honors Music History) and a MMus (Voice Performance) from Western University and is an alumna of Calgary Opera’s Emerging Artist Development Programme and the Britten-Pears Programme in England. In addition to running a private voice studio from her home, she is the voice instructor in the music department at Redeemer University, and has given masterclasses at the University of Manitoba, the University of Windsor, and with the Timmins Symphony. Her students have won prizes at the OMFA Provincials, the NATS Ontario Vocal Showcase, local music festivals, and have been accepted into various graduate and undergraduate music programs. Ms. Ludwig has appeared as a soloist with the Windsor Symphony, the Toronto Concert Orchestra, the Calgary Civic Symphony, the Hamilton Philharmonic, and the Bach Elgar Choir. On the operatic stage, she has performed with Opera5, the Southern Ontario Lyric Opera, the Aldeburgh Music Festival, Calgary Opera, the Banff Centre, and has toured with Jeunesses Musicales. From 2018-2021, she co-produced The Linden Project, a recital series dedicated to the performance of art song. When she's not singing or teaching, she can be found with her three children or (less often) with her nose in a book.

Matthew Pope, DMA, is a solo and collaborative pianist, adjudicator, and teacher in London, Ontario. A graduate of the 
DMA program at Western University (London, ON), Dr. Pope's research and performance interests focus on French repertoire of the late 19th- and early 20th-centuries, with a particular focus on the works of Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) and Claude Debussy (1862-1918).

During his academic career, Dr.  Pope studied with John-Paul Bracey, Dr. Brett Kingsbury, and Stephan Sylvestre, and won numerous scholarships and awards including the UWO Gold Medal for Piano Performance in 2013, and two Ontario Graduate Scholarships (2014 and 2018). He also spend three weeks studying with Jean-Paul Sevilla in France during the summer of 2021, and is a former student of pianist, Ron Greidanus (Georgetown, ON). Dr. Pope enjoys working in collaborative settings as a pianist and orchestra continuo player (both on harpsichord and organ) and has worked with conductors Lydia Adams, Charles Demuynck, Mervin Fick, Ron Greidauns, Simone Luti, Dr. Patrick Murray, Tyrone Paterson, Stephanie Potvin, and Robert Raines (1947-2011).

Matthew is an avid performer as a pianist, harpsichordist, and organist, and has performed as a soloist and/or ensemble player with numerous groups in the GTA, including the Georgetown Bach Chorale, the Bach Elgar Choir (Hamilton, ON), the Masterworks of Oakville Choir, the Oakville Chamber Orchestra, the Mississauga Chamber Sings, and the Brampton Symphony Orchestra, and Kammerchor London and Magisterra Solists in London, ON. A standout of his most recent engagements includes appearing as a soloist in a performance of all three double harpsichord concertos of JS Bach with Kammerchor London in May, 2025. In addition, Dr. Pope is President for the Ontario Registered Music Teachers Association's London Branch, and Director of Music at St John the Evangelist Anglican Church in Strathroy, ON. 

Linda has an honours Music Degree from Western University and an Education Degree from Althouse College.  She taught secondary school instrumental music for 32 years, in St. Thomas and London.    Her bands won many awards locally, regionally, and nationally.  Linda also won many teaching awards, including the Award of Distinction from the Thames Valley District School Board and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jack Richardson Music Awards.  She also served on the Ontario Music Educators’ Association Board for 6 years.  Linda is currently teaching Conducting/Instrumental Rehearsal Techniques at Western University and is loving adjudicating around the province and on the East Coast.   She also gets to travel the world with her competitive Dragonboat team!