Live Final Round Weekend: April 10–12, 2026
at The Ebenezer Theater in Easton, Maryland
Application Period: September 1 – December 15, 2025
2026 Competition Judges
Final Round Judges
CATHERINE CHO (Head Judge)
Praised by the New York Times for her "sublime tone,” Catherine Cho draws upon her experiences as a soloist, chamber musician, pedagogue, and artistic director to support and mentor artists in their quests to engage and enrich their high values as creative thinkers and communicators. She is devoted to fostering the next generation of performers, teachers, and leaders through the development of artistic excellence, curiosity, and clarity of vision through a holistic view of the artist.
She has appeared as a soloist with the Detroit, National, Edmonton, Montreal, National Arts Center, Barcelona, Haifa, New Zealand, Buenos Aires, KBS, Seoul, and Daejon orchestras, and has appeared in recitals and chamber music performances at the Kennedy Center, Ravinia, 92nd St. Y, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Casals Halls among others. She has appeared on 12 national tours with Musicians From Marlboro and participated in the festivals of Aspen, Chamber Music Northwest, Santa Fe, Four Seasons, Bridgehampton, and Vivace. She was a member of the Johannes String Quartet and La Fenice and was awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant as well as top prizes in the Montreal (1987), Queen Elisabeth (1989), and Joachim (1991) Competitions.
Her work as a teacher in the Juilliard Chamber Music Community Engagement Seminar highlights her passion for community connection through art and communication. She is a Music For Food Artist, and she is currently a co-Artistic Director of the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival. She has served on the Violin and Chamber Music Faculty of The Juilliard School since 1996 and the Perlman Music Program since 2007.
Ms. Cho received her BM and MM degrees at Juilliard where she studied with Dorothy Delay, Hyo Kang, and Felix Galimir. Her mentors include Ruggiero Ricci, Franco Gulli, and Michael Avsharian Jr.
Ms. Cho resides in Brooklyn with her husband, Todd Phillips, their son, Brandon, and their three cats, Orso, Livie, and Ella. She is the stepmom of Lia, Eliza, and Jason, and "Halmoni" (Korean grandma) to Theo and Mila. When she is not performing or teaching, she enjoys practicing yoga, catching up with her booklist, and gardening.
She has appeared as a soloist with the Detroit, National, Edmonton, Montreal, National Arts Center, Barcelona, Haifa, New Zealand, Buenos Aires, KBS, Seoul, and Daejon orchestras, and has appeared in recitals and chamber music performances at the Kennedy Center, Ravinia, 92nd St. Y, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Casals Halls among others. She has appeared on 12 national tours with Musicians From Marlboro and participated in the festivals of Aspen, Chamber Music Northwest, Santa Fe, Four Seasons, Bridgehampton, and Vivace. She was a member of the Johannes String Quartet and La Fenice and was awarded the Avery Fisher Career Grant as well as top prizes in the Montreal (1987), Queen Elisabeth (1989), and Joachim (1991) Competitions.
Her work as a teacher in the Juilliard Chamber Music Community Engagement Seminar highlights her passion for community connection through art and communication. She is a Music For Food Artist, and she is currently a co-Artistic Director of the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival. She has served on the Violin and Chamber Music Faculty of The Juilliard School since 1996 and the Perlman Music Program since 2007.
Ms. Cho received her BM and MM degrees at Juilliard where she studied with Dorothy Delay, Hyo Kang, and Felix Galimir. Her mentors include Ruggiero Ricci, Franco Gulli, and Michael Avsharian Jr.
Ms. Cho resides in Brooklyn with her husband, Todd Phillips, their son, Brandon, and their three cats, Orso, Livie, and Ella. She is the stepmom of Lia, Eliza, and Jason, and "Halmoni" (Korean grandma) to Theo and Mila. When she is not performing or teaching, she enjoys practicing yoga, catching up with her booklist, and gardening.
ROBERT MCDONALD
Robert McDonald has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician
throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America. He has appeared with major orchestras in the United States and was the recital partner for many years to Isaac Stern and other distinguished instrumentalists.
He has participated in the Marlboro, Casals and Lucerne festivals, the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center, and has broadcasted for BBC Television worldwide. He has appeared with the Takas, Vermeer, Juilliard, Brentano, Borromeo, American, Shanghai, and St. Lawrence string quartets as well as with Musicians from Marlboro.
His discography includes recordings for Sony Classical, Bridge, Vox, Musical Heritage Society, ASV, and CRI. Mr. McDonald's prizes include the gold medal at the Busoni International Piano Competition, the top prize at the William Kapell International Competition and the Deutsche Schallplatten Critics Award.
He has studied with Theodore Rehl, Seymour Lipkin, Rudolf Serkin, Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Beveridge Webster, and Gary Graffman. He holds degrees from Lawrence University, the Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, and the Manhattan School of Music which recently awarded him an honorary doctoral degree in Musical Arts. A member of the piano faculty at The Juilliard School since 1999, Mr. McDonald joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2007, where he holds the Penelope P. Watkins Chair in Piano Studies.
During the summer, he is the artistic director of the Taos School of Music and Chamber Music Festival in New Mexico.
He has participated in the Marlboro, Casals and Lucerne festivals, the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center, and has broadcasted for BBC Television worldwide. He has appeared with the Takas, Vermeer, Juilliard, Brentano, Borromeo, American, Shanghai, and St. Lawrence string quartets as well as with Musicians from Marlboro.
His discography includes recordings for Sony Classical, Bridge, Vox, Musical Heritage Society, ASV, and CRI. Mr. McDonald's prizes include the gold medal at the Busoni International Piano Competition, the top prize at the William Kapell International Competition and the Deutsche Schallplatten Critics Award.
He has studied with Theodore Rehl, Seymour Lipkin, Rudolf Serkin, Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Beveridge Webster, and Gary Graffman. He holds degrees from Lawrence University, the Curtis Institute of Music, The Juilliard School, and the Manhattan School of Music which recently awarded him an honorary doctoral degree in Musical Arts. A member of the piano faculty at The Juilliard School since 1999, Mr. McDonald joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2007, where he holds the Penelope P. Watkins Chair in Piano Studies.
During the summer, he is the artistic director of the Taos School of Music and Chamber Music Festival in New Mexico.
PEGGY PEARSON
Oboist Peggy Pearson is a winner of the Pope Foundation Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Music. Lloyd Schwartz, who received the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, called her “my favorite living oboist.” Peggy has performed solo, chamber, and orchestral music throughout the United States and abroad. She is solo oboist with the Boston-based Emmanuel Chamber Orchestra, an organization that has performed all of the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach. According to Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe, “Peggy Pearson has probably played more Bach than any other oboist of her generation; this is music she plays in a state of eloquent grace.” Ms. Pearson was the Founding Director of, and is oboist with, Winsor Music, Inc., and a founding member of the ensemble La Fenice.
She has toured internationally and recorded extensively with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and has appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s as principal oboist, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and Music from Marlboro. She has appeared regularly with the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival in Maryland. In addition to her freelance and chamber music activities, Peggy Pearson has been an active exponent of contemporary music. She was a fellow of the Radcliffe Institute in contemporary music, and has premiered numerous works, many of which were written specifically for her.
Peggy Pearson has been on the faculties at the Bach Institute (a collaboration between Winsor Music, Emmanuel Music and Oberlin College), Songfest, the Tanglewood Music Center, Boston Conservatory, MIT, University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Wellesley College, the Composers Conference at Wellesley College, and the Longy School of Music of Bard College.
Preliminary Round Judges
MARCY ROSEN (Head Judge)
Marcy Rosen has established herself as one of today's most respected cellists. Hailed as "one of the intimate art's abiding treasures" by Los Angeles Times music critic Herbert Glass and described as "A New York legend of the cello" by The New Yorker, she has performed in recital and with orchestras throughout the world.
She made her concerto debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of eighteen and has since appeared with the Dallas Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Caramoor Festival Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Jupiter Symphony, Concordia Chamber Orchestra, and the Tokyo Symphony. In New York she has performed at prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street "Y" and Merkin Concert Hall, and in Washington D.C., at the Kennedy Center, Dumbarton Oaks, and the Phillips Collection.
Sought after for her riveting and informative master classes, she has been a guest of Curtis Institute of Music, the New England Conservatory, The Juilliard School, the San Francisco Conservatory, the Central Conservatory in Beijing, China, the Seoul Arts Center in Korea and the Cartagena International Music Festival in Colombia. In 2024 she was named Artistic Director of the Evnin Rising Stars program at the Caramoor Center for the Arts.
Ms. Rosen has collaborated with the world’s finest musicians, including Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, Andras Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida, Jonathan Biss, Peter Serkin, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Isaac Stern, and Jessye Norman, among others, and with the Aizuri, Catalyst, Daedelus, Emerson, Juilliard, and Orion Quartets. She is a founding member of La Fenice as well as the Mendelssohn String Quartet. With the Mendelssohn she was Artist-in-Residence at the North Carolina School of the Arts and for nine years served as Blodgett-Artist-in-Residence at Harvard University. Since first attending the Marlboro Festival in 1975, she has taken part in 25 “Musicians from Marlboro” tours and has performed in concerts celebrating the 40th, 50th, and 60th anniversaries of the festival.
Since 1986, Ms. Rosen has been Co-Artistic Director of Chesapeake Chamber Music in Maryland and she is an artist member of Music for Food, a musician-led initiative to fight hunger in our local communities.
A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Ms. Rosen is currently Professor of Cello at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, also serving as Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Live concert series.
She made her concerto debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of eighteen and has since appeared with the Dallas Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Caramoor Festival Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Jupiter Symphony, Concordia Chamber Orchestra, and the Tokyo Symphony. In New York she has performed at prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street "Y" and Merkin Concert Hall, and in Washington D.C., at the Kennedy Center, Dumbarton Oaks, and the Phillips Collection.
Sought after for her riveting and informative master classes, she has been a guest of Curtis Institute of Music, the New England Conservatory, The Juilliard School, the San Francisco Conservatory, the Central Conservatory in Beijing, China, the Seoul Arts Center in Korea and the Cartagena International Music Festival in Colombia. In 2024 she was named Artistic Director of the Evnin Rising Stars program at the Caramoor Center for the Arts.
Ms. Rosen has collaborated with the world’s finest musicians, including Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, Andras Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida, Jonathan Biss, Peter Serkin, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Isaac Stern, and Jessye Norman, among others, and with the Aizuri, Catalyst, Daedelus, Emerson, Juilliard, and Orion Quartets. She is a founding member of La Fenice as well as the Mendelssohn String Quartet. With the Mendelssohn she was Artist-in-Residence at the North Carolina School of the Arts and for nine years served as Blodgett-Artist-in-Residence at Harvard University. Since first attending the Marlboro Festival in 1975, she has taken part in 25 “Musicians from Marlboro” tours and has performed in concerts celebrating the 40th, 50th, and 60th anniversaries of the festival.
Since 1986, Ms. Rosen has been Co-Artistic Director of Chesapeake Chamber Music in Maryland and she is an artist member of Music for Food, a musician-led initiative to fight hunger in our local communities.
A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Ms. Rosen is currently Professor of Cello at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, also serving as Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Live concert series.
IEVA JOKUBAVICIUTE
Lithuanian pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute’s powerfully and intricately crafted performances have earned her critical acclaim throughout the United States and Europe. Her ability to communicate the essential substance of a work has led critics to describe her as possessing “razor-sharp intelligence and wit” (Washington Post) and as “an artist of commanding technique, refined temperament and persuasive insight” (New York Times). In 2006, she was honored as a recipient of a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship.
Ieva’s Alban Berg Tribute CD was released to critical acclaim in 2010. The New York Times described her as “an authoritative and compelling guide throughout this fascinating disc.” Her 2014 album Returning Paths: Solo Piano Works by Janáček and Suk was equally well received. She regularly gives solo recitals in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington DC. She made her orchestral debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival and has since performed with orchestras in Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, and Washington, DC. Her piano trio, Trio Cavatina, won the 2009 Naumburg International Chamber Music Competition and made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2010.
A much sought-after chamber musician and collaborator, notably with violinist Midori, Ieva has appeared on major stages around the world, such as Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, the Kennedy Center, and London’s Wigmore Hall. She regularly appears at music festivals including Marlboro, Ravinia, Bard, Caramoor, Chesapeake Music, and Prussia Cove (England). She has also appeared in festivals in Finland, Germany, and Spain. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Mannes College of Music, Ieva is currently Associate Professor of the Practice of Piano at Duke University in Durham, NC.
Ieva’s Alban Berg Tribute CD was released to critical acclaim in 2010. The New York Times described her as “an authoritative and compelling guide throughout this fascinating disc.” Her 2014 album Returning Paths: Solo Piano Works by Janáček and Suk was equally well received. She regularly gives solo recitals in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington DC. She made her orchestral debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival and has since performed with orchestras in Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, and Washington, DC. Her piano trio, Trio Cavatina, won the 2009 Naumburg International Chamber Music Competition and made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2010.
A much sought-after chamber musician and collaborator, notably with violinist Midori, Ieva has appeared on major stages around the world, such as Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, the Kennedy Center, and London’s Wigmore Hall. She regularly appears at music festivals including Marlboro, Ravinia, Bard, Caramoor, Chesapeake Music, and Prussia Cove (England). She has also appeared in festivals in Finland, Germany, and Spain. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Mannes College of Music, Ieva is currently Associate Professor of the Practice of Piano at Duke University in Durham, NC.
TARA HELEN O'CONNOR
Tara Helen O’Connor is a charismatic performer noted for her artistic depth, brilliant technique and colorful tone spanning every musical era. Recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, a two-time Grammy nominee and the first wind player chosen to participate in the Bowers Program, she is now a Season Artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. A Wm. S. Haynes flute artist, Tara is a regular participant at music festivals, including Santa Fe Chamber Music, Music@Menlo, Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass, Spoleto USA, Chamber Music Northwest, Mainly Mozart, Rockport Music, Manchester Music, Great Mountains (Korea), Bravo Vail Valley! and Chesapeake Music. Along with her husband Daniel Phillips, she is the newly appointed Co-Artistic Director of the Music from Angel Fire Festival in New Mexico.
Tara is a member of the woodwind quintet Windscape, the legendary Bach Aria Group, and is a founding member of the Naumburg Award-winning New Millennium Ensemble. She has premiered hundreds of new works and has collaborated with the Orion String Quartet, St. Lawrence Quartet and Emerson Quartet. She has appeared on A&E’s Breakfast for the Arts, Live from Lincoln Center and has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, Koch International, CMS Studio Recordings with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and Bridge Records.
Tara is Associate Professor of Flute, Head of the Wind Department and Coordinator of Classical Music Studies at Purchase College. She is also on the faculty of Bard College, the Contemporary Performance Program at Manhattan School of Music and is a visiting artist, teacher and coach at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. She lives in Manhattan with her husband, violinist Daniel Phillips, and their two miniature dachshunds, Chloe and Ava.
Tara is a member of the woodwind quintet Windscape, the legendary Bach Aria Group, and is a founding member of the Naumburg Award-winning New Millennium Ensemble. She has premiered hundreds of new works and has collaborated with the Orion String Quartet, St. Lawrence Quartet and Emerson Quartet. She has appeared on A&E’s Breakfast for the Arts, Live from Lincoln Center and has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI Classics, Koch International, CMS Studio Recordings with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and Bridge Records.
Tara is Associate Professor of Flute, Head of the Wind Department and Coordinator of Classical Music Studies at Purchase College. She is also on the faculty of Bard College, the Contemporary Performance Program at Manhattan School of Music and is a visiting artist, teacher and coach at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. She lives in Manhattan with her husband, violinist Daniel Phillips, and their two miniature dachshunds, Chloe and Ava.
DANIEL PHILLIPS
Violinist Daniel Phillips enjoys a versatile career as an established chamber musician, solo artist, and teacher. A graduate of Juilliard, his major teachers were his father, Eugene Phillips, Ivan Galamian, Sally Thomas, Nathan Milstein, Sándor Végh, and George Neikrug. He is a founding member of the 34-year-old Orion String Quartet, which is in residence at New York’s Mannes College of Music and performs regularly at The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Available on recording are the complete quartets of Beethoven and Leon Kirchner.
Since winning the 1976 Young Concert Artists Competition, he has performed as a soloist with many orchestras, including the Pittsburgh, Houston, New Jersey, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Yakima Orchestras. He appears regularly at the Spoleto USA Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival, and has participated in the International Musicians Seminar in Cornwall, England since its inception and recently returned to the Marlboro Music Festival. Along with his wife Tara Helen O’Connor, he is the newly appointed Co-Artistic Director of the Music from Angel Fire Festival in New Mexico. He also serves on the summer faculty of the Heifetz Institute and the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar at Stanford. He was a member of the renowned Bach Aria Group and has toured and recorded in a string quartet for SONY with Gidon Kremer, Kim Kashkashian, and Yo-Yo Ma.
He is a professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and on the faculties of Bard College Conservatory, and The Juilliard School. He was a judge in the 2018 Seoul International Violin Competition, the 2022 Leipzig Bach Competition, the 2023 World Bartók Competition in Budapest, and the 2024 Spring Prague competition. He lives with his wife, flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, on Manhattan’s upper west side.
Mr. Phillips plays violins made by Samuel Zygmuntowicz in 2017 and a 1702 Stradivarius.
Since winning the 1976 Young Concert Artists Competition, he has performed as a soloist with many orchestras, including the Pittsburgh, Houston, New Jersey, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Yakima Orchestras. He appears regularly at the Spoleto USA Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival, and has participated in the International Musicians Seminar in Cornwall, England since its inception and recently returned to the Marlboro Music Festival. Along with his wife Tara Helen O’Connor, he is the newly appointed Co-Artistic Director of the Music from Angel Fire Festival in New Mexico. He also serves on the summer faculty of the Heifetz Institute and the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar at Stanford. He was a member of the renowned Bach Aria Group and has toured and recorded in a string quartet for SONY with Gidon Kremer, Kim Kashkashian, and Yo-Yo Ma.
He is a professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and on the faculties of Bard College Conservatory, and The Juilliard School. He was a judge in the 2018 Seoul International Violin Competition, the 2022 Leipzig Bach Competition, the 2023 World Bartók Competition in Budapest, and the 2024 Spring Prague competition. He lives with his wife, flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, on Manhattan’s upper west side.
Mr. Phillips plays violins made by Samuel Zygmuntowicz in 2017 and a 1702 Stradivarius.