String Quartet Smackdown IX

Submissions are Closed, tickets available now

Tickets for String Quartet SMACKDOWN IX are now available!

💥NEW VENUE:⠀
Baker Center⠀
📍3908 Avenue B, Austin, TX 78751 [Hyde Park]⠀
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Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League’s new headquarters at the Baker Center is our 2025 SMACKDOWN venue. Tim is decking it out, and we’re excited to try something ✨new✨⠀
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💥DATE/NEW START TIME:⠀
Saturday, February 22, 2025⠀
7:30 PM - 10:00 PM⠀
💥16 SMACKDOWN FINALISTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED JAN. 21ST!⠀
…stay tuned 📺⠀

Golden Hornet's String Quartet Smackdown is a bracketed, NCAA basketball style tournament competition which brings original four-minute string quartet compositions head-to-head in front of a live, participatory audience. It’s like NCAA March Madness for the ears!

Every other fall, composers from around the globe are invited to submit through an open, no-cost entry process. Following submission, a diverse panel of judges selects sixteen compositions to be performed live at the String Quartet Smackdown, which takes place in February in Austin, TX.

Composers of any age, experience level, and background are welcome to submit. There are no style constraints apart from length and instrumentation -- compositions must be four minutes long and written for a traditional string quartet. In particular, we encourage submissions from individuals who identify with historically marginalized and/or underrepresented demographics within the field of classical music. All sixteen finalists receive a professional studio recording of their work. The voting audience determines which finalist will be named the Champion of Smackdown; the champion wins a cash prize.

A professional string quartet performs the pieces LIVE* for the in-person and/or virtual audience. This performance is broken into four rounds:

Round 1 (Round of 16): One minute of all sixteen pieces
Round 2 (Quarterfinals): Two minutes of eight pieces
Round 3 (Semi-finals): Three minutes of four pieces
Round 4 (Finals) : Full four minutes of two pieces

The audience uses their cell phones or a mobile app to vote, and their responses appear live on screen. The winner of each bracket moves on in the tournament!

In a riotous - and usually very close - finish, the audience determines the String Quartet Smackdown champion!

ALL sixteen finalists receive a professional studio recording of their piece, and the winner takes home a cash prize!

Meet the Smackdown VIII Finalists:

Smackdown IX Panel of Judges: