Sixteen of the world’s top young chamber ensembles have been handpicked to battle it out in July at the eighth Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. Held every four years, the competition is open to string quartets and piano trios from around the world whose members are under the age of 35. Regarded as an international launching pad for chamber musicians, the ensembles compete for prize money of over $150,000 over an intense week of heats and semi-finals. The MICMC is here presented for the first time by Musica Viva Australia in partnership with Melbourne Recital Centre and the Australian National Academy of Music.

The Noga Quartet, who were grand winners in 2015. Photo courtesy of Musica Viva

“There are several points of peak excitement during the build-up to MICMC, but surely the most exciting milestone is the selection of the live competitors themselves,” said Wilma Smith, Artistic Director of the competition. “For the first time, applications were made totally online, including videos of the required repertoire. For the panel of three preliminary adjudicators, Zoe Knighton (Flinders Quartet), Timothy Young (Ensemble Liaison, ANAM) and myself, the quality and diversity of entries made it extremely difficult to...