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A FABULOUS experience!

-- Annie Fullard, Cavani String Quartet

Naumburg Chamber Music Award winner and Director of Chamber Music at the Peabody Institute.

Senior Level Competition Begins!

Four of the finest collegiate string quartets in the country will be competing for prizes and honors in Sundin Music Hall on the campus of Hamline University on Saturday. Experience this live online or in person.

Competition starts at 12:pm (Central)
Program Book link
Admission is Free!
Audience Vote is Important

A MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDER

Dear friends of chamber music, The music you will hear on April 26 is filled with great promise. From the first sounds that captivated the imagination of humanity to the exquisite playing you are hearing today, these fine young players are filling their hearts and minds with new ideas and a longer vision of possibilities. Guided by wisdom and trust in their elders, and accompanied by the love of their parents, teachers, and friends, I truly believe they love what they are doing.

The Saint Paul String Quartet Competition brings people together to celebrate beauty in the intimate environs of chamber music broadcast to the world. The Final Rounds of the competition showcase the best prepared and perhaps the most dedicated high school age string quartets currently in the country. These seven superb young quartets will share with us today some of the most beautiful music ever composed.

Today’s jury is the renowned Jerusalem Quartet. They will listen to and score each performance with detailed written comments in the following categories: Tone Quality, Intonation, Ensemble & Balance, and Musical Ideas.

The 2025 event begins with Joseph Haydn string quartet movements followed by a compulsory work by Israeli-American composer SHULAMIT RAN (pg.12) and closes with works from the Nationalist/Romantic and Modern Era. Each masterpiece will reveal the skill and level of preparation of these aspiring ensembles. It will also be a challenge for our esteemed jury as they search for today’s prizewinners.

2025 Senior Division Schedule

Our quartet won Gold & Grand prizes and the Lift Every Voice prize at the Fischoff!!! A huge, huge, thank you to you and all the other organizers of the Saint Paul String Quartet Competition. Without our experience in St. Paul, we absolutely couldn't have done this. We really appreciate all that you have done!!"

-- SPSQC Gold Medalist Poiesis Quartet

News from the Junior Division

We loved being able to take part in something so special and uplifting to student musicians.

-- SPSQC prizewinner

Seal Quartet Takes Top Honors at the 2025 Saint Paul String Quartet Competition (Junior Division)

SAINT PAUL, MN — April 12, 2025 — The 2025 Saint Paul String Quartet Competition (SPSQC) Junior Division, the nation’s premier event for high school string quartets, was held on Saturday, April 12. Selected from a competitive pool of applicants representing cities from Los Angeles to New York, seven exceptional high school ensembles advanced to the live competition, which featured three rounds adjudicated by the renowned Pacifica Quartet.

Each ensemble brought a unique voice to the stage, demonstrating remarkable preparation and artistry. The audience responded enthusiastically, casting 1,142 votes for the coveted Audience Prize.

Top honors went to the SEAL Quartet from the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts / Ed and Mari Edelman Chamber Music Institute in Los Angeles, who claimed both the Gold Medal and the Haydn Prize. The Caspian String Quartet, from the Music Institute of Chicago, earned Silver Medals and the BIPOC Prize, while the Porphyrion Quartet, also from the Music Institute of Chicago, received the Bronze Medal.

The Audience Prize was shared by the Lyra Quartet and Raemonia Quartet, both representing the Preparatory Program at the Community Music School at Webster University. Quartetto Speranza, from Midwest Young Artists, and Quartet Selene, from the Artaria Chamber Music School, were awarded Honorary Certificates for their performances in the BIPOC Round. Quartetto Speranza also received an Honorable Mention for their Final Round performance.

The Final Round jury for the 2025 SPSQC was the Pacifica Quartet. Selection jurors for the Junior Division included Christopher Costanza (St. Lawrence String Quartet), Korine Fujiwara (Carpe Diem Quartet), Ryan Meehan (Calidore String Quartet), and Rachel Shapiro (Aeolus Quartet).

I love SPSQC...it is truly a gem in our community... always amazing young string quartets

-- Laura Sewell. Cellist of the Lark Quartet & Artaria String Quartet. Bronze medal winner at the Banff International String Quartet Competition