'Fischoff Winter Gala' raises funds for international music competition, encourages youth to pursue classical music

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - ABC57's Jennifer Copeland was the emcee Saturday night for the annual Fischhoff Winter Gala, which supports the Fischhoff National Chamber Music Association.

The night included dinner, an auction, and a live performance from the Cerus Quartet from Ann Arbor.

The organization's main event each year is a Chamber Music Competition in South Bend each Mother's Day weekend for the past 50 years.

Scott Campbell, Executive Director of the Fischoff Chamber Music Association, stated, "We just celebrated having done outreach to over 100,000 students in the Michiana area. This is giving students that would have never otherwise had the opportunity to interact with and hear top classical music done at the highest level by the top performers in the country. And it inspires them to go on and do it themselves. And we've had people from this area go on and make amazing careers in music."

We're told the organization's annual competition started with just a group of South Bend natives, but grew to international audiences and is now, as stated by them, the country's most prestigious chamber music competition.