Regional high school string students get coached by members of the Parker Quartet
Eight talented high school string quartets from North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina were on the University of South Carolina campus April 8 for the fourth annual University of South Carolina Chamber Music Day and High School String Quartet Competition with the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet.
Participants aged 14 to 18 spent an intensive day of master classes and coaching with members of the Parker Quartet, Ying Xue, Jessica Bodner, Kee Kim and Daniel Chong, and USC’s string faculty.
Competing during an evening concert in the School of Music’s Recital Hall, the high school string ensembles performed the difficult masterworks of Mozart, Schubert, Borodin, Prokofiev, Arriaga, Mendelssohn and Brahms. After the concert, three cash prizes were awarded, as well as an Honorable Mention and an Audience Favorite prize.
The winning quartet, and the choice to receive the Audience Favorite prize, was the Rose Quartet from the Greenville Fine Arts Center, playing the last movement of the Brahms C-minor Quartet.
The Prize Winners
First Prize ($500): The Rose Quartet (Greenville, SC)
Rachel Yi, violin I (age 16); Sam Parrini, violin II (age 16); Hannah Patskoski, viola
(age 18); Jack Rose, violoncello (age 16) Coach: John Ravnan – Greenville Fine Arts
Center
Second Prize ($300): The CIMS String Quartet (Charleston, SC)
Manuel Mendes, violin I (age 15); Karl Pless, violin II (age 16); Jordan Stuckey,
viola (age 17); Lydia Pless, violoncello (age 15) Coach: Ruben Camacho – Charleston
International Music School
Third Prize ($150): The Ariose String Quartet (Jacksonville, FL)
Saejin Albright, violin I (age 16); Lilah Dees, violin II (age 15); Breanna Lang,
viola (age 15); Nathan Ealum, violoncello (age 15) Coach: Brian Griffin – Douglas
Anderson School of the Arts
Honorable Mention: The Pontus Quartet (Suwannee, GA)
Doowon Kim, violin I (age 14); Leigh Kong, violin II (age 16);Thomas Kim, viola (age
15); Sirian Yi, violoncello (age 17) Coach: Elizabeth Alvarez and Lauren McCombe –
North Gwinnett High School
“Audience Favorite Prize”: The Rose Quartet
The additional four finalists
The Cardinal Quartet - Jacksonville High School (Jacksonville, NC)
David Nam, violin I (age 17); Ashé Cepeda-Parker, violin II (age 16); Khalil Frazier,
viola (age 17); Kayla Stephens, violoncello (age 17) Coach: Joli Brooks – Jacksonville
High School
The Key Quartet - Lexington, Irmo, Richland NE High School (Columbia, SC)
Sunjay Jarayam, violin I (age 17); Heather Hunter, violin II (age 16); Raven Heath,
viola (age 18); Vihar Dalal, violoncello (age 18) Coach: William Terwilliger – USC
The Fiddle Diddles - North Gwinnett High School (Suwanee, GA)
Kevin Kim, violin I (age 17); Daniel Kim, violin II (age 18); Michael Lee, viola (age
18); Amy Park, violoncello (age 16) Coach: Elizabeth Alvarez and Lauren McCombe –
North Gwinnett High School
The Tam Dang Quartet - North Gwinnett High School (Suwanee, GA)
Shannon Chen, violin I (age 16); Daniel Lee, violin II (age 16); Joan Song, viola
(age 16); Tannessa Dang, violoncello (age 15) Coaches: Elizabeth Alvarez and Lauren
McCombe – North Gwinnett High School
Coaches were members of the Parker Quartet: Daniel Chong, Ying Xue, Jessica Bodner, Kee-Hyun Kim and University of South Carolina string faculty: Ari Streisfeld, Robert Jesselson, Daniel Sweaney, William Terwilliger.
Special thanks go to ASTA Student Chapter members: Chapter President Jane Kathryn Hucks, Carson Dixon, Logan Lysaght, Bianca Walker, Hannah Riley, Buddy Fiorillo, Mary Vavra, Austin Johnson, and Noah Lytle.