APPLICATIONS OPEN NOV 4th 2024
For the 40th Annual Irving M. Klein International String Competition
June 7–8, 2025, San Francisco California
(San Francisco CA) Applications open online November 4, 2024 for The Irving M. Klein International String Competition, produced by the California Music Center at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music June 7-8, 2025. The Klein will be streamed live as well as before a live audience at the Conservatory. Eight to nine semifinalists will compete over two days for cash prizes and performance contracts totaling $30,000 in value. For details and to apply, visit californiamusiccenter.org/application-guidelines.
String players ages 15 to 23 at the time of the Competition of any nationality, not currently under professional management, are eligible to compete. Applications close January 31, 2025. A limited number of application fee waivers and scholarships will be available for applicants demonstrating financial need.
For almost 40 years, the Klein has attracted some of the world’s finest young string players to San Francisco each June to compete for cash and performance prizes. The Klein Competition has achieved international recognition as one of the most prestigious classical music competitions, recognized for the high caliber of the contestants; its unique, nurturing environment; and its commitment to the commissioning of new works. John Harbison will compose the Commissioned Works to premiere at the 2025 Klein Competition.
The competition is named for the late cellist and master teacher who devoted himself to the development of young artists. Its award carries the distinction that has helped many top soloists gain prominence in the competitive world of classical music, including Jennifer Koh, Mark Kosower, Vadim Gluzman, Jennifer Frautschi, Alban Gerhardt, Frank Huang and Robert deMaine; Francesca DePasquale, Teng Li, Oliver Herbert, David Requiro, Tessa Lark and Nikki Chooi, among many others. Laureates include principal chairs in many orchestras, including the Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras, the Buffalo, New York and LA Philharmonics, and the Boston and Pittsburgh Symphonies.
The distinguished jury will include Barbara Day Turner, conductor and Music Director of San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Eileen Moon, from 2007-2022, Associate Principal Cello with the New York Philharmonic, Glenn Dicterow, past concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic; current Chair in Strings and Chamber Music at the USC Thornton School of Music, Hal Robinson, from 1995-2022, principal bass of the Philadelphia Orchestra and a current member of the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music, John Wineglass, Emmy-Award Winning Composer; 2024 Klein Competition-commissioned composer, Jory Fankuchen, principal conductor of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and violinist and founding member of the Chamber Music Society of San Francisco, and Karen Dreyfus, violist, teaches at Manhattan School of Music and faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music; this year’s commissioned composer is John Harbison.
