The triennial Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition (formerly The London International String Quartet Competition) has been held under the auspices of Wigmore Hall since July 2010. Embracing the entire string quartet tradition, it requires contestants to perform Classical, Romantic and contemporary repertoire.

History

The competition originated as the

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

International String Quartet Competition in 1979, and was the first recurrent international string quartet competition in the world, following similar lines to competitions such as the

Leeds International Piano Competition The Leeds International Piano Competition, informally known as The Leeds and formerly the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, takes place every three years in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1961 by Marion, Countess ...

and

Tchaikovsky International Competition The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of ...

for individual instrumentalists. The fourth competition in 1988 was held in London and became the London International String Quartet Competition until 2010, when the Wigmore Hall took over the organisation. The first winners were the Takacs Quartet, followed by the

Hagen Quartet The Hagen Quartet is an Austrian string quartet founded in 1981 by four siblings, Lukas, Angelika (first replaced by Annette Bik, who was then replaced by Rainer Schmidt in 1987), Veronika and Clemens, in Salzburg. The quartet members are teach ...

in 1982 and the

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in 1985. These, and most other winners, have gone on to successful international performing careers. Other similar competitions have since begun, such as the

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and others in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Competition details

Currently, of the string quartets from around the world who submit entries, twelve are selected to take part in the competition. All members of the quartets must be under the age of 35. After playing

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

, a 20th-century work and a fixed competition piece before audiences over a period of several days, six semi-finalists are selected, and each play a

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

quartet. Three finalists are then selected and play a quartet from a selected list from the Romantic era. In some years, including 2022, the Romantic era quartet is played in the semi-final and the Beethoven in the final. 2022 competition.
/ref> Each year the winning ensemble receives a cash prize and a three-year career development programme, including a recording session and a UK performance tour. There are also cash prizes for second and third place and smaller specific prizes.

References

{{authority control String quartets Music competitions in the United Kingdom