What started last summer as weekly rehearsals has paid off for two orchestra students on campus, both of whom were selected to advance from the preliminary round of the Coleman Chamber Music Competition, for a chance to win the People’s Choice Award. 

“Our preparation started last summer,” senior finalist Ka eon Cho said. “We tried to meet every week and rehearse for about an hour and a half.”

Competing with 10 other ensembles nationwide, a virtual showdown will be held via Zoom Saturday at 11:00 a.m., to determine which team advances and wins the audience prize. 

The showdown will be open to the public and will allow free admission. Those who wish to view will be able to participate in the vote to determine which ensemble receives the award. 

As the competition grows increasingly difficult, junior Jacob Choi feels honored to have advanced this far. 

“We want to try our best to win something,” he said. “ I never would’ve imagined myself to participate in such a competition, so it’s a wonderful feeling. I feel thankful and lucky to be able to experience something like this. Obviously, there are way too many great quartets and ensembles participating in this competition, so we don’t expect much. We just want to try our best, have fun, and see where it takes us.”

With the absence of recording equipment and a lack of practice time, advancing to the final round came as a shock to Cho. 

“I was actually surprised,” she said. “We tried to meet every week and rehearse for about an hour and a half. Unfortunately, since our trio is all seniors, scheduling did get pretty hard. We definitely could have prepared better, but we had to manage with the time we had. This was the first time I didn’t record super professionally. We did it in my living room.”

However, the opportunity extends beyond the competition itself. 

“We will be performing on the From the Top Radio Show sometime soon, so stay tuned for that,” Cho said. “ I [also] applied for universities that allowed me to either dual major in violin performance and chemistry, or at least minor in music.”