Emerging Artists Program

The Mendocino Music Festival is offering twelve string players full scholarships for the 2023 season. This program is limited to serious musicians between the ages of 18 and 26. The Emerging Artists Program includes coaching in an intensive 2½ weeks of chamber music as well as participation in the Festival Orchestra in the company of professional musicians from the Bay Area, local artists, and soloists of national and international renown, in one of the most spectacular spots on the northern California coast.

The Program

Participants should arrive in Mendocino on the afternoon of Wednesday, July 12, and remain through the morning of Sunday, July 30. Participants will perform in a chamber music recital and three orchestral concerts, each one with a different program. You will be notified of your acceptance by March 31, 2023. Each participant will receive a $400 stipend on July 12.

Host families will provide participants with lodging, kitchen privileges and, in some cases, breakfast. Although the MMF will provide substantial morning snacks on orchestra rehearsal days, participants are expected to provide for their own meals and transportation.

Participation may require proof of current vaccination, face covering and other precautions based on current conditions.

Cellist Julie Feldman – Director
Cellist Tyler De Vigal – Assistant Director

Chamber Music Coaches

Jeremy Preston is the Principal Second violinist of the S.F. Opera Orchestra and a tenured member of the S.F. Ballet Orchestra. He has also been the Associate Concertmaster of the Oakland East Bay Symphony and a member of the North Carolina Symphony for seven seasons. He has performed with many orchestras throughout the United States and is an avid chamber musician. Previously, he was a member of the North Carolina String Quartet and frequently performed with the Mallarme Chamber Players, the Peace College Manning Chamber Players, New Music Raleigh, and the Eastern Music Festival Chamber Players. Jeremy maintains an active teaching studio and enjoys living and hiking in the beautiful city of San Francisco.

Susan Freier, an internationally known violinist and violist and longtime member of the Ives Quartet at Stanford University, performs with the S.F. Contemporary Chamber Players. She earned degrees from Stanford and Eastman School of Music and was asked to join the Chester Quartet, which went on to win the Evian, Munich International, Portsmouth and Chicago Discovery competitions. She has been a participant at the Aspen Grand Teton and Newport festivals, and has recordings on a number of prestigious labels. Formerly an artist-faculty member of the Pacific Music Center, she now teaches and performs at the Orfeo, Telluride, and San Diego music festivals.

Cellist Stephen Harrison has been a member of the Stanford University faculty since 1983, when he returned to his native Bay Area to co-found the Stanford String Quartet. In 1998 he became the founding cellist of the Ives Quartet and is now co-Artistic Director of the Ives Collective. These ensembles have commissioned works from composers such as William Bolcom, Ben Johnston, Elinor Armer, and Dan Becker. Cellist of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players since 1986, he has performed internationally and recorded for the Naxos, Music and Arts, CRI, New Albion, Newport Classics, AIX, New World and Bridge recording labels.

Application deadline: March 27, 2023.

Audition Options:

• Links to online video or audio files may be included in online application.
• Live audition may be arranged soon after application due date.

Audition repertoire:

One movement each from two contrasting pieces of applicant’s choice.

Program History

The Emerging Artists Program began in 1991, the Mendocino Music Festival’s fifth season, when the Young Musicians Scholarship Program was inaugurated to nurture young classical musicians in the community and beyond, and to reinforce orchestral resources. Every year 8-12 instrumentalists—talented wind and brass players, string players and pianists—were chosen to play in the Festival Orchestra and to present chamber music programs, coached by professionals. By combining the best features of a music camp with a rigorous professional festival, the program enabled young players to grow musically while enjoying camaraderie with fellow participants and the festival musicians. Like all visiting musicians, the students were housed with local families, allowing them to interface with the broader community.

Beginning in 1998, the program focused exclusively on string players. In 2007, Karl Goldstein, who served as director of the program for many years, changed the program’s name to “Emerging Artists.” Other directors and coaches have included Anne Crowden, Bonnie Hampton, Susan Waterfall, Burke Schuchmann, Christina Mok, Eric Sung, Jill Brindel, Roy Malan, Susan Freier and Julie Feldman, the current Program Director.

The Program Alumni Page gives an impressive peek into the value of this program with personal statements from many of the more than 160 alumni since 1991 on the importance of the Festival experience in their development as musicians, and on their achievements and career paths. The alumni represent an international community of young musicians who came together for a magical summer experience, most of whom have gone on to have successful professional musical careers as players, teachers and administrators who nurture young people themselves.

The Festival is proud of the Emerging Artists Program and remains committed to encouraging, nurturing and showcasing young artists each season to enable them to make significant contributions to the communities where they live and play. This program is free to participants thanks to the generosity of the donors of the Mendocino Music Festival.

Learn about the recital