The San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Walter W. Naumburg Foundation are pleased to present a concert with the foundation's newest chamber music winners, the Terra String Quartet, as part of the ongoing series "Naumburg at SFCM."

The quartet won the top prize at the Foundation's 2025 Chamber Music Competition. This free concert will be held Friday, April 3rd at 7:30 p.m. inside the Caroline H. Hume hall, SFCM's largest concert venue, and feature a quartet of SFCM students playing alongside Terra for Felix Mendelssohn's Octet in E-flat Major, Op.20.

The Terra Quartet comprises violinists Harriet Langley and Amelia Dietrich, violist Chih-Ta Chen and cellist Audrey Chen. Their prizerwinner's package includes a $15,000 prize, recital at SFCM, Carnegie Hall, and a commissioned work and recording.

"The Naumburg Foundation is thrilled that SFCM will be presenting the Terra String Quartet on our Naumburg at SFCM concert series," Nicholas Mann, president of the Naumburg Foundation, said. "They are a phenomenal young quartet who play with great imagination. I would also like to thank Sin-Tung Chiu whose generosity makes this continuing collaboration possible."

In 2026, Naumburg will celebrate 100 years as the world's longest continuously running classical music competition. In that time, the Foundation and its competitions, commissions, and concerts have supported young classical musicians by helping launch their professional careers. It's named for Walter Naumburg, an amateur cellist who in 1926 launched a series of competitions to give younger musicians visibility and support.

The partnership between Naumburg and SFCM runs deep. In 2025, the Conservatory hosted a concert by winner Jonathan Swenson; in 2024 by winner Jack (Yang) Gao and SFCM students. This series, a partnership of SFCM and the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation, is generously underwritten by Mr. Sin-Tung Chiu in memory of his parents Bella and P.P. Chiu, and celebrates the family's long time friendship with Robert and Lucy Mann, who led the Naumburg Foundation for more than 50 years. Robert Mann was Sin-Tung's mentor and this concert commemorates their close friendship.

"SFCM is honored to once again collaborate with a distinguished organization such as Naumburg," Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jonas Wright said. "Partnerships like this help propel our mission to shape and advance the future of music."

SFCM is no stranger to Naumburg winners: Bonnie Hampton, a longtime former professor of the Conservatory's String and Piano Chamber Music Department, won the Naumburg Chamber Music Competition with the Francesco Trio in 1974. Awadagin Pratt, a member of the Conservatory's piano faculty, won the competition in 1992, and Mark Sokol, a beloved educator in San Francisco and former longtime chair of the chamber music program at SFCM, was also a Naumburg winner with his Concord Quartet.

Guests are asked to reserve seats early for this free concert April 3rd, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. in the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall.