National Schadt String Competition

Edwin H. Schadt (1910–1994) and Leigh W. Schadt (1904–1996) were lifelong Allentown residents and successful businessmen who founded Towne Auto Company. Sons of Mary and Henry Schadt, they grew up at 1048 North 11th Street and attended Lincoln School, Muhlenberg Prep, and the Wharton School of Business.

Their father, a self-taught violinist, had custom violins made for them and arranged lessons, though neither pursued a musical career. To honor their father’s passion, they established a trust supporting young violinists through scholarships, music camps, and youth concerts.

After their passing, the trust funded the National Schadt String Competition, launched in 1997 by the Allentown Symphony Association. Initially annual for 21 years, it became a biennial event in 2018, alternating between violin and cello. The First Prize includes a $12,000 cash award and a solo performance with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra.

Next Competition: March 8, 2026 (Violin)

Application portal will open July 1, 2025.
Application deadline is December 15, 2025.

The following pieces will not be allowed as entry pieces for the 2026 Violin Schadt Competition due to recent performances of these pieces by the Allentown Symphony Orchestra:

• Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber
• Violin Concerto by Edward Elgar
• Scottish Fantasy by Max Bruch
• Violin Concerto by Feliz Mendelssohn

We will accept either audio or video file formats in the application, but we should emphasize that it is still a blind application process and we will not watch videos when reviewing their individual applications.

Finals Judges 2026

Diane Wittry

Named by Musical America Worldwide as one of the “Top 30 Professional Musicians,” Diane Wittry is internationally recognized as one of America’s leading conductors. She has led performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Milwaukee Symphony, the San Diego Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, and was one of the first women to conduct at the Ojai Music Festival. Internationally, her guest appearances include the Zabrze Philharmonic (Poland), the Sarajevo Philharmonic (Bosnia), the National Orchestra of Ukraine, the Osaka Symphony (Japan), and orchestras in Canada, Italy, Slovakia, and Russia.

Wittry is currently the Music Director of the Allentown Symphony Orchestra (PA), where her leadership has brought national acclaim, including two first-place American Prizes for Artistic Excellence and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. She has also been  the Music Director of the Garden State Philharmonic (NJ) and has held posts with the Symphony of Southeast Texas, Norwalk Symphony (CT), and Ridgewood Symphony (NJ).

An accomplished author and teacher, Wittry’s books Beyond the Baton and Baton Basics are widely used by conductors worldwide. She has presented at Juilliard, Curtis, and the League of American Orchestras, and her many awards include the prestigious Helen M. Thompson Award.

Martin Chalifour

In 2025 MARTIN CHALIFOUR completed three decades as Principal Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, hailed “America’s most important Orchestra” by the New York Times.

Serving many roles as leader of the strings, regular soloist and chamber musician, Chalifour was proud to be part of the stunning development of the orchestra into what it is today. During his tenure he played over 50 different concertos in more than 150 performances with the LAPhil, and performed in many of the world’s celebrated concert halls.

Chalifour graduated from the Montreal Conservatory at 18. Two years later he left a science career path to pursue studies at the Curtis Institute of Music. He received a Certificate of Honor at the Tchaikovsky Competition and is also a laureate of the Montreal International Competition. He now continues to perform and previously appeared as soloist with conductors Pierre Boulez, Gustavo Dudamel , Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Neville Marriner, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Outside the U.S., he played solo with the Auckland Philharmonia, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the National Orchestras of Venezuela and Taiwan, and was a guest with the Bergen Phil in Norway.

Previous leadership positions were with the Cleveland Orchestra where Chalifour founded  the Cleveland Orchestra Piano Trio, and with the Atlanta Symphony, playing as Associate Concertmaster.

Paul Kantor

Paul Kantor is currently the Sallie Shepherd Perkins Professor of Violin at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University having previously served as the Eleanor H. Biggs Distinguished Professor of Violin at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School studying violin with Dorothy DeLay and chamber music with Robert Mann. For thirteen years he served as Chair of the String Department at the University of Michigan and has taught at The Juilliard School, the New England Conservatory, and Yale University. He continues as Artist in Residence at the Glenn Gould School of Music/ Royal Conservatory of Music since his appointment in 2008.

Mr. Kantor has performed the world premieres of Dan Welcher’s Violin Concerto, (subsequently recorded with Larry Rachleff and Symphony II) as well as John Corigliano’s “Red Violin Caprices”. His recordings can be found on the labels of Equilibrium, CRI, Delos and Mark Records. In 2014, he was honored with the Artist Teacher Award from the American String Teachers Association. He is married to pianist Virginia Weckstrom.

Preliminary Round Judges 2026

Diane Wittry

Jennifer Frautschi

Two-time GRAMMY nominee and Avery Fisher career grant recipient violinist Jennifer Frautschi has appeared as soloist with innumerable orchestras such as the Cincinnati Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and St Paul Chamber Orchestra. She is an artist-member of the Boston Chamber Music Society and has appeared as chamber musician at Chamber Music Northwest, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, La Jolla Summerfest, Music@Menlo, Tippet Rise Art Center, Toronto Summer Music, and the Bridgehampton, Cape Cod, Charlottesville, Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, Moab, Ojai, Salt Bay, Santa Fe, Seattle, and Spoleto Festivals.  Her extensive discography for the Albany, Artek, and Naxos labels includes the Stravinsky Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Prokofiev’s Violin Concerti with the Seattle Symphony. Born in Pasadena, California, Jennifer attended the Colburn School, Harvard, the New England Conservatory, and the Juilliard School. She performs on a 1722 Antonio Stradivarius violin known as the “ex-Cadiz,” on generous loan from a private American foundation with support from Rare Violins In Consortium. She teaches in the graduate program at Stony Brook University.

David Salness

Violinist David Salness has attained international recognition as a performing artist and teacher. He has appeared in more than 30 countries and in virtually the entire United States in such renowned venues as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Salle Pleyel and London’s Wigmore Hall. His performances are broadcast on National Public Radio, Radio France, and the British and Canadian Broadcast Corporations. His recordings are found on the RCA, BMG, Telarc and Centaur labels, amongst others.

Salness was for twelve years a member of the Audubon Quartet and won the Deuxième Grand Prix as a member of Nisaika in the Evian International String Quartet Competition. Salness is a member of the Left Bank Quartet and appears frequently in the greater Washington, D.C. area performing in venues such as the Kennedy Center, National Gallery, the Phillips Collection, the Smithsonian and Strathmore Hall. Salness has been concertmaster of Northern Virginia’s Fairfax Symphony Orchestra for 28 years.

An alumnus of the Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Curtis Institute, Salness studied with David Cerone, Jascha Brodsky, Ivan Galamian, Joseph Gingold and Karen Tuttle. Salness was the longtime Director of Chamber Music Activities at the University of Maryland, where he is currently professor of violin.

Accompanists 2026

Evan Solomon

Pianist Evan Solomon has performed in France, Germany, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, and throughout the United States. His exceptionally wide repertoire has led to frequent engagements as official pianist at events such as the Hannover International Violin Competition, the International Viola Congress, the West Point Clarinet Summit, and the Starling-DeLay Violin Symposium.

Evan’s performances as faculty artist of the Great Mountains Music Festival in Korea have been heard on the Korean Broadcasting System and NPR’s Performance Today. Additional television credits include appearances on the A&E Network with violinist Sarah Chang and cellist Han-Na Chang, and Live from Lincoln Center: Perlman at the Penthouse on PBS. His recordings with tenor Michael Sells and clarinetist Seunghee Lee have received wide critical acclaim.

 A graduate of Grinnell College with a major in mathematics, Mr. Solomon received the Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California as a student of Brooks Smith and was on the collaborative piano staff of the Juilliard School for over thirty years.

Recent performances include the Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto #2 with the Germantown (TN) Symphony, recitals with violinist Basil Alter and cellist Alisa Horn for the Memphis Chamber Music Society, a concert with the Nashville Chamber Music Society, and an appearance with the Memphis Symphony in Orff’s Carmina Burana.

Eri Kang

Japanese-born Korean American pianist Eri Kang has captivated audiences worldwide with her tonal beauty and compelling musicality. A versatile soloist, collaborative pianist, and chamber musician, she has performed at New York City’s premier venues, including Stern Auditorium, Zankel Hall and Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Her performances span Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States.

Ms. Kang recently collaborated with violinist Gil Shaham, appearing together at Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, and other distinguished venues. Her artistry has earned praise in major publications including The Los Angeles Times, Strad Magazine, and Strings Magazine, and she has been featured on NPR, WQXR, and WNCN, as well as at numerous music festivals.

Her deep expertise in piano and string repertoire was shaped by years of work with Juilliard’s renowned faculty, including legendary pedagogue Dorothy DeLay.

Ms. Kang is also an official pianist for prestigious string competitions such as the Sion Valais International Competition (Switzerland), the Buenos Aires International Violin Competition, and the Johansen International String Competition. She currently serves on the faculty at Brooklyn College, City University of New York.

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Past Prize Winners

2024 Cello · Gaeun Kim · Megan Yip · Aaron Wolff
2022 Violin · Leonard Fu · Shenae Anderson · Russell Iceberg
2020 Cello · Gabriel Martins · Nathan Le · Connor Kim
2018 Violin · Timothy Chooi · Ania Filochowska · Hannah Cho
2017 Guitar · Tengyue Zhang · Young Ik Jang · Alec Holcomb
2016 Cello · Alexander Hersh · Sujin Lee · Noemie Raymond-Friset
2015 Violin · Zeyu Victor Li · Clare Semes · Wei Lu
2014 Guitar · Silviu Ciulei · Celil Refi Kaya · Brendan Evans
2013 Cello · Christine Lamprea · Austin Huntington · Sang Yhee
2012 Violin · Ji-Won Song · Siwoo Kim · Clara Lyon
2011 Guitar · Petrit Ceku · Benjamin Beirs · Silviu Ciulei
2010 Cello · Jacqueline Choi · Meta Weiss · Matthew Zalkind
2009 Violin · SoJin Kim · Hyorim Han · Shih-Kai Lin
2008 Classical Guitar · Nemanja Ostojic · Andrew Stroud · Benjamin Beirs
2007 Cello · Jonathan Lewis · Paul Dwyer · Alice Yoo
2006 Violin · Erin Keefe · Stephanie Jeong · Eunice Keem
2005 Classical Guitar · Aaron Brock · Randall Avers · David Galvez
2004 Cello · Julia Bruskin · Alice Yoo · Mihai Marica
2003 Violin · Angie Cheng · Nelson Lee · Katie Hynn · Wu Jie
2002 Classical Guitar · Marco Sartor · Aaron Brock · David Galvez
2001 Cello · Efe Baltacigil · Jesus Casto-Balbi · Sharon Bogas
2000 Violin · Daniel Kossov · Min-Young Kim · MinJung Kamg
1999 Classical Guitar · Denis Azabagic · Luis Mantovani · Rene Izquierdo
1998 Cello · Christopher Miroshnikov · Andre Tchekmazov · Clancy Newman
1997 Violin · Irina Muresanu · Kun Dong · Judith Ingolfsson