Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition Announces Competitors
Musica Viva Australia (MVA) has announced the fourteen ensembles selected to participate in the the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition (MICMC), which will be held live in Melbourne from 3rd to 9th July, in 2023, bringing some of the world’s most outstanding young chamber musicians to Australia.
Preliminary round judges, Josephine Vains and Caroline Almonte have selected the best ensembles from around the world, including piano trios from North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, as well as string quartets from North America, South America, Asia, and homegrown Australian talent.
Established in 1991, and now a much-loved feature of Melbourne’s cultural landscape, MICMC is
held every four years to identify and cultivate the next generation of chamber music ensembles.
The competition welcomes applicants who embody chamber music’s ability to engage both mind
and heart with performances that delight, inspire and challenge, ensuring a vibrant future for chamber music, demonstrating and redefining the inimitable relationship between players, audiences, and composers for the 21st century.
This competition is open to string quartets and piano trios from round the world in which all members are under the age of 36. Part winners have hailed from countries including Germany, Israel, Russia, Denmark and the United Kingdom.
Selected from over 60 entries competing in the Preliminary Round, the final fourteen ensembles will compete for a prize pool of over $150,000 including the $30,000 cash Monash University Grand Prize. Overseen by Wilma Smith, Musica Viva Australia’s Artistic Director of Competitions,
the live-round jury will comprise internationally renowned figures of chamber music, including
Amandine Savary, Cho-Liang Lin, Hsin-Yun Huang, Kirsten Dawes, Louise Hopkins, Lukas Hagen and Timo-Veikko Valve. Commissions from Australian composers Maria Grenfell and Lee Bradshaw will be requirements of Round Two performances, bringing Australian music to this international audience.
The competitors include the Melbourne-based Affinity Quartet, who recently placed third in the
Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition.
All rounds are performed before a live audience, and Platinum and Gold Subscriptions are available to purchase now.
The competitors:
PIANO TRIOS: Trio Delyria (Israel)/ Trio Unio (South Korea)/ Trio Gaia (USA)/ Trio Bohémo (Czech Republic)/ Trio Orelon (Germany/Spain/Italy)/ Albéniz Trio (Spain/The Netherlands)/ Trio Pantoum (France/South Korea)
STRING QUARTETS : Dior Quartet (Israel/USA/Korea-Canada/St. Lucia)/ Risus Quartet (USA/South Korea)/ Terra String Quartet (Australia/USA/Venezuela)/ MILA Quartet (China)/ Affinity Quartet (Australia)/ Quatuor Mona (Latvia/France/USA/South Korea) Balourdet Quartet (USA)
DATES:
3-6 July, 2023: Rounds 1 and 2, Hawthorn Arts Centre
7 July, 2023: Semi-Finals, Hawthorn Arts Centre
9 July, 2023: Grand Finals, Melbourne Recital Centre
Read about Musica Viva’s 2020 FutureMakers.
