Feb 10 2018
String Quartet Smackdown IV

String Quartet Smackdown IV

Presented by Golden Hornet at Alamo Drafthouse - South Lamar

Tickets can be purchased here.

In its fourth year and slated for yet another highly successful and sold-out performance, this bracketed, NCAA tournament style competition brings original string quartet compositions head-to-head in front of a live, participatory audience. It’s like March Madness for the ears!

Submissions were accepted from around the world. A panel of composers – including Ashley BathgateFelipe Pérez Santiago, and Mattie Kaiser – helped select sixteen of these compositions to move on to the live performance “Smackdown,” taking place Saturday February 10, 2018. Invoke will perform the compositions in four rounds, and record all finalist pieces. The event will be MC’d by Graham Reynolds and Peter Stopschinski.

The live audience in attendance will be directly involved in the decision process by texting a code to vote for their favorite pieces in each round. The winner of each round moves on in the tournament… and the champion will receive a grand prize of $1,500, plus other items of recognition.

No matter your music writing skills, we hope you’ll join us for this fantastically fun event that is fit for all ages.

The 2018 FINAL 16:

Angela Slater
Anoushka Sharp
Dario Gonzalez Valderrama
Feona Jones
Grace Ma
Hermes Camacho
Jean Ahn
Jungyoon Wie
Marie Jocelyn Marfil
Natalie Dietterich
Nick Vasallo
Niloufar Nourbakhsh
Michael Kurth
Paul Wiancko
Sophie Mathieu
Steven Snowden

About Golden Hornet
Drawing on the collaborative spirit of rock bands and the composer-led nature of classical music, Golden Hornet is an Austin, TX non-profit that commissions new music, fosters young and emerging composers, and presents adventurous works in non-traditional settings.


Golden Hornet is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department, as well as private donations and grant sources.

Admission Info

Tickets are $12.99 each for assigned seating, available on the Alamo Drafthouse Website.

Phone: 512-861-7040

Dates & Times

2018/02/10 - 2018/02/10

Location Info

Alamo Drafthouse - South Lamar

1120 South Lamar, Austin, TX 78704

Parking Info

Parking is available in Lamar Union’s parking garages. We recommend entering the parking garage located off Treadwell. From Lamar, go west on Treadwell and the garage entrance will be immediately to your left. For Thursday openings and most Friday or Saturday evenings, allow some additional time to find a space.