VC LIVE | 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition - Candidate Announcement

Tune in at 4 PM (ET) to witness the announcement of this year's competing string quartets

We’re coming to you live from the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Banff, Alberta, Canada for a special event announcing the string quartets who will be competing in the 15th edition of the Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC).

Established in 1983 as part of Banff Centre’s 50th anniversary, BISQC is held once every three years. Directed by Barry Shiffman, this year's competition offers over $500,000 CAD in cash, prizes, and career development opportunities which include touring, a recording residency, the Southern Methodist University Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence Prize of a paid residency worth $110,000 CAD, an Esterházy Foundation Residency with concerts at Haydn Hall in Eisenstadt and the Lucerne Festival, and an opportunity for a two-week Chamber Music in Residency at the prestigious Britten Pears Arts in England.

The jury in the live rounds comprises of Eckart Runge (Artemis Quartet), Marie Chilemme (Quatuor Cavatine/Quatuor Ebène), Jonathan Crow (New Orford String Quartet), Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt (Dover Quartet), Honggang Li (Shanghai Quartet), Eugene Drucker (Emerson String Quartet), David Ying (Ying Quartet).