Announcing the 2016 Fischoff Competition Winners
Out of 49 competing ensembles from across the nation and around the world, the Ulysses Quartet has won the coveted Grand Prize of the 2016 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition ($7,500) and the Gold Medal ($3,500) in the Senior String Division. WindSync captured the Gold Medal ($3,500.00) in the Senior Wind Division. In addition to prize money, both ensembles will participate in a Winner’s Tour of the Midwestern United States this fall, and the Ulysses Quartet will perform several concerts in the Emilia Romagna Festival in Italy in 2017. Ulysses Quartet members include Christina Bouey (violin), Rhiannon Banerdt (violin), Colin Brookes (viola), and Grace Mei-En Ho (cello) are from New York, New York. WindSync of Houston, Texas. Members include Garrett Hudson (flute), Emily Tsai (oboe & English horn), Jack Marquardt (clarinet), Tracy Jacobson (bassoon), and Anni Hochhalter (French horn).
In the Senior Wind Division, the Silver Medal ($3,000) was awarded to QuinTexas of Austin, Texas. Members include Charlotte Daniel (flute), Freddie Blood (oboe), Nicholas Councilor (clarinet), Laura McIntyre (bassoon), and Rose Valby (horn). The Senior Wind Division Bronze Medal ($2,000) was awarded to Lineage Percussion of Athens, Georgia. Members include Trevor Barroero (percussion), Lauren Floyd (percussion), and Wesley Sumpter (percussion).
The Senior String Division Silver Medal ($3,000) went to Trio Zadig, Resident at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium, based in Paris, France. Members include Boris Borgolotto (violin), Marc Girard Garcia (cello), and Ian Barber (piano). The Senior String Division Barbara Shields Byrum Bronze Medal ($2,000) went to the Callisto Piano Trio of Pasadena Conservatory of Music/University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California. Members include Geneva Lewis (violin), Annie Jacobs-Perkins (cello), and Katelyn Vahala (piano).
In the Junior Division (for musicians eighteen and under), the Gold Medal ($2,300) was won by Quartet Diamant of Midwest Young Artists Conservatory, Highwood, Illinois. Members include Masha Lakisova (violin), Rebecca Moy (violin), Natalie Clarke (viola), Adam Lee (cello). The Silver Medal ($1,800) was won by Noctis Quartet of New York, New York. Members include Kevin Zhu (violin), Andrew Kim (violin), Jacob van der Sloot (viola), and Chase Park (cello). The Bronze Medal ($1,300) went to Vibrante String Quartet of The Academy of the Music Institute of Chicago, Evanston, Illinois. Members include Zachary Brandon (violin), Hannah White (violin), Freya Irani (viola), and Leevy Williams (cello). The Junior Division Wind Prize ($500) was won by KGT of Merit School of Music, Chicago, Illinois. Members include Maddy Deanne (flute), Amer Hasan (clarinet), and Quincey Trojanowski (bassoon). Sponsored by the American Brass Quintet, this award honors the most outstanding wind ensemble in the Junior Division.
