Sixty musicians from the ages of 9 to 22 will be selected to form the first all-Russian Youth Orchestra. This project will be led by Russian violist Yuri Bashmet. For more information, check out the article in Strad magazine at http://thestrad.com/Article.asp?ArticleID=2216.

Congratulations to Aaron Mossburg, Bethany Hargreaves, and Jack DeBouter, First Prize Winners of the Ohio Viola Society’s Youth Competition, held at Oberlin College on Sun, 15 Apr 2012! The results of all three divisions follow:

Division 3:
1st place- Aaron Mossburg
Split 2nd place:  Leah Ferguson, Jossalyn Jensen
Honorable mention:  Jessi Pasternack, Ryan Fox, Rimbo Wang

Division 2:
1st place- Bethany Hargreaves
2nd place- Chloe Thominet
Bach Prize- Eva Kennedy

Division 1:
1st place- Jack DeBouter

San Franciscans, check out the Lynne Ramsay masterclass being held on S, 14 Apr 2012 at 9:30am at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The class will be held in the concert hall, located at 50 Oak Street between Franklin and Van Ness. For more information, call 415-503-6265 or email ssmith@sfcm.edu.

The final concert for the Boston’s Music4Food Initiative will occur at 8pm on M, 16 Apr 2012 at New England Conservatory’s Brown Hall. The performance will feature selected Bartok Duos, Handel’s Sonata for Two Celli in G minor, and Brahm’s Sextet in B-flat major, Op 18. Artists include Miriam Fried & Lucy Chapman, violin; Paul Biss & Kim Kashkashian, viola; Paul Katz & Deborah Pae, violoncello; Tom Novak & Sebastian Chaves, bassoon; Tom Handel, piano/harpsichord; and violists from the studio of Kim Kashkashian.

Music for Food is a musician’s initiative for hunger relief, “founded on our desire to share talent, trust, and to aim for social justice.” (Kim Kashkashian) The Greater Boston Food Bank is New England’s largest hunger-relief agency, serving almost 400,000 people per year.

Admission = one nonperishable food item per individual at the door or a cash donation to the Greater Boston Food Bank (suggested donation: “What would you spend on a dinner for two?”)

The OVS Competition for Young Violists will take place on 15 Apr 2012 from 1:00 – 5:00pm at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. The three divisions include middle school, high school, and collegiate. More information may be found by contacting Peter Slowik at peter.slowik@oberlin.edu or by visiting http://ohioviolasociety.org/Ohio_Viola_Society/index.html.html.

Be sure to catch Chicago Symphony principal violist Charles Pikler with principal cellist John Sharp in Strauss’ Don Quixote, conducted by Charles Dutoit from 06 – 10 Apr 2012. Check out cso.org or visit the Chicago Tribune article for more information.

Catch violist Li-Kuo Chang with other Chicago Symphony musicians performing Brahms’ and Mozart’s Clarinet Quintets on W, 04 Apr 2012. The performance will take place at 6:30p in Buntrock Hall. For more information, visit http://cso.org/TicketsAndEvents/EventDetails.aspx?eid=4704.

The Vermeer String Quartet will appear in a performance of Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Christ on T, 03 Apr 2012. The performance will take place at 8pm in St James Cathedral on 65 E Huron St, Chicago, IL. Tickets cost $10.

For more information, visit saintjamescathedral.org.