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School of Music

  • 2018 Chamber Music Day participants and coaches

    2018 Competition Winners and Coaches

  • Parker Quartet

    Participants work with the world-renowned Parker Quartet

  • 2017 Chamber Competition Winners

    2017 Chamber Competition Winners

Chamber Music Day and High School String Quartet Competition

USC Chamber Music Day and Competition with the Parker Quartet is an exceptional opportunity for advanced high school string quartets.

2019 Chamber Music Day and High School String Quartet Competition

Saturday, April 6, 2019

Application deadline: February 15, 2019

Advanced high school string quartets have a unique opportunity to work with the world-renowned Parker Quartet, in residence at USC. The Quartet mentors pre-formed student string quartets through intensive coachings and master classes throughout the day, leading to a performance and competition in the evening. Coaches are members of the Parker Quartet and the USC School of Music string faculty.

"The coaches' words of experience, their critique, as well as words of encouragement not only helped our quartet to challenge ourselves and experiment with different musical concepts during the workshop/competition, but they also instilled within us a lasting goal of trying to understand the music on a deeper level.” – 2014 attendee

Competition Prizes

First Prize: $500
Second Prize: $300
Third Prize: $150

Repertoire

Repertoire for the day will include one substantial movement of a major work from the quartet literature. In order to work on the highest artistic level, advance preparation is expected of each quartet prior to the event.

Competition Judges

All members of the Parker Quartet and several USC faculty members serve as judges for the competition. There will also be an "audience favorite" prize, as voted by members of the audience.

The Coaches

Daniel Chong, violin
Ken Hamao, violin
Jessica Bodnar, viola
Kee-Hyun Kim, cello
William Terwilliger, violin
Ari Streisfeld, violin
Daniel Sweaney, viola
Robert Jesselson, cello

Enrollment

Enrollment is limited to 8 string quartets. All quartets are eligible to compete in the competition, but are not required to.

Tuition

$140 per quartet for all activities. Lunch is provided, and each quartet is will be given a recording of their performance.

Accommodations

Lodging is not provided, but there are a variety of hotels in close proximity to the School of Music (813 Assembly Street) in downtown Columbia.

Application procedure

1.    All groups must be pre-formed and should send a CD, DVD or MP3 file of one movement of a major work of the string quartet repertoire.
2.    Application fee of $25 (non-refundable)
3.    Application deadline: February 15, 2019
4.    Send the application form and all materials to:

Dr. William Terwilliger
The University of South Carolina School of Music
813 Assembly St. 
Columbia, SC 29208
wterwilliger@mozart.sc.edu

2018 Competition Prize Winners

First Prize ($500) and Audience Favorite Prize:
The Parnassus Quartet (Greenville, SC)

Josh Lin, violin I – (Age 17)
Anya Gerber, violin II – (Age 16)
Nick England, viola – (Age 17)
Andrew Davis, violoncello – (Age 16)
(Coach: John Ravnan – Greenville Fine Arts Center)

Second Prize ($300):
The Ariose String Quartet (Jacksonville, FL)

Saejin Albright, violin I – (Age 17)
Lilah Dees, violin II – (Age 16)
Breanna Lang, viola – (Age 16)
Nathan Ealum, violoncello – (Age 16)
(Coach: Brian Griffin – Douglas Anderson School of the Arts)

Third Prize ($150):
The Palissandro Quartet (Greenville, SC)

Julia Rhyne, violin I – (Age 15)
Ben Rawlinson, violin II – (Age 15)
Philip Rawlinson, viola – (Age 15)
Jack Rose, violoncello – (Age 15)
(Coach: John Ravnan – Greenville Fine Arts Center)