The Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition 2025 will take place between Tuesday 1 – Sunday 6 April 2025 inclusive. Selected quartets will be expected to arrive in London no later than Sunday 30 March 2025 and leave on Monday 7 April 2025.

The Preliminary Round will be held at the Royal Academy of Music from Tuesday 1 – Friday 4 April, the Semi-Finals and Final at Wigmore Hall on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 April respectively. Quartets not based in the UK may also be asked to perform once outside the Competition timetable, either at a lunchtime concert or in a community setting, as part of the events surrounding the Competition.

The full rules and requirements for entry for the Competition will be announced no later than the beginning of May 2024.

The closing date for applications is Thursday 17 October 2024.

The Members of the Competition Jury will include:

John Gilhooly CBE Chairman
Peter Jarůšek
Nina Lee
Heime Müller
Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt
Lesley Robertson
Mark Steinberg

Members of the Selection Jury will be announced in due course.

Specific enquiries should be directed to the General Manager, Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition 2025 at quartetcompetition@wigmore-hall.org.uk

About

The triennial Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition (formerly The London International String Quartet Competition) has been held under the auspices of Wigmore Hall since July 2010. Embracing the entire string quartet tradition, it requires contestants to perform Classical, Romantic and contemporary repertoire.

Now even more widely recognised as one of the world’s most prestigious quartet competitions, the event has benefited from its direct association with a leading venue for chamber music, and offers the winning ensembles outstanding opportunities for career development.

• attracts string quartets of the highest calibre, with members aged under 35, who are keen to pursue performing careers at the highest level
• provides valuable opportunities for feedback from jury members drawn from chamber musicians of global stature
• provides opportunities for participants to meet their peers from other countries and to exchange ideas on performance, technique and repertoire
• provides a vital public platform from which young musicians can break into the world of professional performance at the highest level.

The first International String Quartet Competition was held in Portsmouth in 1979, and was won by the then unknown Takács Quartet, today recognised as one of the world’s leading string quartets and currently Wigmore Hall Associate Artists.