The mission of the Stulberg International String Competition is to promote excellence in string instrument performance by gifted artists under the age of twenty. The Stulberg’s vision is to deepen community engagement while offering a premier string competition.

The Stulberg International String Competition was founded in 1975 in memory of Julius Stulberg, longtime violin teacher and conductor of the Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo Junior Symphony orchestras. The Stulberg provides performance and educational opportunities for young string instrument (violin, viola, cello, double bass) musicians to develop essential skills and prepare for their professional performance careers.

The Stulberg uses a blind screening process every year to select twelve string instrument semifinalists from applicants from around the world. Each semifinalist travels to Kalamazoo in May to compete for three medal prizes before a jury of distinguished judges. All Stulberg competition events are open to the Kalamazoo public.

The 2024/25 Stulberg is the fiftieth anniversary of the competition, and the Stulberg is celebrating its first fifty years with special performances, print and media events, a new commission of a solo string work and a gala.

Over 2,500 young string musicians have participated in the first half-century of the Stulberg International String Competition. The list of past medalists is a veritable international Who’s-Who of string musical artists and teachers. Notable Stulberg alumni include Joshua Bell, Anthony Ross, Rachel Barton Pine, Wendy Warner, Nicholas Schwartz, Lucia Lin, Catherine Basrak.

To learn more, visit www.stulberg.org