Over the past two years, the Cerus Quartet has taken top honors in several notable competitions. In 2023 the quartet won first prize and the Michigan Prize (awarded for best performance of a piece written by a U-M composer) in SMTD’s Briggs Chamber Music Competition. The following year, they won first prize in the 2024 Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) National Chamber Music Competition. And in May 2025, they earned the gold medal in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and won the 2025 Concert Artists Guild (CAG) Louis and Susan Meisel Competition.
“We feel extremely honored to have been recognized by both the Fischoff and the Concert Artists Guild competitions this year,” the quartet stated. “These recognitions help validate all of our hard work and fill us with so much passion to keep playing together for as long as we are able to!” Earning the Fischoff gold medal involves a monetary prize, professional development services, and performance opportunities. The CAG award includes a multi-year management contract, a New York debut performance, career mentorship, and participation in “citizen musician” training, which CAG describes as helping artists “connect their music to the greater world.”
Cerus Quartet: Kyle Kato (left), Samuel Dishon, Laura Ramsay, and Roberto Campa
The Cerus Quartet consists of Roberto Campa (BM ’23, MM ’25, saxophone) on soprano saxophone, Laura Ramsay (BM ’24, saxophone, music education) on alto, Kyle Kato (MM ’26, saxophone, chamber music) on tenor, and Samuel Dishon (MM ’26, saxophone, chamber music) on baritone. Referring to the CAG award, Timothy McAllister, professor of saxophone, noted that the Cerus Quartet is “only the fourth sax quartet in the organization’s history to be named to its roster.” The first such winner was another saxophone ensemble formed at U-M, the Sinta Quartet, which was named in honor of Professor Emeritus Donald Sinta and won the CAG competition in 2013.
The coming months will be busy for the Cerus Quartet, including a residency at Interlochen as part of Interlochen Public Radio’s Sound Garden Project, a residency at Avaloch Farm Music Institute, and the Fischoff “Double Gold” tour in September, which will include concerts and educational outreach across the Midwest. On November 21, the quartet will perform a concerto with the U-M Symphony Band, along with several other engagements throughout the United States during the 2025-26 season. “In a world where living in the moment proves to be increasingly difficult,” the quartet shared, “it means the world to be able to make live music and to help bring our community together. Our mission as an ensemble is to share the versatile sonic possibilities of the saxophone quartet and to solidify its place at the heart of 21st-century classical music.”
The members of the Cerus Quartet expressed their gratitude to those who have provided support and guidance to them: “We’d love to give a shout-out to the saxophone community, our supportive family, friends, and our mentor and coach, Dr. Tim McAllister!”