Dasani String Quartet Takes Silver Medal at 2020 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition

The Music Institute of Chicago Academy's Dasani String Quartet received the Silver medal in the Junior Division of the 2020 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, which culminated on May 9. Based in South Bend, Indiana, Fischoff is the nation's largest chamber music competition and is regarded as America's premier educational chamber music competition. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition, which included multiple rounds, took place virtually this year. Chamber groups from 24 states and 27 countries and territories were among the 130 competition entries.

Since its inception in 2006, the Academy has produced strong competitors, and its chamber groups have won 15 medals at Fischoff. Of the 48 ensembles who qualified for the quarterfinal competition round this year, five were from the Academy program:

Dasani String Quartet (Silver medalists in the finals) | Coach: Mathias Tacke

· Isabella Brown, 17, violin, Gurnee, Illinois

· Katya Moeller,16, violin, Coralville, Iowa

· Zechary Mo, 18, viola, Rolling Meadows, Illinois

· Brandon Cheng, 17, piano, Chicago, Illinois

Insieme Piano Trio (semifinalists) | Coaches: Abraham Stokman and Sang Mee Lee

· Sonya Jones, 15, violin/viola, Chicago, Illinois

· Abigail Park, 16, violin/viola, Northbrook, Illinois

· Ashley Kim, 16, piano, Wilmette, Illinois

Primavera Piano Trio (semifinalists) | Coaches: Mark George and Rodolfo Vieira

· Esme Arias-Kim, 14, violin, Hoffman Estates, Illinois

· Jan Nedvetsky, 13, cello, Wilmette, Illinois

· Yerin Yang, 17, piano, Mount Prospect, Illinois

Aurora Piano Quartet (quarterfinalists) | Coaches: Elaine Felder and Sang Mee Lee

· Sidney Lee, 16, violin/viola, Arlington Heights, Illinois

· Elinor Detmer, 15, violin/viola, Chicago, Illinois

· Amelia Zitoun, 14, cello, Shorewood, Wisconsin

· Colin Song, 17, piano, Glenview, Illinois

Gemini String Quartet (quarterfinalists) | Coach: Jasmine Lin

· Noelle Naito, 17, violin, Elkridge, Maryland

· Isabel Chen, 17, violin/viola, Northbrook, Illinois

· Jonah Kartman, 18, violin/viola, Glendale, Wisconsin

· Cameron Chiu, 18, cello, Palatine, Illinois

The Dasani String Quartet is coached by Mathias Tacke, former violinist of the world-renowned and Grammy-nominated Vermeer Quartet. All four students are Merit Scholarship Fellows at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy, a training program for advanced pre-college students. While the coronavirus pandemic unfortunately shortened the competition season, the group performed as part of two Chicago community events, "Melodies on Canvas" and the Chicago Botanic Gardens Orchid Show, and was one of only two Junior Finalists in the 2020 WDAV Young Chamber Musicians Competition. Individually, their experience includes performances at prestigious venues around the world, many competition wins, and solo appearances with orchestra and on radio.

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