It all began with Robert Schumann. While at the Marlboro Music Festival this past summer, Evnin Rising Stars Guest Artistic Director Marcy Rosen and pianist Janice Carissa discussed potential repertoire to study and perform during the Evnin Rising Stars residency this fall.  

In the course of their conversations, Rosen discovered that Carissa had never played the Schumann Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44 and thought it would be a perfect piece to delve into at Caramoor. “What a great way to be able to study that piece and focus on it intensely for a week. Fantastic! I’m thrilled that we will get to learn that together,” she told her new colleague. 

Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856) wrote his Piano Quintet in 1842, what many musicologists call his “chamber music year.” The work was dedicated to his wife Clara, one of the preeminent concert pianists of that time. He started the year feverishly studying string quartets of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven before writing his three Op. 41 string quartets in the summer. Those works served as a springboard towards his Piano Quintet, the first major work of its kind combining a string quartet with piano. Schumann wrote the quintet in quite a short time in late September and early October of that year. He and Clara also spent much of the year studying counterpoint and the music of J.S. Bach, and one can definitely hear echoes of Bach’s influence in the Piano Quintet. 

Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847) was a dear friend of both Robert and Clara and was the dedicatee of Robert’s Op. 41 string quartets. At the private premiere of Schumann’s Piano Quintet in Leipzig, Felix filled in for Clara when she suddenly fell ill. The fact that he sightread the part was a testament to Mendelssohn’s keyboard skills. When Rosen asked one of her best friends, Daniel Phillips, what he would like to pair with the Schumann during the residency week, his choice of Mendelssohn’s String Quintet in A Major, Op. 18 seemed like a natural one, especially considering the deep connection between the two composers.  

The Op. 18 quintet was written after Mendelssohn’s String Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20, a birthday gift for Mendelssohn’s friend and violin teacher Eduard Rietz, who was only seven years older than Felix. The florid first violin part of the Octet took full advantage of Rietz’s skill on the instrument. While the reason for the genesis of the Op. 18 quintet in the spring of 1826 is unknown, we do know that Rietz was involved in the first performances of the piece and the virtuosic violin writing featured in the quintet provides definitive proof. Many of the textures and compositional devices explored in the 1825 octet can be found in the 1826 quintet, including clever use of counterpoint, which may be a nod to Mendelssohn’s increasing preoccupation with the music of J.S. Bach (and another reason this piece pairs well with Schumann’s Piano Quintet).

Eduard Rietz was instrumental in encouraging Felix’s connection to the music of Bach. The copy of the St. Matthew Passion given to Felix by his grandmother Bella Solomon was made by Rietz from a manuscript owned by Felix’s composition teacher Carl Friedrich Zelter. Rietz would later copy out the performance parts from this score and serve as concertmaster of the 1829 revival performance of the St. Matthew Passion that Mendelssohn conducted from the piano. A few years after this performance, Rietz would influence the Op. 18 quintet in a tragic manner. “[L]anky old Rietz”, as Mendelssohn sometimes called him, died of tuberculosis in 1832. Shortly after Franz Liszt broke the news to Felix, he decided to revisit the Op. 20 octet and the Op. 18 quintet, two works intimately connected to Rietz, and prepare them for publication. Mendelssohn chose to strike the original Minuetto from the quintet and, to help him work through the terrible grief he felt due to Rietz’s death, he composed a new slow movement, an Intermezzo that he subtitled Nachruf (In Memoriam).

Rosen and Phillips decided to complete the program with Frank Bridge’s Sextet in E-flat major, H. 107. This is a work that Rosen had performed with the Orion String Quartet (in which Phillips plays violin) and violist Michael Tree of the Guarneri Quartet. “It was always such a privilege to play with Michael Tree … it was towards the end of his life that we performed the Bridge so it was a very moving experience to be there with him … It’s a wonderful piece and not heard very often.” Rosen could have programmed one of the Brahms sextets or Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence, but wanted to go in a different direction. “The Bridge, I think, is a fantastic piece, and having played it before it’s worth introducing the young artists to another piece they don’t know. It’s a very accessible piece, and it has wonderful tunes and wonderful energy.” 

Frank Bridge (1879 – 1941) wrote his Sextet between 1906 – 1912, a period of time where Bridge was both a performing violist and a composer. He was a member of the English String Quartet until 1915, one of the foremost ensembles in England during the early 20th century. The quartet primarily played music by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven but also performed Bridge’s compositions and gave the British premieres of the Debussy and Ravel string quartets. Bridge’s exposure to these various styles, especially the Modernist French voices, as well as his perspective as a performer all significantly shaped his compositional approach. The Sextet was premiered in 1913 by the English String Quartet with violist Ernest Tomlinson and cellist Felix Salmond (who is linked to Rosen via one of his pupils, Orlando Cole). While this piece has one less movement than the Mendelssohn and Schumann, a close listen will reveal that Bridge combines the usual inner movements (slow and scherzo) into a hybrid movement. Structural innovation is found throughout the piece alongside soaring melodies that make this a very satisfying piece to both play and listen to.

Programs often come together in an organic way, and artists draw on both conscious and subconscious information to tie different pieces together, especially when they are curated in collaboration with friends. Rosen believes the resulting mix of repertoire that she and Phillips have chosen will lead to a very satisfying week for the Evnin Rising Stars. “I think the characters of the pieces that we’re playing are going to work splendidly together … I think that the participants who are performing are going to be very exciting for the audience to engage with, and I think they’re going to do an amazing job with the music that we’re playing, I think that they’re going to relate to the music super well, and I think it’s going to be a wonderful, wonderful week.” 

– Daniel Doña

Founded in 1992, the Evnin Rising Stars mentoring program, renamed in honor of Judy Evnin, Caramoor’s Chairman Emerita, has identified some of the finest musicians of the next generation and helped them cross the threshold from their student years into the early stages of professional careers. 

Claire Bourg, violin (Maximilian E. & Marion O. Hoffman Foundation Rising Star)

Claire Bourg has performed in such venues as Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, and Jordan Hall in Boston. She was awarded second prize at both the 2020 Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition and the 2021 Luminarts Fellowship. An avid chamber musician, she has participated at Marlboro Music Festival, Yellow Barn, Ravinia, Taos School of Music, IMS Prussia Cove masterclasses, and the Gstaadt Menuhin Festival Academy, where she has performed with Kim Kashkashian, Peter Frankl, Jorg Widmann, and Frans Helmerson, among others.  Bourg has collaborated with several preeminent composers, including Bright Sheng and Augusta Read Thomas. She currently serves as the concertmaster of Symphony in C in Philadelphia. A native of Chicago, Bourg earned an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music and a Bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory. She is currently studying with Joseph Lin at The Juilliard School. 

Stephanie Zyzak, violin (Robert D. Hodes Rising Star)

Praised for her sensitive musicianship and heartfelt playing, violinist Stephanie Zyzak is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the most soulful and profound musicians of her generation. She has performed as a soloist with orchestras throughout Germany, Russia, Austria, Sweden, Spain, Italy, and France. Zysak is a deeply passionate chamber musician and has collaborated with renowned artists including Mitsuko Uchida, Kim Kashkashian, Miriam Fried, Marcy Rosen, Ida Kavafian, among others. She has also performed at festivals including the Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, and the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival. Born in South Carolina in 1994, Zyzak is a graduate of New England Conservatory where she studied with Miriam Fried. Currently, she studies at CUNY The Graduate Center with Mark Steinberg and is a fellow at Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect. She performs on a 1778 Joseph and Antonio Gagliano violin, generously on loan from Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute. 

Tanner Menees, viola (Susan & Joseph Handelman Rising Star)

As a chamber musician, violist Tanner Menees has performed internationally at festivals including Marlboro Music Festival, Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Chamberfest Cleveland, Menuhin Festival String Academy, Edinburgh Music Festival, Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, and McGill International String Quartet Academy. He has performed as a soloist with the Colburn Orchestra, under Thierry Fischer, and the Symphony New Hampshire. He is featured in Mike Grittani’s video, Dreaming of Boccherini, as part of the NEXUS Chamber Music Festival in 2019. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from the Colburn School, and his Master of Music degree at the New England Conservatory. Menees is currently a student of Nobuko Imai at the Reina Sofía School of Music’s Fundación BBVA on a scholarship from Fundación Albéniz. He plays on a viola of the Tarasconi school made in Milan, Italy c. 1880, courtesy of Guarneri Hall NFP and Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins. 

Nathan Chan, cello (Mimi & Barry Alperin Rising Star)

Cellist Nathan Chan made his musical debut at the age of three, conducting the San Jose Chamber Orchestra. As an adult, he has performed as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, The Royal Philharmonic, and the Albany Symphony, among others. Chan was a chosen artist for Fondation Louis Vuitton’s Classe d’Excellence du Violoncelle with renowned cellist Gautier Capuçon. Chan earned his Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and has a growing internet presence with over 25 million views on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok (@nathanchancello). He studied with Richard Aaron at The Juilliard School, where he earned his Masters of Music degree. He recently released his first NFT, collaborating with AI Artist Lia Coleman, combining classical music with machine-learning art. He is currently Assistant Principal Cello of the Seattle Symphony. 

Janice Carissa, piano (Edna B. Salomon Rising Star)

Janice Carissa is a winner of Salon de Virtuosi (2018) and has performed at Louis Vuitton Foundation, Sydney Opera House, Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, The Pavilion at Ravinia, Jay Pritzker Pavilion, WQXR’s Greene Space, and the United Nations. Following her Philadelphia Orchestra debuts with Cristian Macelaru (at Mann Center) and Stephane Deneve (at SPAC), she stepped in for Andre Watts with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and debuted with Symphony in C, Bay Atlantic, Eastern Wind, and John Hopkins. Fueled by her ardent appetite for chamber music, Carissa performs with the Jupiter Chamber Concert Series, NSCMF, and Ensemble 132 frequently. She has  participated in the Marlboro, Ravinia, Kneisel Hall, Oxford, and Aspen festivals. Collaborations with renowned mentors include Vadim Gluzman, Miriam Fried, Peter Wiley, Lucy Shelton, David Shifrin, Mark Kosower, Josef Spacek, and Jennifer Cano. Carissa currently studies with Robert McDonald at the Curtis Institute of Music. 

Marcy Rosen, Guest Artistic Director

Marcy Rosen, cellist, has established herself as one of the most important and respected artists of our day. Los Angeles Times music critic Herbert Glass has called her “one of the intimate art’s abiding treasures” and The New Yorker Magazine deemed her “a New York legend of the cello.” She has performed in recital and with orchestras throughout Canada, England, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South America, Switzerland, and throughout the United States. Sought after for her riveting and informative master classes, she has been a guest of the Curtis Institute of Music, the New England Conservatory, the San Francisco Conservatory, the Central Conservatory in Beijing, the Seoul Arts Center in Korea, and the Cartagena International Music Festival in Colombia.  

Rosen was a founding member of the Mendelssohn String Quartet, which toured worldwide for 31 years. Since 1986, she has served as Artistic Director of Chesapeake Music in Maryland. Since first attending the Marlboro Music Festival in 1975, she has participated in 25 Musicians from Marlboro tours, including concerts celebrating the 40^th, 50^th, and 60^th anniversaries of the festival. 

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Rosen is currently a professor of cello at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, while also serving as Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Live concert series. She is on the faculty at the Mannes College of Music in New York City.  

Daniel Phillips, viola

Violinist/violist Daniel Phillips enjoys a versatile career as a chamber musician, solo artist, and teacher. A graduate of Juilliard, his major teachers were his father Eugene Phillips, Ivan Galamian, Sally Thomas, Nathan Milstein, Sandor Vegh, and George Neikrug. He is a founding member of the Orion String Quartet, which performs regularly at the Chamber Music Society. His recordings include the complete quartets of Beethoven and Leon Kirchner. Since winning the 1976 Young Concert Artists Competition, he has performed as a soloist with many orchestras, including the Pittsburgh, Boston, Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Yakima symphonies.  

He appears regularly at the Spoleto USA Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, and Chesapeake Music Festival. He currently serves as co-Artistic Director of Music from Angel Fire.  Since its inception, he has participated in the International Musicians Seminar in Cornwall, England, and he recently returned to the Marlboro Music Festival. He has served on the faculty of the Heifetz Institute and the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar at Stanford. He was a member of the renowned Bach Aria Group, and has toured and recorded in a string quartet for Sony with Gidon Kremer, Kim Kashkashian, and Yo-Yo Ma.  

A judge in the 2018 Seoul International Violin Competition and the 2019 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, he is a professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, and he serves on the faculties of the Mannes College of Music, Bard College Conservatory, and The Juilliard School. He lives with his wife, flutist Tara Helen O’Connor, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. 

• Edward Arron, cello, soloist and chamber musician
• Alisa Weilerstein, cello, 2011 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship winner, international soloist
• Frank Huang, violin, concertmaster of New York Philharmonic
• Benjamin Beilman, violin, First Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, international soloist
• Teng Li, principal viola, Los Angeles Philharmonic
• Alexis Pia Gerlach, cello, Trio Solisti
• Narek Hakhnazaryan, cello, First Prize Gold Medalist, 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition
• Jonathan Biss, piano, international soloist, chamber musician, and co-Artistic Director of the Marlboro Music School and Festival
• Nicholas Cords, viola, Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble; Brooklyn Rider
• Jennifer Frautschi, violin, international soloist and chamber musician
• Timothy Fain, violin, heard on the Grammy-nominated sound track of the film Black Swan
• Laura Frautschi, violin, Intersection Trio
• Johnny Gandelsman, violin, Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble; Brooklyn Rider
• Arnaud Sussmann, violin, recipient of the 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant
• Max Mandel, viola, Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, FLUX Quartet, founding member of The Knights
• Andrew Tyson, piano, recipient of the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant
• Jesse Mills, violin, Horszowski Trio
• Yura Lee, violin/viola, Enso String Quartet
• Karen Ouzounian, cello, Aizuri Quartet
• Ayane Kozasa, viola, Aizuri Quartet
• Paul Huang, violin, recipient of the 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant  and recipient of the 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists.
• Alexi Kenney, violin, recipient of 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant
• Tessa Lark, violin, recipient of a 2018 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and a 2016 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Silver Medalist in the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, and winner of the 2012 Naumburg International Violin Competition
• Maria Ioudenitch, violin, winner of the 2021 Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition
• Oliver Herbert, cello, Recipient of a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant
• Zoe Martin-Doike, viola, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
• Ruben Rengel, violin, Winner of the Robert F. Smith Prize at the 2018 Sphinx Competition
• Matthew Lipman, viola Recipient of a 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant
• Stefan Jackiw, violin, international soloist and member of Junction Trio

Read more about Caramoor’s mentoring programs and alumni artists.