November 15, 2024
For Immediate Release
Contact: Susan Barbash, Competition Coordinator
516-639-8575 info@jsbachcompetition.org
2025 Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition Doubles Grand Prize to $10,000 and increases Second Place Prize to $2,500
The Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition has announced a major increase in prize money for their 2025 competition: the Grand Prize will double to $10,000 and continue to include 5 performance engagements. The Second Place Prize will increase to $2,500.
Submissions to the 2025 Competition will be accepted beginning March 1, 2025.
The submission deadline is midnight, June 15, 2025.
Finalists will be announced on July 30, 2025.
The competition is for string players ages 16-30, performing works (Partitas, Sonatas, Suites) by J.S. Bach for unaccompanied, bowed string instruments. Modern and baroque instruments are eligible.
The Finals will be held at Stony Brook University’s Staller Center Recital Hall at 1:00 pm on Thursday, October 16, 2025, and will be live-streamed by The Violin Channel.
Cash Prizes and Performing Engagements
Grand Prize – $10,000
Second Place Prize – $2,500
Performing Engagements:
The Grand Prize Winner will also be offered paid engagements with the following presenters on dates to be determined by mutual agreement:
The Grand Prize Winner will be engaged to perform a concert at a fee, date, and venue TBA. An archived video of the concert will be made available to the performer for their personal use. Founded in 1977 by the late J. Reilly Lewis, the Washington D.C.-based Washington Bach Consort presents three concurrent music series each season. With the music of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries firmly at the core, the group also performs music from the Renaissance to Classical periods.
The Grand Prize Winner will be engaged to perform a concert at a fee, date, and venue TBA. The Pennsylvania-based Bach Choir of Bethlehem shares the transformative power of the music of J.S. Bach and other composers through excellence in performance and education to build, strengthen, and sustain diverse communities, and to foster a life-long passion for the choral arts.
GEMS (Gotham Early Music Scene)
The Grand Prize Winner will be engaged to perform a concert presented by NYC-based GEMS at a fee, date, and venue TBA. Please note: GEMS requires that the artist perform on a period instrument. This concert will be live-streamed. The archived video of the stream will be made available to the performers for their personal use.
Amor Artis (40-voice chamber choir and baroque orchestra)
The Grand Prize Winner will be engaged to perform on its annual all-Bach concert at a fee, date, and venue TBA. The winner will perform a work by J. S. Bach (solo concerto or unaccompanied work) selected in consultation with the Artistic Director.
The Grand Prize Winner will be the featured soloist at the annual Island Symphony Bach Festival which will be held at 2:00 pm on Sunday, January 24, 2027, at St. Peter’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Bay Shore, New York. (Snow Date: Sunday, January 31, 2027) The winner’s repertoire for this concert will include an unaccompanied work by J.S. Bach (not necessarily the one performed for the Competition Finals). In the event the Grand Prize Winner is unable to perform at the Island Symphony Bach Festival, the Second Place Winner will be given the opportunity to perform at this event. Performance Fee: $1000.
Travel and Accommodations
Finalists are required to arrive on the Stony Brook campus on Wednesday October 15, 2025. Hotel accommodations will be provided on October 15 and 16 at the Hilton Garden Inn which is located on Stony Brook’s campus within walking distance of the recital hall. Please be advised that the Competition does not provide any stipend for travel expenses.
International applicants must consult the nearest United States Embassy or Consulate for guidance regarding visa requirements at the time of application. Applicants are required to secure their own visas for both the Competition, and, if they are the Grand Prize Winner, the subsequent performances. Upon receipt of the application, the Competition will provide an invitation to the United States to compete, subject to applicant’s reaching the Finals. The applicant will be responsible for informing the Competition of other documents they will need from the Competition for any visa applications in a timely manner.
Timeline
| APPLICATIONS POSTED | FEBRUARY 1, 2025 |
| APPLICATIONS OPEN | MARCH 1, 2025 ($50 submission fee) |
| SUBMISSION DEADLINE | JUNE 15, 2025, Midnight |
| FINALISTS ANNOUNCED | JULY 30, 2025 |
| FINALS | OCTOBER 16, 2025, 1:00 PM |
2025 Jury
Kim Kashkashian: Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the New England Conservatory
Renée Jolles: Professor of Violin at The Eastman School of Music
Kenneth Slowik: Artistic Director of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, Cello and Viol
Colin Carr: Professor of Music, Cello, & Chamber Music, Stony Brook University
Arthur Haas: Professor of Harpsichord, Early Music Performance & Continuo, Stony Brook University