Concert Artists Guild Announces 2023 Victor Elmaleh Competition Semi-Finalists

The annual audition is open to outstanding young instrumental soloists and ensembles of any nationality, who do not currently have management representation

The Concert Artists Guild (CAG) recently named the semi-finalists for the 2023 edition of its Victor Elmaleh Competition. Since commencing over 70 years ago, CAG has helped launch the international careers of over 500 young musicians, including violinists Jennifer Joh, Joseph Lin, Eugene Drucker, and VC Artists Inmo Yang, Yoojing Jang, Geneva Lewis and Alexi Kenney, and groundbreaking ensembles including the Imani Winds, Sybarite 5, Eighth Blackbird, the Pacifica and Parker String Quartets and the VC Artist Verona Quartet.

This year's Grand Prize winners will receive international management in the Americas and Europe jointly with CAG and Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) in London, performances at Merkin Hall in New York and Wigmore Hall in London, and the opportunity to participate in the organization's Citizen Musician Bootcamp.

All other winners will receive North American management with CAG, a New York debut performance, and participation in Citizen Musician Bootcamp. For a look at all additional prizes, click here.

"We were so inspired by all the talented musicians who applied this year and are excited to share with you the 31 soloists and 8 ensembles that will continue through to the virtual semifinal round,"  CAG writes. "Thank you to everyone who applied to this year’s competition!"

The 31 soloists and 8 ensembles who have been selected as semifinalists are as follows:

The 2023 jury includes Kazem Abdullah, Jenny Bilfield, Adriaan Fuchs, John Glover, Shirley Kirshbaum, Gaetan Le Divelec, Anne Akiko Meyers, and Conrad Tao.

The winners of the 2022 competition were soprano Magdalena Kuźma, the Galvin Cello Quartet, bassoonist Eleni Katz, clarinetist Jonathan Leibovitz, and pianist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner.