Eric Tsai is a Taiwanese-American violinist whose playing has been described as both “dashing” and “heart-wrenching," and whose thoughtful performances has earned him a place on stages across the globe. The 2nd Prize winner of the 2019 Michael Hill International Violin competition, Eric has garnered critical acclaim as a soloist and chamber player, as well as a champion of music from Taiwan.
Wherever he performs, Eric is deeply committed to spreading hope and light to audiences around the world through his art. Throughout the pandemic, his quartet partnered with Taiwan Connection to bring music to under-served communities across Taiwan, and he has also participated in other community engagement projects across New York and Philadelphia.
His mentors include Hagai Shaham, Catherine Cho, Ida Kavafian, and Shmuel Ashkenasi; he received degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School and is currently pursuing his doctorate at Stony Brook University as a Staller Fellow.
Praised for his “brilliant technique” (Chronicle Journal) and “wonderful musical personality” (Winnipeg Free Press), Gregory Lewis enjoys an international career as a soloist and chamber musician. Lewis has appeared with the Winnipeg, Kitchener-Waterloo, Thunder Bay, Colburn Virtuosi, and Strathcona symphony orchestras, among others. One of CBC’s “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30”, Lewis received First Prize at the 2017 Canadian National Music Festival and is a winner of the 2023 Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank Competition.
Lewis’s appearances include the Ravinia Festival, Yellow Barn, Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, Caramoor Center, and the Four Seasons, Toronto, Montreal, Olympic, Norfolk, Agassiz, and Ottawa chamber music festivals. He has performed in venues including Carnegie Hall, Kaufman Center, Lincoln Center, Jordan Hall, and 92nd Y. Lewis is a graduate of Yale University and the Colburn Conservatory, and performs on the 1768 "Miller" Januarius Gagliano, on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Violist Eva Kennedy has had a lifelong passion for chamber music ever since playing in her very first quartet at the age of 7 in her hometown of Worthington, Ohio. As a founding member of the Callisto Quartet, she has had the opportunity to perform some of classical music’s greatest repertoire across North America and around the world. The Callisto Quartet has been internationally recognized with major prizes from the Banff, Bordeaux, Melbourne, and Fischoff competitions, and maintains an active performing schedule with appearances at venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Ravinia Festival, and many others. Eva holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, as well as a Master’s degree from Rice University, where she was in residence with the Callisto Quartet. She also spent a semester as an exchange student at the Paris Conservatory. Her mentors have included Deborah Price, Jeffrey Irvine, Sabine Toutain, Lynne Ramsey, and James Dunham.
Eva is Canadian through her father’s side and has both American and Canadian citizenships. Outside of music, she enjoys rock climbing and traveling with her family.
Cellist Hannah Moses enjoys a vibrant career as both performer and educator. A Cleveland native, Moses holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where her teachers included Richard Weiss, Melissa Kraut, and Norman Fischer. Moses is currently Cello Professor at Kent State University and the University of Akron, and is an active member of Northeast Ohio’s musical community, most recently having joined the board of the Cleveland Cello Society. As founding cellist of the Callisto Quartet, Moses maintains a busy international concert schedule and has performed at venues across the globe including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Heidelberg String Quartet Festival.
Moses plays on a 1780 John Betts cello on generous loan from the Ravinia Steans Institute.