Results of Friends of Chamber Music’s 71st annual Young Musicians Competition & free public concert
Friends of Chamber Music are pleased to announce the results of our 71st annual Young Musicians Competition (“YMC”), a free public concert held on Sunday, March 29, 2026, at Koerner Hall, Vancouver Academy of Music.
This event is a showcase and competition for talented groups of music students performing diverse chamber works. Each group of three or more musicians played ten minutes of music in a free public concert with our adjudicator also there. The groups are divided by age into Junior (up to age 18) and Senior (up to age 26) categories. Our aim for the YMC is to encourage young musicians each to gain appreciation for – and familiarity with – the collaborative process and technical skills needed to play great chamber music. We hope this begins a lifelong relationship for each of them with this fascinating musical genre.
This year, our adjudicator was David Gordon Duke, a musicologist who teaches at Vancouver Community College’s School of Music. He is also the classical music critic for The Vancouver Sun and a regular contributor to Classical Voice North America, the on-line journal of the Music Critics Association of North America. He has coached chamber music at the University of North Carolina and at UBC. David has told us that he learned almost everything he knows about chamber music from attending Friends of Chamber Music concerts for decades.
Once all the competing YMC groups had performed, David awarded prizes and gave his performance notes to the musicians. In addition, audience members voted for one Junior group and one Senior group to receive audience prizes (donated by a Friends board member), separate from those awarded by the adjudicator.
Friends of Chamber Music thanks David Gordon Duke as well as all the student musicians, coaches and teachers, families, VAM staff, our dedicated volunteers, and audience members for supporting the 2026 YMC.
The YMC results, decided by the adjudicator, along with the audience prizes, are listed below:
JUNIOR CATEGORY (up to age 18 years)
First Prize (Tie)
Peak Quintet: Michiyo Yu, violin; Hyden Ho, violin; Irene Lim, viola; Valery Lou, viola; Charles Lim, cello.
Music: Dvořák: String Quintet No. 3 in E-flat Major, Opus 97 (1st movement)
Trio Élégiaque: Julian Yoon, violin; Jeeho Park, cello; Skyler Tran, piano.
Music: Rachmaninoff: Piano Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G Minor
Audience Prize
Pi Trio: Adam Chi An Ngui, violin; Qiuzi Nini Lu, cello; Allen Run Qi Ding, piano.
Music: Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, Opus 8 (1st movement)
Additional Participants
Nicolenco Trio: Alina Nicolenco, violin; Elise Nicolenco, viola; Lukas Nicolenco, cello.
Music: Amani: String Trio in D Minor, Opus 1 (1st movement)
SENIOR CATEGORY (up to age 26 years)
First Prize & Audience Prize
King Rosie: Kira Gill, violin; Tamsyn Klazek-Schryer, violin; Andrew Loe, viola; Gabi Haslett, cello.
Music: Grieg: String Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Opus 27 (1st movement)
Second Prize
Take Four: Marina Hoffman, violin; Shea Zawadiuk, violin; Ellie Hu, viola; David Zhen, cello.
Music: Ravel: String Quartet in F Major (1st movement)
Additional Participants
Mendelssohn Trio: Sarah Carey, clarinet; Carlos Santos, clarinet; Anna Medwenitsch, piano.
Music: Mendelssohn: Konzertstück No. 2 in F Major, Opus 114
The Schutets: Freddy Chen, violin; Aaron Peng, viola; Hourod Rakhshanfar, cello; Gustav He, piano.
Music: Schumann: Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 47 (3rd movement)
Congratulations to all participants on their exceptional performances!
