Schedule Set for Third International Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition

EASTON, MD. – Five young (average age under 31) chamber groups will perform at the Avalon Theatre March 29 in a concert/competition for a $10,000 Gold Medal, a $5,000 Silver Medal and other prizes and additional bookings.  The five finalists, selected from 56 entries from the U.S. and Europe, each will perform a 45-minute program before a panel of three distinguished musical judges.

 The 3^rd International Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition begins at 1:00 p.m. with three appearances before a dinner break. Two more groups will perform at 6:45 p.m. and awards will be announced at an open reception at 9:00 p.m. The event is open to the public for a $5 all-day ticket (bought at the door) and students will be admitted free. No reservations are needed. Ticket holders may leave and re-enter at any time between performances

 Sponsored by the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival, the Competition began in 2004 with a victory for the crowd-pleasing Exit Nine, a percussion ensemble from New Jersey.  The success of the premier event brought more than 50 entries from 16 states and 5 European countries in 2006. The David Trio from Italy won both the $10,000 Grand and Audience Choice prizes. The 2008 Gold Medal winner returns in June to perform at the Festival which is June 1-15.

Each of these finalists is already a prize-winning group and the judges are promising a day of “dazzling musical excellence, combined with charm and enthusiasm.”  The finalists and their performance times are:

• 1:15 p.m:          N-E-W Trio, New York (violin, cello, piano)

• 2:30 p.m.          ViM Saxophone Quartet, Washington, D.C.

• 3:45 p.m.          Credo Quartet, Russia (violin, viola, cello, piano)

• 4:45-6:45 p.m. Dinner Break.

• 6:45 p.m.          Gracieux Trio, New York (violin, cello, piano)

• 8:00 p.m.          Attacca Quartet, New York (2 violins, viola, cello)

• 9:00 p.m.          Open Reception and Announcement of Winners.

 Judges for the Competition are David Krakauer, internationally acclaimed clarinetist, also a master at klezmer music (traditional eastern European Jewish folk music), jazz, and avant-garde improvisation; Lydia Artymiw, pianist, who has appeared with more than one hundred orchestras throughout the U.S., Europe and the Far East; and Marcy Rosen, renowned cellist and founding member of the Mendelssohn String Quartet; also co-artistic director of the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival.

 The finalists also appear in two free concerts on Sunday, March 30:

• Attacca Quartet, Emmanuel Church, Cross and High Sts., Chestertown, 3 p.m., free

• N-E-W Trio, St Mark’s United Methodist Church, 100 Peachblossom Road, Easton, 3 p.m., free.

For further information see www.chambermusiccompetition.org or call 410-819-0380.

For Festival information view www.musicontheshore.org

Contact: Don Buxton 410-819-0380 or Patricia Barbis 410-745-2312
 

Rev.: March 17, 2008
 

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