YOUTH COMPETITION
SFCM sponsors an annual Youth Chamber Music Competition. Its primary purpose is to encourage students in the Central
New York area, grades 7-12, to discover the joy of preparing and performing chamber music under the guidance of a coach.
2021 COMPETITION
SFCM’s annual Youth Chamber Music Competition takes place in the spring. Participants must be in grades 7-12 and enrolled in a New York school district within 90 miles of Syracuse or home-schooled in one of those districts. This
includes Ithaca, Utica, Watertown, and Rochester.
There was no in-person competition this year. Competitors submitted recordings for judging.
Each participating ensemble of 3-8 musicians must have a coach. At the competition, groups perform for about 15 minutes before two judges and receive written evaluations. Students in one or two of the ensembles are selected to receive prize money, and one group may be invited to perform at the beginning of an SFCM subscription concert before the featured professional ensemble. There is no entry fee for the competition.
2019 PARTICIPANTS
Unfortunately, the 2020 competition was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. These are the winners and competitors from the Youth Chamber Music Competition held March 16, 2019.
THE AMICI PIANO TRIO
2019 winner of Best Ensemble Award
Brahms: Trio in B Major, op. 8, Allegro con brio
Andrew Guo, violin, Brighton High School
Jackie Hager, cello, Brighton High School
Raymond Feng, piano, Pittsford Sutherland High
The piano trio was coached by Joseph Werner at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance.
THE VIERTEL QUARTET
2019 winner of Best Syracuse-Area Ensemble Award
Beethoven: String Quartet op.18, no.4, Allegro ma non tanto
Purcell: Chacony, Z. 730
Yier Jin, violin, Nottingham High School
Grace Bloom, violin, Fayetteville-Manlius High School
Karina Balian, viola, Fayetteville-Manlius High School
Sammi Rizzo, cello, Fayetteville-Manlius High School
The string quartet was coached by Carol Sasson.
Olivia Walberger, violin
Natalie Roswick, violin
Andrew Li, viola
Andrew Ahn, cello.
The students in this string quartet all attended Fayetteville-Manlius High School and were coached by Peter Guarino. They played music by Grieg.
Christopher Ziobro, soprano saxophone
Jason Cavanagh, alto saxophone
Sadie Fridley, tenor saxophone
Julia Gerardi, baritone saxophone
The students in this quartet all attended Fayetteville-
Manlius High School and were coached by Rebecca Bizup. They played selections by Glazounov and Paul Nagle.
Luke Pisani, violin, homeschool
Yuki Wada, violin, Olean High School
Lindsey Schaeffer, viola, Victor Senior High School
Amy Feng, cello, Pittsford Sutherland High
The quartet, coached by Molly McDonald at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance, played Haydn.
