Callisto Quartet named YSM’s Fellowship String Quartet

The Callisto Quartet has been named the Yale School of Music’s 2022-2023 Fellowship String Quartet, succeeding the Omer Quartet. During its yearlong residency, the Callisto Quartet will be mentored by YSM’s faculty ensemble-in-residence, the Brentano String Quartet, and will coach undergraduate chamber music groups through Yale’s Department of Music.

“The opportunity to study with the Brentano String Quartet is really special,” Callisto Quartet violinist and current YSM student Gregory Lewis ’19MM ’27DMA said, remarking on the Brentano Quartet’s scholarly approach to its work, whether performing or coaching chamber music. Callisto Quartet violist Eva Kennedy called the opportunity to pass experience on to younger groups a privilege, saying teaching is “something that we can definitely see as part of our future.” Broader, long-term goals also include “making music more accessible for everyone,” Kennedy said, and “demystifying the process of being a good musician.” Lewis said he and his colleagues—Kennedy, violinist and YSM alum Cameron Daly ’18BA ’20MM, and cellist Hannah Moses—also look forward to the residency helping the group “transition fully to a professional lifestyle.”

The Callisto Quartet, which was formed at the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2016, won the Grand Prize at the 2018 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and Second Prize at the 2019 Banff International Chamber Music Competition. The quartet served as the Graduate String Quartet in Residence at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and, from 2020 to 2022, was the Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. The Callisto Quartet received a fellowship in 2017 from the Yale Summer School of Music/Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. The quartet’s yearlong fellowship at YSM includes a $15,000 stipend for each musician and is renewable for a second year.