Callisto Quartet to Perform in Several Florida Cities in March

The Callisto Quartet, grand prize winners of the 2018 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and one of the most acclaimed young string ensembles in the world, will present a concert Friday, March 22 at 5 pm at Club Pelican Bay, 707 Gulf Park Drive, Naples.

On a mini tour of Florida, the quartet from the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) will also give a private concert in Sanibel Island and perform at the Commonfund Forum in Orlando and at the Community Church of Vero Beach. Members of the public are welcome to attend the services in Vero Beach on Sunday, March 24 at 8:30 am or 10 am. The church is located at 1901 23rd Street, Vero Beach.

The Callisto Quartet was formed at CIM in 2016 and brings together four dedicated and passionate musicians who share a love of chamber music – violinists Paul Aguilar and Rachel Stenzel, violist Eva Kennedy and cellist Hannah Moses. Aguilar studies with Jaime Laredo and Jan Mark Sloman; Stenzel with Sloman and Stephen Rose; Kennedy with Lynne Ramsey and Moses with Melissa Kraut.

In addition to the Fischoff, achievements by the group include recognition as a top prize winner at the 2018 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition where they were the only North American quartet selected to compete. They also were top prize winners at the 2018 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in London.

As an example of their meteoric rise in the last two-plus years, the ensemble has been invited to the prestigious 2019 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in France this June. The artistic board of the competition praises the selected quartets as “the six best young string quartets in the world.”

Callisto has participated and performed in many prestigious chamber music festivals such as the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, McGill International String Quartet Academy, Shouse Institute and Robert Mann String Quartet Institute. They made their New York City debut in December 2018 on the Schneider Concert Series and will be featured performers for the first time at Ravinia Festival in Chicago in April 2019.

Cleveland and Naples residents Barbara and Mal Mixon are hosting the event at Club Pelican Bay. Mal Mixon is a Life Trustee of the CIM Board of Trustees.

Concert at Club Pelican Bay:

• Date & Time: Friday, March 22 at 5pm
• Performers: Callisto Quartet
• Repertoire: Haydn's String Quartet Op. 77 (4 movements), Shaw's Entr’acte and Ravel's String Quartet in F Major 
• Location: Club Pelican Bay, 707 Gulf Park Drive, Naples, FL  
• Reservations: This is a free concert. Reservations are required; email ayana.cheston@cim.edu or call 216-795-3120

Concert at Community Church of Vero Beach:

• Date & Time: Sunday, March 24 at 8:30am (Chapel Service) and 10am (Sanctuary Services)
• Performers: Callisto Quartet will perform as part of church services  
• Location: Community Church of Vero Beach, 1901 23rd Street, Vero Beach, FL   
• All are welcome to attend.