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. Details of the 2025 competition will be announced later this fall, on this website.
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2024 COMPETITION
SFCM’s annual Youth Chamber Music Competition takes place early each 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 area includes Ithaca, Utica, Watertown, and Rochester. Each participating ensemble must have a coach.
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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. 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.
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We returned to live competition in 2024, after three years of pandemic-caused virtual contests. The event was held at Park Central Church in downtown Syracuse on February 10, 2024. Two string quartets, a string quintet, a cello quartet, and a brass quintet participated. The students were from the Syracuse and Rochester areas.
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The Amicus String Quintet from Rochester won the Best Ensemble Award. The Wolfgang String Quartet, winners of the Best Syracuse-Area Ensemble Award, performed before the SFCM April 6, 2024 WindSync concert to an appreciative audience.
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Many thanks to our two judges: Jessica Tumajyan (director of both the orchestra at Christian Brothers Academy and the Syracuse Youth Symphony Orchestra) and James Tapia (director of the Syracuse University Symphony Orchestra)
2024 PARTICIPANTS
Winners and competitors from the SFCM Youth Chamber Music Competition held in February 2024.
2024 winner: Best Ensemble
The Amicus Quintet
Coach: Jeanelle and James Thompson
The Hochstein School (Rochester)
Timothy Seo, violin
Ben Rosenhack, violin
Joanna Frank, cello
Abigail Feng, cello
Elliot Tyler, viola
Schubert: String Quintet in C Major:
Allegro ma non troppo
2024 winner: Best Syracuse-Area Ensemble
The Wolfgang String Quartet
Coach: Laura Smith
The Syracuse Orchestra (violin)
Eric Lee, violin
Daniel Yang, violin
Christian Lee, cello
Kyumin Shim, viola
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Beethoven: String Quartet op. 18, no. 4
Allegro ma non tanto; Menuetto
Performing at the beginning of an SFCM concert
ADDITIONAL COMPETITORS
Cello Quartet
Coach: Daniel Blumenthal
Jamesville-Dewitt High School
Abigail Feng, cello
Daniel Luo, cello
Brian Tollar, cello
Demosthenes Mantalios, cello
Joshua Missal: Invocation and Dances for Four Cellos
Brass Quintet
Coach: Bernabe Jorge
The Hochstein School, Rochester
William Spear, trumpet
Corban Vogler, trumpet
Zachery Canning, trombone
Olivia Finkbeiner, horn
Liam Yusko, tuba
J.S.Bach: Contrapunctus I
Eric Ewazen: Western Fanfare
String Quartet
Coach: Timothy Peters
The Hochstein School, Rochester
Alyssa Yang, violin
Noah Busch, violin
Karthik Jaligama, viola
Allison Glaza, cello
Borodin: String Quartet no. 2: Allegro moderato
Beethoven: String Quartet op. 18, no. 4: Allegro ma non tanto
