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15th Banff International String Quartet Competition

All competition rounds were livestreamed on our Facebook page, The Violin Channel, and on Vimeo.

You can now view all performances on our Youtube channel, listed below by round, and by string quartet. 

BISQC 2025: Finals Round

 

 

Competition Concerts 

Sorted by round:

Round 1: 21st Century Haydn

Quartets perform a complete work by Franz Joseph Haydn, as well as a complete quartet written on or after January 1, 2000. 

Round 2: Romantic

Quartets perform a complete quartet from the romantic or nationalist repertoire of the 19th century. 

Round 3: Kati Agócs World Premiere

Quartets perform a new quartet of approximately 9 minutes in length, Rapprochement by Canadian composer Kati Agócs.

Round 4: Beethoven/Schubert + 20th Century Round

Quartets perform the first movement of a specific Beethoven or Schubert work, plus a complete work from the 20th century from a list defined in the BISQC rules. 

Round 5: Finals 

During the Final Round, three quartets take the stage to perform a creatively curated 45 minute program of music.

 

Sorted by quartet, in alphabetical order:

Arete Quartet

Cong Quartet

Quatuor Elmire

Quartett HANA

Quartet KAIRI

Quatuor Magenta

Nerida Quartet

Poiesis Quartet

Viatores Quartet

Lectures:

Training Young Quartets
Mentor-in-Residence Mark Steinberg in conversation with director Barry Shiffman and select BISQC jury members. 

Adrian Anantawan
Violinist, educator, and disability advocate Adrian Ananatawan, who was born missing his right hand, shares the lessons he learned along the way of how to create inclusive practices at the intersections of music performance, education, and disability, with the goal of lifting the ceiling of human potential for all. 

Kati Agócs
Composer of the Canadian Commissioned work Rapprochement in discussion with director Barry Shiffman.

Denis Brott
The life and legacy of Russian-born American cellist Gregor Piatigorsky is examined by Canadian cellist and educator Denis Brott. 
 

Lecture series generously supported by Ernie and Sandra Green. 

Past Competitions