Barbash Bach String Competition Announces Finalists

The competition will be held at Stony Brook University, in Long Island, New York, on October 20, 2023 and streamed LIVE on The Violin Channel

Open to international string players between 16 and 30 years of age, the Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach String Competition is focused entirely on the unaccompanied string Partitas, Sonatas, and Suites of J.S. Bach.

Violinists Karisa Chiu, Emmanuel Coppey, and Youjin Lee, and violist Giorgi Mardaleishvili will compete in the Finals of the 2023 Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition on Friday, October 20 at Stony Brook University’s Staller Center Recital Hall. The Finals will be streamed live here on The Violin Channel at 1:00 pm.

In 2023, the jury will comprise violinists Ani Kavafian, Daniel Stepner, and Cynthia Roberts; cellist Colin Carr, and harpsichordist Arthur Haas.

The 2023 Grand Prize includes $5000 and 5 paid performing engagements with some of the most prestigious baroque presenters in the country — including Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS), the Washington Bach Consort, Bach Choir of Bethlehem, and Amor Artis. The second prize winner will receive a prize of $1,000. Both prizewinners will also get the opportunity to perform in a joint concert hosted by the NYC-based Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS). This concert will be streamed live, and the recording will be made available to the performers for their personal use.

Recently named a 2023 Luminarts Classical Music Fellow, violinist Karisa Chiu has won accolades including first prize in the Isang Yun Violin Competition, fourth and composer prizes at the Menuhin Violin Competition, and second prize in the Leopold Mozart International Violin Competition, and third prize and Bach prize at the Stulberg International String Competition. Karisa is co-director of the Plymouth Chamber Players, a concert series in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

A Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel Artist-in-Residence, and Frankfurt Ensemble Modern Academy and London Contemporary soloists member, French violinist Emmanuel Coppey has collaborated with Rachel Podger, Alexei Ogrintchouk, Guy van Waas, and Christopher Warren-Green. He created the Paris Youth Music Society in 2021, which organizes concerts in schools, emergency centers, and retirement houses.

At 17 years old, violinist Youjin Lee won first prize in both the Stulberg International String Competition and the Irving M. Klein International String Competition. More recently she was awarded 1st prize and audience prizes at the Washington International String Competition. Youjin's recent solo performances include her recital debut in Hungary, Germany, Tokyo, and Nagoya, recitals across Korea, and her Bulgarian debut appearing with the Sofia Philharmonic under Maestro Maxim Eshkenazy

Georgian-born Giorgi Mardaleishvili is the recipient of the Second Place Award in the Otar Taktakishvili International Music Competition and is a frequent collaborator with the Georgian National Music Center and Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist and chamber ensemble member in various concerts and festivals throughout Europe. Currently, he is a Principal Violist of the Tsinandali Festival Symphony Orchestra.

In 2022, the competition was won by double bassist Nina Bernat, who was announced as one of the 2023 recipients of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and winner of the Concert Artists Guild's 2023 Victor Elmaleh Competition. She joins violinist Rachell Ellen Wong as a past Barbash competition winner who has gone on to win the Avery Fisher grant.

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of the competition, there will be a Gala Concert in NYC on December 1 that will include performances by past laureates, Rachell Ellen Wong, Lun Li, Tianyou Ma, and Nina Bernat. Tickets are now available to purchase.