18-year-old San Francisco-based cellist Starla Breshears won the grand prize, which includes $5,000 cash, generously funded this year by Maria Shim, with performance contracts with the Peninsula and Santa Cruz Symphonies, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Gualala Arts Chamber Series, Music in the Vineyards, Buffalo Chamber Players, Musical Masterworks, among others, and is valued at [...]
41st Irving M. Klein International String Competition Celebrating 41 years of nurturing and championing the world’s finest young string players, the 41st Irving M. Klein International String Competition returns June 6-7 to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music at Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall. The semifinal round begins at 10AM Pacific Sat June 6th [...]
Meet the 2026 Semifinalists RSVP to the semifinals on June 6 at 10am here and RSVP to the finals on June 7 at 3pm here. Celebrating 40 years of nurturing and championing the world’s finest young string players, we're returning to Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music for our 41st [...]
We’re thrilled to announce two (!) new additions to the 2026-27 season: Jacqueline du Pré Prize for Best Performance of a Sonata Starting at the 2026 competition, we are pleased to add the Prize for Best Performance of a Sonata, which our jury will award to one of our finalists, in honor of the [...]
We’re thrilled to announce our new performance partnership with Musical Masterworks, led by artistic director and 2008 Klein First Prizewinner, Tessa Lark, in the 2025-26 season. In April of 2026, Julia Schilz, 2025 first prizewinner, will perform in Old Lyme, Connecticut. Tickets on Musical Masterworks' website and our joint press release can be found here.
Some amazing feats that our alumni have accomplished in the 2024-25 season: If you’re an alumni with an exciting update, please email zoe@californiamusiccenter.org with your news. Jeremy Tai, cello (2017 1st Place) - joined the Baltimore Symphony cello section Emad Zolfaghari, viola (2023 1st Place) - won third place at the Tokyo International Viola Competition [...]
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 [...]
