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The Concert Artists Guild (CAG) has announced the winners of its Louis and Susan Meisel Competition, following its final round at the DiMenna Center in New York, US. This year’s string winners comprised violinist Brazilian violinist Nathan Amaral, US/Canadian cellist Leland Ko, and the Cincinnati-based Poiesis Quartet, which comprises violinists Sarah Ma and Max Ball, violist Jasper de Boor, and cellist Drew Dansby. Other string finalists included the Dolphins Quartet, the Warren and Flick string duo, and cellist Amelia Zitoun.
The winners receive management contracts with CAG, joint international representation with the London-based Young Classical Artists Trust, a New York showcase performance, professional career development and coaching, and access to CAG’s Citizen Musician Bootcamp.
The 2024 competition marked the start of a partnership with the Sphinx Organization, as CAG commits to reserving one place in the final round for an artist affiliated with the Sphinx Organization. As the winner of the 2024 Sphinx Competition senior division, Amaral was selected as the first representative of this new collaboration.
This year’s jury comprised Kathleen Gerety, John Glover, Earl Lee, Tim Mar, Jessica Phillips, Tanya Bannister, Katie Backus, and Alasdair Tait.
In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.
The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.
American collector David L. Fulton amassed one of the 20th century’s finest collections of stringed instruments. This year’s calendar pays tribute to some of these priceless treasures, including Yehudi Menuhin’s celebrated ‘Lord Wilton’ Guarneri, the Carlo Bergonzi once played by Fritz Kreisler, and four instruments by Antonio Stradivari.
