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 annual competition. The semifinal round begins at 10AM Pacific Sat June 6th and finals start at 3PM Pacific Sun June 7th. Both rounds will be available to stream via the Violin Channel as our eight semifinalists compete for cash prizes and performance contracts in front of a live audience and a jury of seven.

This year’s eight semifinalists were selected from the top teachers and conservatories globally from a record high of 150 entrants:

• Angela Yining Sun, cello, 21 (Canada). Attends New England Conservatory; studies with Lluís Claret.
• Dylan Hamme, violin, 23 (New Jersey). Attends the Juilliard School; studies with Catherine Cho.
• Elliot Sloss, cello, 22 (Canada). Attends Curtis Institute of Music; studies with Peter Wiley, Gary Hoffman, Nick Canellakis, Yumi Kendall, and Christine Lee.
• James Birch, violin, 19 (Australia). Attends the Juilliard School; studies with Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho.
• Jones Lau, viola, 19 (Hong Kong). Attends the Juilliard School; studies with Samuel Rhodes.
• Juyeon Diana Lee, violin, 22 (South Korea). Attends the Juilliard School; studies with Laurie Smukler.
• Rachael Kim, violin, 21 (South Korea). Attends the Colburn Conservatory of Music; studies with Robert Lipsett.
• Starla Breshears, cello, 18 (California). Attends the Colburn Academy; studies with Clive Greensmith.

Click here for the link to headshots and bios.

Violinist Alina Kobialka, 2016 Klein third prizewinner, is this year’s mentor and co-hosts with Klein Artistic Director Mitchell Sardou Klein.

The grand prize includes $5,000 cash, generously funded by Maria Shim, with performance contracts with the Peninsula and Santa Cruz Symphonies, Gualala Arts Chamber Series, Music in the Vineyards, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Buffalo Chamber Players, among others, and is valued at $18,000. The second prize is given generously by Ruth Short in memory of Elaine H. Klein of $3,500 cash and is valued at $5,500 with a performance with the San José Chamber Orchestra. A third prize of $2,500 is generously given in memory of Milton Preves by Judith and David Anderson. Two fourth prizes of $1,500 each are awarded, one given by Maria Klein in memory of Jerry Lee Klein and one given this year by the Tarka Quartet in memory of Ron Goldman. Each semifinalist not awarded a named prize will receive $1,000. Awards of $500 each are given for best performance of the commissioned work by Suzanne Sorkin, and of the solo Bach. New this year is the Jacqueline Du Pré award for the best performance of a sonata movement in the final round of the competition of $1,000 cash with a recital contract for the following season, generously given by William Byerley.

About the Composer 

Suzanne Sorkin’s music “spoke in emphatic oratorical terms” (New York Times) and its “darting lines unfolded alluringly” (New York Times). She enjoys working closely and collaboratively with performers to craft works that are virtuosic, personal, and deeply expressive.  She has received awards and commissions from the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University, Chamber Music America, Jasper Chamber Concerts, Chamber Music Quad Cities, Chamber Music Now, Violin Futura, Third Millennium Ensemble, counter)induction, American Composers Forum, ASCAP, Meet the Composer, and others.

Her compositions have been performed throughout the United States and abroad in a number of prominent festivals and concerts, including Music on the Edge, Piano Spheres (Los Angeles), Washington Square Contemporary Music Society, Mendelssohn-Gesellschaft Berlin, Denison University New Music Festival, Chamber Music Quad Cities, Florida State University Festival of New Music, and Vassar Modfest.  She has written for ensembles and soloists including Mannes Trio, Lang-Rainwater Project, Jasper String Quartet, andPlay, pianist Thomas Sauer, pianist Elizabeth Morgan, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Melomanie, Third Angle, and Aspen Contemporary Ensemble.  Residencies awarded to her include Millay Colony for the Arts, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Ragdale Foundation, Artists’ Enclave at I-Park, ART342, Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, and Atlantic Center for the Arts. 

She received her Ph.D. in music composition from the University of Chicago through the support of a four-year Century Fellowship in the Humanities.  Her principal composition teachers have included Shulamit Ran, Marta Ptaszynska, John Eaton, and Justin Dello Joio.

A passionate and dedicated educator, Suzanne Sorkin taught composition, music theory, and music history at Vassar College.  She is currently an Associate Professor of Music at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, where she teaches composition and music theory, co-directs the music industry program, and holds the Dirk Warren ‘50 Sesquicentennial Endowed Chair (Humanities and Performing Arts). 

The Jury Panel 

The jury will include professor of cello at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the University of Michigan, and the Juilliard School, Richard Aaron; professor of cello and chamber music at Stanford University, Christopher Costanza; music director of the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Jory Fankuchen; Two-time GRAMMY nominee and Avery Fisher career grant recipient violinist, Jennifer Frautschi, 2026 commissioned composer, Suzanne Sorkin; music director of the Santa Cruz Symphony, Daniel Stewart; and San Francisco Symphony Assistant Concertmaster and 2018 Klein Laureate, Wyatt Underhill.

The 2026 Klein Competition is supported in part by the Bill Graham Memorial Foundation, the McDonough Foundation, the Mervyn L. Brenner Foundation, the MOCA Foundation, the Morrison & Foerster Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts; and is presented at the San Francisco Conservatory of  Music in partnership with the Violin Channel.