Manchester String Quartet Competitors

Uniquely groundbreaking and exhilarating to watch and hear, the London Philharmonic Orchestra has been celebrated as one of the world’s great orchestras since Sir Thomas Beecham founded it in 1932. Our mission is to create unrivalled orchestral experiences on stage and cultivate human connections beyond it, which we accomplish through live performances, online, and an extensive education and community programme, cementing our position as a leading orchestra for the 21st century. Our home is at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, where we’re at the beating heart of London’s cultural life. You’ll also find us at our resident venues in Brighton, Eastbourne, Saffron Walden, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and on tour worldwide. Edward Gardner has been our Principal Conductor since 2021, succeeding Vladimir Jurowski who in the same year became Conductor Emeritus. Karina Canellakis is our current Principal Guest Conductor, and Sir George Benjamin our Composer-in-Residence. We’re one of the most streamed orchestras globally, with a leading social media presence – the UK’s most followed orchestra on Instagram and the world’s most followed on TikTok. You can hear us on countless film soundtracks, and we’ve released over 140 albums on our own LPO Label, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2025. We’re committed to inspiring the next generation of musicians: our dynamic and wide-ranging Education and Community programme provides first musical experiences for children and families; offers creative projects and professional development opportunities for schools and teachers; inspires talented teenage instrumentalists to progress their skills; and develops the next generation of professional musicians.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is one of eleven constituents of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the largest performing arts complex in the world. Along with other constituents such as the New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Lincoln Center Theater, and The Metropolitan Opera, the Chamber Music Society has its home at Lincoln Center, in Alice Tully Hall. Through its performance, education, and recording/broadcast activities, it draws more people to chamber music than any other organization of its kind. CMS presents annual series of concerts and educational events for listeners ranging from connoisseurs to chamber music newcomers of all ages. Performing repertoire from over three centuries, and numerous premieres by living composers, CMS offers programs curated to provide listeners a comprehensive perspective on the art of chamber music. The performing artists of CMS, a multi-generational selection of expert chamber musicians, constitute an evolving repertory company capable of presenting chamber music of every instrumentation, style, and historical period (see Artists of the Society and Guests). Its annual activities include a full season of concerts and events, national and international tours, nationally televised broadcasts on Live From Lincoln Center, a radio show broadcast nationwide, and regular appearances on American Public Media’s Performance Today.

Since its formation in 2004, the Quartet has been a creative leader in fusing contemporary music with classical tradition, and the Boston Globe credits them with continually "exploring different ways of sparking musical interest. The members of the Quartet specialize in retelling modern music with original arrangements of rock, jazz, and world music, and have redefined the twenty-first century classical musician with a complete approach to artistry through composition/arrangement, storytelling, theatrics, and performing. In addition to its solo work as an ensemble, the Quartet has demonstrated its longstanding commitment to music education through the establishment of mentoring relationships with dozens of secondary schools and colleges throughout the country. To this end, the Quartet has developed three highly sought-after outreach programs and residencies; The Xibus Tour, The Ethno-Urban Orchestra, and The Xibus World Orchestra, through which the ensemble teaches contemporary music techniques and improvisation to music strudents around the country. Collaborative public performances featuring the Quartet and the student musicians feature compositions and arrangements commissioned for the unique combination of string quartet and orchestra. To date, the Boston String Quartet has released five albums; most recently "WorldSong" a new release from Groove Records. Boston String Quartet Recordings may be purchased world-wide from Naxos. Members