2012 SFCM Youth Chamber Music Competition

The Syracuse Friends of Chamber Music is pleased to announce its 13th annual SFCM Youth Chamber Music Competition, which will take place on Tuesday, April 3, 2012 from 7:00-10:00 PM.

Each year student ensembles from Central New York audition in hopes of being selected to perform at the beginning of one of Syracuse Friends of Chamber Music's subscription concerts. This year the winning ensemble will perform on Saturday, April 21, 2012, preceding the world-renowned Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Piano Trio. Download this PDF for complete information and application form.

Winners of the 2011 SFCM Youth Chamber Music Competition

The 2011 competition was held at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Syracuse on Tuesday evening, March 1, 2011. Syracuse Symphony Orchestra Music Director Daniel Hege and SSO violinist Sara Mastrangelo graciously served as judges for the competition. The four students of the winning ensemble were Gregory Rosenthal, cello and piano; Hani Shayya, cello; Elliot Tan, cello; and Yeonji Choi, cello. All attend Fayetteville-Manlius High School and study cello privately with the group's coach, Einar Holm, who lives in Ithaca. The winning ensemble played Ernst Bacon's Salute to Casey Jones ("Railroadin' Man") for four cellos, and David Popper's Requiem, Op.66 for three cellos and piano. They then admirably performed these pieces at the beginning of our March 12 subscription concert, which featured the Ames Piano Quartet.

The Winning Ensemble

From left to right: Yeonji Choi, Gregory Rosenthal, Hani Shayya, and Elliot Tan.

Front row: From left to right the students are Gregory Rosenthal (who played piano in the Popper's Requiem), Hani Shayya, Elliot Tan and Yeonji Choi. Back row: Daniel Hege, Sara Mastrangelo, and Einar Holm.

The runner-up ensemble, from West Genesee High School, played at the competition two movements from Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Quintet Op. 57. Their names and that of their coach are listed under the photograph below.

The Runner-Up Ensemble

The students are, from left to right: Kendall Carrier, Joshua Corcoran, Courtnee Cesta, Brian Savage, and Mary Kate Menges, with their coach Bill Mercer.