COMPETITION INFORMATION
DEADLINES
Early-bird registration ends Friday, December 3, 2021 at 11:59 PM CST.
Registration ends Friday, February 25, 2022 at 11:59 PM CST.
Divisions:
Community Ensembles will participate in our Community Ensembles Showcase Performance on March 27, 2022 and should register here. For more information visit our Community Ensembles page.
NEW THIS YEAR
- Our competition will be entirely online this year – be sure to plan ahead to create your recording! Visit our resources page for more.
- Our College Division is now open nationally!
- We’ve moved to the registration platform Acceptd. Participants should now register as an ensemble and will be able to submit their recordings, scores, group headshot, and group bio all at once. Email us with any questions!
- Ensembles are now defined as 2 – 6 performers.
- Ensembles are required to prepare at least one work by an underrepresented composer. Be sure to check the repertoire requirements for your ensemble’s division. Visit our resources page for research guidance and tools.
- TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR EARLY-BIRD RATES! Be sure to check your ensemble’s division page for more information.
NOLA Chamber Fest provides an outstanding platform for my students of varying ages to grow such skills as independence, deep listening, collaboration, and disciplined preparation. The chance to work in masterclass with world-renowned musicians is also invaluable. I’m very grateful this festival exists in New Orleans, and I see the potential for NCF to serve as a model and leader for fostering youth chamber music across the country.
I want to send a big thank you to NOLA Chamber Fest staff! The kids had terrific coaching sessions, and we are so thankful for these opportunities! for my son’s group, it was the perfect ‘first’ master class! we all appreciate the work you do for the music students in our community! Thank you, thank you!!
Guest Artist Judges
Catalyst Quartet
ENSEMBLE SIZE
Each entering chamber ensemble should consist of 2 – 6 performers, none of whom may be full time professional musicians.* If you have any questions about your ensemble’s eligibility, please do not hesitate to contact NCF Director Benjamin Atherholt at ben@lyricabaroque.com.
*A full time professional musician is considered someone who earns the majority of their income as a performing musician or music teacher. This does not apply to the Emerging Ensemble Division.
COMPETITION PREPARATION
Ensembles should receive a minimum of three coachings from a qualified professional coach prior to the competition, however we strongly encourage weekly coachings. Please email us if you have any questions or need help finding a coach.
DIVISION DETERMINATION
Division determination is made based on the oldest age of any member in an ensemble. For example, if three members of a quartet are enrolled in an undergraduate program and the fourth member is enrolled in a graduate program, the quartet should enter in the Graduate Division. Check our division pages for more specific information.
Ensembles entering in Junior, High School, College, and Graduate divisions may not have a faculty or staff member as part of their ensemble.
Divisions:
All registration fees are nonrefundable. Please email us with any questions or concerns regarding the registration fee. NOLA Chamber Fest will do its best to assist you with any concerns regarding financial needs.
COMPETITION RESULTS
Results TBA March 18, 2022
Sheryl-Amber Edmondson
Ashley Mills, Development Coordinator
Marina Lomazov
Randy C. Gardner is Professor Emeritus from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where he was Professor of Horn and Chair of the Winds, Brass, and Percussion Department. During his tenure, he was honored to receive the University of Cincinnati Award for Faculty Excellence and CCM’s Ernest N. Glover Outstanding Teacher Award. Recently retired from CCM, Gardner is an adjunct Artist-In-Residence at Temple University. A successful and dedicated teacher, his students occupy performing and teaching positions throughout the US and abroad.
Peter Stumpf is professor of cello at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Prior to his appointment, he was the principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 9 years following a 12 year tenure as Associate Principal Cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. At the age of 16, he began his professional career, winning a position in the cello section of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. He received a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and an artist’s diploma from the New England Conservatory of Music.
Dr. Charles Taylor is Professor of Music and Director of the School of the Arts. Dr. Taylor holds the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in Music Education and Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He studied conducting with Rodney Winther and Terence Milligan and clarinet with Carmine Campione and Emil Schmactenberg. Prior to his appointment at the University of New Orleans, Dr. Taylor taught middle school and high school instrumental music in Ohio. Dr. Taylor also serves as the conductor of the New Orleans Concert Band and the New Orleans Civic Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Taylor has been a guest conductor throughout the United States and Canada and a guest clinician at the MidWest Clinic, the International Conference of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, the Southern Division Conference of the College Band Directors National Association, and the Louisiana Music Educators Association. Under his direction, the New Orleans Concert Band performed at the National Convention of the Association of Concert Bands in Houston, Texas and the University of New Orleans Wind Ensemble performed at the Louisiana Music Educators Association State Conference. As an advocate for new music, Dr. Taylor has premiered over 50 works in various media and has worked collaboratively with many composers and performers, including Michael Torke, Steven Bryant, John Mackey, James Syler, Lisa Kaplan, Brad Garner, Mark Babbitt, and Helen Kim. At UNO, Dr. Taylor teaches graduate and undergraduate theory and conducting; he additionally serves as the conductor of the New Orleans Civic Symphony Orchestra, the New Orleans Concert Band, and several new ensembles. He has presented sessions at the Mid-West Clinic, Southern Division Conference of the College Band Directors National Association, and the Louisiana Music Education Association. Under his direction, the New Orleans Concert Band performed at the National Convention of the Association of Concert bands in Houston, Texas. He has served as guest conductor for ensembles in Louisiana, Ohio, Michigan, and New York. During the 2010-11 year, Dr. Taylor also served as Visiting Associate Professor at Louisiana State University, where he conducted the Wind Ensemble.
Cathy Richardson, violinist, violist, and Baroque violinist, is an experienced performer and teacher, holding degrees in Music Education and Music Performance from the University of North Texas. Currently serving her twenty first year as Instructor of Violin and Viola and String Methods at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, she also serves as Instructor of Upper Strings and Music Appreciation at Mountain View College and Cedar Valley College in the Dallas Community College District, Instructor of Violin and Viola at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, and Instructor of Violin and Viola at Grayson College. Ms. Richardson’s chamber music experience includes performances with the Galliard String Quartet, the Grand Avenue Trio, the New Millenium Quartet, and the Knoxville Symphony String Quartet. A past member of the Dallas Opera Orchestra, the Fort Worth Opera Orchestra and the Knoxville Symphony, Ms. Richardson has also served as Concertmaster of the Sherman Symphony Orchestra and the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra in Texas and the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra in Tennessee. A frequent adjudicator in the North Texas area, Ms. Richardson most recently served on the panels for the Plano Symphony Young Artist Competition and the New Texas Symphony Orchestra Fourth Annual Concerto and Aria Competition.
LEONE BUYSE
Jack Peña, bassoon, is currently the Principal Bassoon of the Louisiana Philharmonic in New Orleans. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Jack began his playing the bassoon at age fourteen. Since then, he has appeared as guest Associate Principal with the Toronto Symphony and performed with the Milwaukee Symphony and Los Angeles Opera. In 2013, The New York Times hailed him for his “deft solo work” in performances at Carnegie Hall with the New York String Orchestra Seminar.
Jeanne Jaubert moved to New Orleans in 1998 to join the Louisiana Philharmonic, and she is an active solo and chamber music performer. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Rice University and both Masters and Doctoral degrees from Rutgers University, where she studied with the renowned soloist Zara Nelsova. Jeanne is a sought after teacher and has maintained a thriving private studio everywhere she has lived. Her other lifelong passion has been dance and she was (she is mostly retired now) lucky to pursue that seriously for many years alongside her musical work. She garnered many accolades in this area including the Louisiana Division of the Arts Artist Fellowship in choreography.
Robert Lyall is widely known as a conductor of opera, symphony, ballet, and musical theater and as a creative Artistic Director and producer. Named General and Artistic Director of New Orleans Opera in 1998, he has also served as General Director and as Artistic Director of Opera Grand Rapids in Michigan from 1989 to 2015. Mr. Lyall has been frequently recognized for artistic excellence in these and other positions he has held: Music Director of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra and the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra, General Director of the Knoxville Opera, and Artistic Director of the Mississippi Opera. In addition, Mr. Lyall served as one of the International Guest Conductors of the Istanbul State Opera in Turkey from 1998-2001.
New Orleans trombonist Matthew Wright is a performer, composer, and pedagogue. Matthew has played all over the world in orchestras, big bands, and chamber ensembles. He has recorded with Bela Fleck and was in the first horn section to play with the band Cake. He was a soloist with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, but he was dressed as Santa Claus at the time. He has played in orchestras backing James Moody, Andy Williams, Yo Yo Ma, Randy Newman, and Placido Domingo. As a composer, Matthew has written and arranged many pieces for his own solo recitals as well as for his group, Versipel New Music. Currently, he holds positions with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and teaches at Loyola University, the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, and the University of New Orleans. His primary teachers include Jeannie Little, Matthew Vaughn, Per Brevig, Steve Norrell, and Scott Hartman.
Amelia Clingman graduated from UMass Amherst with a BM in violin performance, and in 2008 she completed her Master’s degree in viola performance at the New England Conservatory. She has attended the Killington, Musicorda, Heifetz, and Kneisel Hall music festivals, and served as a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center from 2007-2009. During her time in Boston, she performed with various groups including the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and as a substitute with the New World Symphony. In 2014, she was named a Quarterfinalist in the 14th Primrose International Viola Competition. During the summer, Amelia is Principal Viola at the Britt Festival in Jacksonville, Oregon.
Stephen Orejudos has been a member of the Louisiana Philharmonic since 2012. Previous to joining the LPO, Mr. Orejudos had been Principal Trumpet of the Southwest Michigan Symphony and 2nd /Acting Principal Trumpet of the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra. Mr. Orejudos has performed as guest trumpet with the Northwest Indiana Symphony, Illinois Symphony, Green Bay Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Wichita Symphony and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras, and currently serves as Principal Trumpet with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared as a soloist with the Southwest Michigan Symphony, South Bend Symphony, Michigan City Music Festival, New Philharmonic and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestras.