The Semi-finalists for the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition have been announced. The five string quartets who will compete today in the Semi-Finals are the Callisto Quartet, the Eliot Quartett, the Gildas Quartet, the Goldmund Quartett and the Idomeneo Quartet, while the five piano trios are the Amatis Piano Trio, the Clarendon Trio, the Mosa Trio, Trio Gaon, and Trio Marvin. The Semi-Finals today and the Grand Finals on Sunday will be broadcast live on ABC Classic FM.

Melbourne’s Clarendon Trio. Photo © Mike Keating

“We have enjoyed many thrilling and very different performances from an extremely accomplished field of competitors,” said MICMC Artistic Director Wilma Smith. “A personal highlight was the works by Australian composers Holly Harrison and Paul Stanhope, who were in the hall to hear these world premieres.”

The MICMC jurors, who will decide who goes on the Grand Finals and, ultimately, takes home the top prizes, are Sonia Simmenauer, Ian Munro, Simin Ganatra, Gerhard Schulz, Yura Lee, Alasdair Tait and Kyril Zlotnikov.

“The jurors have their work cut out for them,” Smith said. “They must each decide how they wish to judge the groups since the system requires...