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Following four semi-final rounds, three quartets have proceeded to the finals of the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC). The groups are:
Arete Quartet – Based in Seoul
Quartet KAIRI – Based in Salzburg
Poiesis Quartet – Based in Cincinnati
The three quartets will perform a programme of their choice, with a 45-minute limit, on Sunday 31 August at the Banff Centre’s Jenny Belzberg Theatre in Banff, Canada. The programme may not repeat any works they have performed so far in the competition and must include music by a minimum of three different composers.
The quartets are competiting for a first prize package comprising a CAD25,000 (£13,400) cash prize, a winner’s concert tour, a two-week residency at the Banff Centre including CD production, residencies at the Southern Methodist University and Esterházy Foundation and a two-week Chamber Music Residency at the Britten Pears Arts in England.
The second prize winner will take home CAD12,000 (£6,400), while third place will receive CAD8,000 (£4,300). Both will also be given a creative residency at the Banff Centre. All quartets not advancing to the finals will receive a Christine and David Anderson Prize of CAD5,000 (£2,700).
Special prizes include the R.S. Williams & Sons Haydn Prize, worth CAD4,000 (£2,100), for the best performance of Haydn in the first round, as well as the Canadian Commission World Premiere Prize, also worth CAD4,000, for the best performance of the commissioned quartet by Kati Agócs.
The 2025 competition jury comprises Eckart Runge, Marie Chilemme, Jonathan Crow, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, Honggang Li, Eugene Drucker and David Ying.
This is the 15th edition of the BISQC, which takes place every three years. Past winners include the Isidore Quartet (US, 2022); Marmen Quartet and Viano Quartet (2019); Rolston Quartet (2016); Dover Quartet (US, 2013); Cecilia Quartet (Canada, 2010); Tinalley Quartet (Australia, 2007); Jupiter Quartet (USA, 2004); Daedalus Quartet (US, 2001); Miró Quartet (US, 1998) and, St. Lawrence Quartet (Canada, 1992).