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Brunswick Music Festival Announces New Fellowship for String Quartet

December 10, 2015

BRUNSWICK, ME — Bowdoin International Music Festival is pleased to announce a new String Quartet Fellowship for pre-formed string quartets in anticipation of our 2016 season. “There are more string quartets forming now than at any other time in history, and there is more music written for the string quartet than any other ensemble,” according to Artistic Co-Director David Ying, who adds, “I recently read that this isn’t the Golden Age of string quartets, but the Platinum. I’d have to agree.” David calls the string quartet, “one of the great chamber music ensembles.”

The String Quartet Fellowship will follow the format of our immensely popular Kaplan Fellowships, which were created in 2014 in celebration of the Festival’s 50^th anniversary season. The String Quartet program is geared to mature, accomplished players at the beginning of significant careers in music, with a focus on the study and performance of string quartet literature. The Fellows will have multiple years of experience playing and growing as an ensemble and will have developed into an incredibly polished quartet. Unlike other programs, where students are assigned to a single faculty studio, Fellows are considered “students of the Festival.” The Fellows collaborate with faculty to create an individualized program of significant training with artist instructors and chamber coaches. Fellows also have the unique opportunity to have featured performances in our concert series. The quartet will have significant exposure both within the Festival and throughout the community.

Our student concerts are at an all-time high in terms of quality and attendance. We anticipate the String Quartet Fellows will add polished performances of their own, as they will arrive as a pre-formed, cohesive ensemble. “We have great empathy for them, and they are on the cusp of doing important things,” David says. “We wanted to provide this opportunity for them to grow, develop, and learn.” And, in an effort to make this program accessible to all applicants, every Fellow is provided with room, board, and full tuition.

This summer the String Quartet Fellows will gather alongside the Kaplan Fellows on the Bowdoin College campus to study with the Festival’s renowned artist instructors, guest artists, soloists, and fellow pre-professional classical musicians from around the world. While here they will enjoy six weeks of intensive chamber music study, collaboration, and performances for our audiences in Brunswick, Maine and the surrounding region. The Fellows will work with a vast array of musicians from groups such as the Ying, Jupiter, Ariel, and Shanghai Quartets, the New York Philharmonic, and major conservatories like Eastman, Indiana, Juilliard, New England Conservatory, Peabody, and London’s Royal College. Together with Festival faculty, staff, and students, the Fellows will collaborate to present numerous concerts and public educational events throughout their six-week residency.

Artists interested in applying for the Festival’s pre-formed String Quartet Fellowship should apply through the Kaplan Fellowship section on the Festival’s website, bowdoinfestival.org.