Classical Music News

Candidates Announced at Concours de Genève String Quartet Competition 2023

May 10, 2023

3 MIN READ

The string quartet edition of the 77th Concours de Genève will take place from October 23 - November 4, 2023, in Geneva, Switzerland

Founded in 1939, Concours de Genève is one of the world’s leading international music competitions. It aims at discovering, promoting, and supporting young talented artists, giving them the necessary tools to launch an international career. Several main disciplines rotate annually, including piano, flute, oboe, clarinet, cello, viola, string quartet, voice, percussion, and composition, which is held every second year.

The string quartet edition of the 77th Concours de Genève will take place from October 23 - November 4, 2023, in Geneva, Switzerland.

As the official media and broadcast partner, all rounds of this year's string quartet competition will be streamed on The Violin Channel and be available for playback.

Fifteen String Quartets have been selected for the 77th Concours de Genève:

ALBERO QUARTET, Korea
ANIMATO QUARTET, Netherlands
ARETE QUARTET, Korea
AST QUARTET, Korea
ATENEA QUARTET, Spain
ELAIA QUARTETT, Germany
QUATUOR ELMIRE, France
QUARTETTO EOS, Italy
QUARTETT HANA, Germany
KANDINSKY QUARTET, Austria
QUATUOR MAGENTA, France
MODULOR QUARTET, Switzerland
MOSER STRING QUARTET, Switzerland
NOVO QUARTET, Sweden
QUATUOR WASSILY, France

The String Quartet jury will comprise Corina Belcea (Chair), Stefan Fehlandt, Nobuko Imai, Gabriel Le Magadure, Christian Poltéra, Vineta Sareika, and Lydia Shelley.

The first prize will receive CHF 20,000, second prize CHF 12,000, and third prize: CHF 8,000. Additional awards will be given out, such as the Audience Prize, Young Audience Prize, and Students Prize.

The competition also offers career development to its laureates, who will benefit from two years of management from the Sartory Artists agency. During the two years following their prize, laureates are offered an international concert tour and can participate in the Concours de Genève offers a Prizewinners Workshop — highlighting different subjects such as performance, health, career management, image, and social media.

The first part of the competition will be held online. Selected string quartets will have until July 10 to submit their videos for the Online Recital, which will be live-streamed from September 18-20.

The public Semi-Final will be held in Geneva from 24-28 October 24-28 and will take place in three stages: a 90-minute recital which must include one of Bartok’s quartets, followed by a 75-minute recital which must include one of Beethoven’s quartets, as well as a contemporary piece.

Additionally, each semi-finalist will have to present and defend a personal artistic project, which the Concours de Genève will then contribute towards realizing as part of the Prizewinners’ Career Development Programme. A new feature of the Competition since 2022, this third stage seeks to provide further insight into candidates’ artistic personalities.

The Final Round will be held on October 29 at Geneva’s prestigious Victoria Hall and will be followed by the prize-giving ceremony.

The last string quartet edition of the competition was held in 2016, awarding the Vision String Quartet, Quatuor Hanson, and the Abel Quartet as first, second, and third prize winners respectively.