California Music Center


For over 35 years, the Irving M. Klein International String Competition has attracted some of the world’s finest young string players to San Francisco each June to compete for cash and performance prizes totaling over $30,000. The Klein Competition has achieved international recognition as one of the most prestigious classical music competitions, recognized for the high caliber of the contestants, its unique, nurturing environment, and its commitment to the commissioning of new works.

Past Klein prize winners comprise a who’s who of the classical music artistic community. They include notable soloists and educators Alyssa Park (1989), Jennifer Koh (1993), Vadim Gluzman (1993), Alban Gerhardt (1989), Caroline Campbell (2002), David Requiro (2006), Tessa Lark (2008) and Nikki Chooi (2009); and principal chairs in many of the finest U.S. orchestras, including the Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Boston Symphony.