NOTRE DAME, IN (May 10, 2015) – Out of 49 competing ensembles from across the nation and around the world, the Zorá String Quartet has won the coveted Grand Prize of the 2015 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition ($7,500.00) and the Gold Medal ($3,500.00) in the Senior String Division. Mirasol Quartet 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 Zorá String Quartet will perform several concerts in the Emilia Romagna Festival in Italy in 2016. Zorá members Dechopol Kowintaweewat (violin), Seula Lee (violin), Pablo Muñoz Salido (viola) and Zizai Ning (cello) are from Bloomington, Indiana. Mirasol Quartet members James Barger (soprano saxophone), Andrew Reinhart (alto saxophone), Benjamin Still (tenor saxophone), and Ben Donnell (baritone saxophone), are from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas.
In the Senior Wind Division, the Silver Medal ($3,000) was awarded to Kenari Quartet of Indiana Unviersity, Bloomington, Indiana. Members include Bob Eason (soprano saxophone), Kyle Baldwin (alto saxophone), Corey Dundee (tenor saxophone) and Steven Banks (baritone saxophone). The Senior Wind Division Bronze Medal ($2,000) was awarded to Prismatics Woodwind Quintet, from Rice University, Houston, Texas. Ensemble members include James Blanchard (flute), Tamer Edlebi (oboe), Nicholas Davies (clarinet), Markus Osterlund (horn), and Isaac Schultz (bassoon).
The Senior String Division Silver Medal ($3,000) went to the Calla Quartet, whose members Michaela Wellems (violin), Amelia Dietrich (violin), Aiden Kane (viola) and Karissa Zadinsky (cello) study at The Colburn School, Los Angeles, California. The Senior String Division Barbara Shields Byrum Bronze Medal ($2,000) went to the Autana Trio of Cleveland, Ohio. Members include Yuri Noh (piano), Ruben Rengel (violin), and Anna Bowman (cello).
In the Junior Division (for musicians eighteen and under), the First Place Medal and Scholarship of $2,300 was won by the Incendium Quartet of The Colburn School and Pasadena Conservatory, Los Angeles, California. Geneva Lewis (violin), Mei Zhan (violin), Emma Wernig (viola) and Atticus Mellor-Goldman (cello). The Second Place Medal and Scholarship of $1,800 was won by the Trio Adonais of the New England Conservatory Prep School Boston, Massachusetts. Members include Sammy Andonian (violin), Mari Nagahara (cello) and John Gibson (piano). The Third Place Medal and Scholarship ($1,300) went to the Alegrar Quartet of Barratt Due Institute of Music, Oslo, Norway. Members include Inga Vaga Gåustad (violin), Oda Holt Günther (violin), Michael Andreas Grolid (viola) and Brage Botn Seim (cello). Honorable Mentions went to the Isolde Quartet of New England Conservatory Prep, Boston, Massachusetts and Atara String Quartet of the Music Institute of Chicago.
The Junior Division Wind Prize and scholarship of $500 was won by Yumpadump Brass Trio of Merit School of Music, Chicago, Illinois. Members include Ricardo Zapata (trumpet), David Sweeney (horn), and Adriel Garcia (trombone). Sponsored by the American Brass Quintet, this award honors the most outstanding wind ensemble in the Junior Division.