22-year-old New York-based violinist Julia Schilz won the grand prize, which includes $5,000 cash, generously funded this year by the MOCA Foundation, with performance contracts with the Peninsula and Santa Cruz Symphonies, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Gualala Arts Chamber Series, Music in the Vineyards, among others, and is valued at $15,000.  21-year-old Chicago-based cellist Noam [...]

40th Irving M. Klein International String Competition Celebrating 40 years of nurturing and championing the world’s finest young  string players, the 40th Irving M. Klein International String Competition returns June 7-8 to the San Francisco  Conservatory of Music at Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall. The semifinal round begins at 10AM Pacific Sat June 7th and [...]

Meet the 2025 Semifinalists Celebrating 40 years of nurturing and championing the world’s finest young  string players, the 40th Irving M. Klein International String Competition returns June 7-8 to the San Francisco  Conservatory of Music at Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall. The semifinal round  begins at 10AM Pacific Sat June 7th and finals start at [...]

APPLICATIONS OPEN NOV 4th 2024For the 40th Annual Irving M. Klein International String CompetitionJune 7–8, 2025, San Francisco California (San Francisco CA) Applications open online November 4, 2024 for The Irving M. Klein International String Competition, produced by the California Music Center at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music June 7-8, 2025. The Klein [...]

Our 2025 JuryWe're so excited to host our 2025 - and 40th (!) - Irving M. Klein International String Competition. At the backbone of our weekend is our amazing slate of jury members, who are America’s premier composers, educators, performers, and conductors. This year, we are proud to announce our jury members:Barbara Day Turner, conductor [...]

We’re thrilled to announce our new performance partnership with Master Sinfonia Chamber Orchestra in our 2024-25 season. In October of 2024, Emad Zolfaghari, 2023 first prizewinner, will perform Hindemith’s Der Schwanendreher with MSCO. Tickets on MSCO’s website. Special thanks to the MSCO team and board, as well as our very own Marcy Straw, Zoe Lin, [...]

Some amazing things that our alumni have accomplished in just the first half of 2024! If you're an alumni with an exciting update, please email zoe@californiamusiccenter.org with your news! January 8, 2024: Alina Kobialka (2016 3rd place) receives tenure at the New York Philharmonic February 1, 2024: Zlatomir Fung (2014 1st place) joins faculty [...]

The Klein Competition is pleased to announce that it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $15,000. This grant will support the 2024 Competition. In total, the NEA will award 1,135 Grants for Arts Projects awards totaling more than $37 million as part of [...]

  The Klein Competition and San Francisco Chamber Orchestra Announce 2024-2025 Partnership (SAN FRANCISCO, APRIL 16, 2024) The Irving M. Klein International String Competition (“the Klein”), this year celebrating 39 years of nurturing the next generation of young artists, and the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra (“SFCO”), celebrating in 2024 70 years of bringing accessible and [...]