Designed to support the development of young artists and celebrate the lifelong creativity of DC-area performers, the Misbin Family Memorial Chamber Music Competition is open to instrumental chamber music students and adult amateur musicians. Participants are adjudicated by a panel of judges made up of distinguished performers, teachers, and other recognized members of the greater Washington music community.
The competition is open to the public free of charge—a great opportunity to hear promising young artists in a varied program. Winners receive cash awards and opportunities to perform in prestigious venues across the Washington, DC metro region.
The 2026 competition took place on Sunday, April 19, 2026. Special thanks to this year’s judges, Miriam Friedman, Dr. Lester Green, and Jillian Chioma Uzuegbu.
Levine Music and Washington Performing Arts gratefully acknowledge Dr. Robert Misbin as well as the support of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
Awards
Congratulations to all the finalists and their extraordinary teachers and coaches!
Junior Division
First Place: Nonchalant Tarantulas (Philip Thankachan, Felix Karacsony-Major, Nina Sejd; coached by Victor Galindo)
Second Place ex aequo: Harmonics Quartet (Daniel Won, Jonathan Y. Chi, Jules Amyot, Minjae Jeon; coached by Jinha Park) and Trio con brio (Chloe Chu, Vienne Wong, Jason Ding; coached by Jasmin Lee)
Honorable Mentions: Tres vif duo (Chloe Chu, Akira Inoue; coached by Agata Miklavc) and Bellevue Colloquy Duo (Benjamina Bolger, Stephen Chen; coached by John Kaboff)
Senior Division
First Place: Blair String Quartet (Alex Zhao, Yixuan Li, Daphne Wen, Caleb Fan; coached by Claudia Chudacoff)
Second Place ex aequo: Babad and the Janians (Sam Brose, Bright Wang, Ishaan Banerjee; coached by Anna Soukiassian) and DSCH String Quartet (Sophia Lee, Hyunseo Lee, Eugene Chung, Edwin Chung; coached by Jie Kim)
Honorable Mentions: Triple Duke Trio (Jiles Defosse, Elaine Zhang, Sanjeev Belle Trichur; coached by Angelia Cho) and Sisyphus Quartet (Leah Pang, Eliza Hunt, Kweku Adusei-Poku, James David; coached by Tsuna Sakamoto)
Adult Amateur Division
First Place: Huntington Sextet (Tanya Lee, Teri Manolio, Rhett Summers, Andrew Tangborn, Leila Duman, Ken Hawes)
Second Place: Bull Run Post Office Piano Quartet (Hai Jin Kim, Reed Trevelyan, Matt Kupferman, Kurt Usowski)
Misbin Family Memorial Award
Indulo Duo (Anne Valerie Ter, Neel Perdue; coached by Darya Gabay)