String Quartet Apprenticeship

The String Quartet Apprenticeship program invites young professional musicians to be in residence with Classical Tahoe. This year, Classical Tahoe is pleased to welcome Distortion Quartet.

Musicians at the beginning of their professional careers, such as these 4 – all of whom graduated from top music institutions, can bring a wealth of information to young musicians in a community setting; answering questions about what it is like to study in a conservatory, what to expect in the business of classical music, and other questions that students just learning to play an instrument might have.  With an eye to the future of developing orchestral musicians, this program also benefits the ensemble musicians themselves, as it gives them a chance to play side-by-side with musicians who have top positions in the nation’s prestigious orchestras.

In the 2019 season, the quartet will be mentored by Désirée Elsevier (viola) and Brian Krinke (violin).

  • Application deadline: March 1
  • Application Fee: $50
  • Dates: July 23- August 10, 2019
  • Award
    • One student group will be chosen to participate in our String Quartet Apprenticeship program. For three weeks, the quartet will receive coaching from distinguished artist-faculty, culminating in their own mainstage concert. The quartet members will also have the oppportunity to play side-by-side
      with the professional orchestra in one concert each week. They will receive free housing and a meal subsidy. Quartet apprentices will have time to focus intensively on their work together in an idyllic mountain setting, guided and inspired by accomplished artists.
  • Audition Repertoire
    • One movement of a quartet by Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven, and  one movement of a quartet by another composer.
  • Rules of application
    • Applicants must submit an unedited video of the two required movements by March 1. Accompanying your audition video, please send an email indicating: Names, ages and instruments of quartet members, your educational institution(s) and years in school (undergraduate or graduate school), how long have you played together, and anything else you care to share with us about your group and your goals in chamber music.
  • Program
    • Prepare two complete works for public performance on the final weekend of the festival 
    • Work with top professionals side-by-side for one orchestra concert each week
    • Opportunities for community outreach/small pop-up concerts

Classical Tahoe gratefully acknowledges the generous grant of the M.E.G Memorial Fund for Creative Arts in assisting Classical Tahoe in fulfilling its mission to inspire active participation in the arts and foster community engagement and enrichment through a multi-generational Music Institute.