CAVATINA Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition Announces Participants

Held at London's Wigmore Hall, the competition will feature six ensembles from conservatories across the UK

Originally endowed in 1961, the Gerard Heller Memorial Quartet Fund and Rosemary Rapaport founded the competition in memory of her husband Gerard Heller.

An amateur pianist, Gerard had a passion for chamber music, particularly string quartets, and often hosted many concerts in his home — including the Griller Quartet's first performance in Manchester. Rosemary was a violinist who studied and subsequently taught at the Royal Academy of Music. In 1962, along with her friend Irene Foster, she established the Purcell School.

In 2012, the competition was given a fresh endowment by CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust. String quartets now alternate annually with piano trios to compete for the prizes. The competition was dedicated to one of CAVATINA's two founders, Pamela Majaro, who sadly died in February 2016.

This year's edition will be adjudicated by Robert Max, cellist of the Barbican Trio.

Each ensemble, chosen from conservatories across the UK will perform Beethoven’s String Quartet in B flat Op. 18 No. 6 to an audience at London's Wigmore Hall.

The ensembles include:

• Meraki Quartet from Royal Academy of Music
• Fortuna Quartet from Royal College of Music
• Fibonacci Quartet from Guildhall School of Music and Drama
• Hirvi Quartet from Trinity Laban
• Bevan Quartet from Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
• Treske Quartet from Royal Northern College of Music

To buy tickets to the event, click here. Tickets are free to those 25 and under.