The 11th Biennial Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competition for Young Professionals

The 11th Biennial Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competition for Young Professionals will be held live on April 13, 2024, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Ebenezer Theater in Easton, Maryland, and live-streamed all day. The awards will be given around 5 p.m. This exciting daylong celebration of chamber music will feature five of the most distinguished young ensembles competing for the Lerman Gold ($10,000) and Silver ($5,000) prizes, as well as the Audience Choice Award ($1000) and three Honorarium Awards ($1000 each).

This year’s finalists come from around the U.S. and have studied and prepared at distinguished schools and conservatories. The average age of an ensemble must be under 31, and some include members as young as 21.  The applicants represent a wide range of instrumental combinations: winds, strings, and mixed instruments, including piano. The preliminary judging panel reported this to be a particularly talented group of young musicians. The five finalists are The Amara Trio of New York, New York; The Hesper Quartet of New York, New York; the Kodak Quartet of New York, New York; the PULSE quartet of East Lansing, Michigan at Michigan State University; and Trio Menil of Houston, Texas.

The Amara Trio was formed at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival during the summer of 2023 and began its musical journey studying Schubert’s B-flat Trio. What ensued was some of the most meaningful artistic and personal experiences of their lives, stemming from their deep love of music and the unbridled joy of sharing this music with those around them. Since Kneisel Hall, The Amara Trio has performed in venues including Prior-Jollek Hall in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and Paul Hall at the Juilliard School. The trio is extremely passionate about community engagement and they often share their love of music in the Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York and multiple retirement homes around the New York and New Jersey areas. The Amara Trio is continuing their studies at the Juilliard School as an Honors Chamber Group, under the guidance of Laurie Smukler and Joel Krosnick.

The Hesper Quartet is a Korean-American string quartet that was formed in 2022 at the Emerson String Quartet Institute of Stony Brook University. Its members hold degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music, the Juilliard School, Yale University, Stony Brook University, and Seoul National University. “Hesper” means evening star, and like how each star in the night sky has its own story, the Hesper Quartet strives to tell the fascinating story of each work of music that they play. The Hesper Quartet has performed at a variety of venues such as the Staller Center for the Arts, Capitol Theatre Windsor, and the JeJu Cultural Arts Center in South Korea. Last year, the Hespers enjoyed sharing music with the community at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Detroit. Notable achievements include winning first prize at the Fanny Mendelssohn International Competition, the Servaas Competition, and the Ackerman Chamber Competition.

The award-winning string quartet, Kodak Quartet, is setting the world on fire with its

passionate and energetic playing. They are highly regarded for their work with contemporary

composers and for presenting traditional works with a contemporary flavor. Kodak Quartet

formed in Rochester, NY while attending the Eastman School of Music and is currently based

in New York, NY. Kodak's members hail from the US, Canada and France. The quartet won the first prize at the 2023 Frances Walton competition and was honored with first prize and grand prize at the 2023 Coltman Chamber Music Competition. They have performed concerts at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, the Banff Centre, and MISQA. They have also performed for thousands of children at non-traditional performance venues such as schools, movie theaters, and other outreach programs. Kodak Quartet has also performed with GRAMMY-winning artists Time for Three, Kronos Quartet, and JACK Quartet.

PULSE is an internationally award-winning saxophone quartet based in East Lansing at Michigan State University studying under Professor Joseph Lulloff. Its mission is to deliver a diverse range of repertoire that will engage and inspire any audience while breaking down the proverbial barrier between the audience and the performer. PULSE was artists in residence for the 2023 Manitou Music Festival in Glen Arbor, MI, and for the Interlochen Public Radio and the Sound Garden Project. Through the Sound Garden Project, PULSE worked to plant music in unexpected places and bring music outside of the concert hall to educate the community about diversity within classical music. PULSE has been recognized or achieved accolades in multiple

competitions including the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, NOLA Chamber Festival Competition, Coltman Chamber Music Competition, Barbara Wagner Chamber Music Competition, and the International Music Competition.

Based in Houston, Texas, Trio Menil is a versatile ensemble at home in both the concert

hall and classroom. The trio has performed in venues around North America and has received

the Grand Prize and Odyssey Chamber Music Series Award at the 2023 Plowman Chamber

Music Competition. The trio is named after the Menil Collection, a museum and neighborhood of art in the heart of Houston, and shares the same mission to attract, educate, and inspire diverse audiences through art. Trio Menil is part of DACAMERA’s Young Artist Program, where they present concerts in collaboration with art exhibitions, and teach music-integrative workshops in Houston public and private schools. Formed at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, the trio has worked with James Dunham, Paul Kantor, Jon Kimura Parker, Virginia Weckstrom, and Kathleen Winkler.

It takes a dedicated and experienced group of musicians to make great decisions about young talent and the Competition’s two panels are no exception.  The preliminary judges, responsible for selecting the finalists, conduct blind evaluations based only on an audio performance included in the application. The finalist judges watch the live performance on April 2 and select the prize winners at the end of the evening.  Over the past 20 years, they have proven their expertise as many of the winners and finalists have gone on to illustrious careers.

The two judging panels are chaired by Chesapeake Music’s artistic directors, Marcy Rosen, Head Judge, Co-Artistic Director, Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival, and cellist, and Catherine Cho, Head Judge, Co-Artistic Director, Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival, and violinist/ violist. Preliminary judges include  Catherine Cho, Laurie Bloom, clarinetist; Daniel Phillips, violinist/violist; Todd Phillips, violinist/violist; and Diane Walsh, pianist. Final judges include Marcie Rosen, flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, and pianist Robert McDonald.

The Competition will begin at 11 a.m. on April 13 and last all day with prizes announced following the final performance around 5 p.m.  There will be Sunday afternoon concerts on April 14 by the ensembles at the following locations: St. Marks UM Church, Easton, Pulse, 3 p.m.; Christ Church, Cambridge,  Kodak Quartet, 4 p.m.; Holy Trinity Church, Oxford, Amara Trio, 2 p.m.; Temple B'nai Israel, Easton, Hesper Quartet, 2 p.m.; and Trio Menil, Private.

The Competition is a program of Chesapeake Music. Tickets for this all-day extravaganza are available online. The cost for the entire day of beautiful music is $25 per person and students are admitted free of charge.  For those who cannot make the trip to Easton, the event will be livecast for $10.  Contributions to help fund the Competition are also welcome. The recording will be available both on the day of the performance and for the week following. For further information about attending the Competition events, visit chesapeakemusic.org/competition or call 410-819-0380.

The Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition is underwritten by the Talbot County Arts Council, the Maryland State Arts Council, and private benefactors.