Balourdet Quartet wins the 2024 Cleveland Quartet Award

Published on November 21, 2023

Congratulations to the Balourdet Quartet who won the Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award. The quartet is comprised of NEC alumni Angela Bae ’22 MM (violin), Justin DeFilippis ’17 ’22 GD (violin), Benjamin Zannoni ’22 GD (viola), and Russell Houston ’22 GD (cello).

Established in 1995, the biennial Cleveland Quartet Award honors and promotes a rising string quartet whose artistry demonstrates significant promise in the field. As part of the award, the Balourdet Quartet will be presented by a consortium of eight presenters: the Buffalo Chamber Music Society; Carnegie Hall; Chamber Music Society of Detroit; Freer and Sackler Galleries of Art at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC; Friends of Chamber Music in Kansas City, MO; Market Square Concerts in Harrisburg, PA; Krannert Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and the University of Texas at Austin.

Currently in residence at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, the Balourdet Quartet received the Grand Prize at the 2021 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, as well as prizes in international competitions including the Banff, Borciani, and Carl Nielsen Competitions. The quartet was also awarded the Gold Medal at the 2020 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the 2021 Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition. The ensemble will serve as the quartet-in-residence for the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle in 2023/24.

Congratulations, Angela, Justin, Benjamin and Russell!

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