The winners will receive concert opportunities in New York and London following the virtual competition

Balourdet Quartet

The Balourdet Quartet and violinist Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux are among the winners of this year’s Concert Artists Guild (CAG) Virtual Competition. Held in conjunction with the Young Concert Artists Trust (YCat), the competition aims to give talented young players mentorship and performance opportunities at the start of their careers.

Made up of violinists Angela Bae and Justin DeFilippis, violiat Benjamin Zannoni and cellist Russell Houston, the Balourdet Quartet (above) is currently in residence at the New England Conservatory’s Professional String Quartet Program. The quartet received the gold medal at the 2020 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and second prize at the 2019 Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition.

France-born Saluste-Bridoux is a London-based violinist who studied with Natalia Boyarsky at the Yehudi Menuhin School. She is now completing a masters at the RCM with Alina Ibragimova, as a recipient of the Munster Trust. She has also participated in masterclasses with Ana Chumachenco, Zakhar Bron, Pavel Vernikov, Maxim Vengerov and András Keller.

All winners of this year’s CAG grand prize will receive international management jointly with CAG and YCat; performances at New York’s Merkin Concert Hall and London’s Wigmore Hall; and participation in CAG’s leadership development programme.

Previous CAG alumni include violinists Jennifer Koh, Joseph Lin of the Juilliard Quartet and Eugene Drucker of the Emerson Quartet, ensembles Eighth Blackbird and the Pacifica and Parker string quartets.