String Day 2025 [DRAFT/do not release]

We invite high school and college string players (violin, viola, cello) — as well as professionals and adult hobbyists/non-students — to join us for an exciting day of performances, reading sessions, masterclasses, and collaboration with the Ohio State string studios, faculty, and guest string quartet, the Callisto Quartet. 

There will also be information and Q&A sessions led by performance faculty; string education faculty, Dr. Heather Lofdahl; and admissions coordinator, Tanya Sparks.

We hope to see you there!

Proposed Schedule

• 10 a.m. — Check-in at the Timashev Family Music Building
• 10:30–11:15 — String faculty performance and introductions
• 11:15–11:45 — Performance area, Music Education and Admissions information and Q&A session
• 12:15–1 p.m. — Break-out master class sessions for each instrument
• 1–2 p.m. — Lunch break (pizza provided)
• 2 p.m. — String faculty and participant chamber music reading session
• 3 p.m. — Guest artists: Callisto Quartet performance
• 4–4:30 — Reception and Q&A session with Callisto Quartet on a life and career in music

All events are subject to change.

Meet our Guest Artists

Praised for their “lush intensity and bravado” and the “cohesion and intonation one might expect from an ensemble twice their age” (Third Coast Review), the American-Canadian Callisto Quartet brings together four musicians who share a passion for bringing chamber music to audiences around the world. Since their inception at the Cleveland Institute of Music in 2016, Callisto has garnered top prizes in nearly every major international chamber music competition and has been hailed by audiences across the globe. Grand Prize winners of the 2018 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and Second Prize Winners of the 2019 Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Callisto Quartet has also taken home prizes from the Bordeaux, Melbourne, and Wigmore Hall competitions. Previously, Callisto has held residencies at prestigious institutions such as Yale University, the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel (Belgium), Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, and the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía (Spain). From 2020–2022 Callisto was the Ernst Stiefel Quartet in Residence at Caramoor Center for Music and Arts, where they were the first quartet to perform all six string quartets of Bartòk at Caramoor.

The Callisto Quartet maintains an active touring and performing schedule, which has included notable appearances in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Schneider Concert Series, Ravinia Festival, the Banff International String Quartet Festival, and the Heidelberg String Quartet Festival. Additionally, Callisto has been invited to perform at renowned chamber music festivals throughout North America and Europe, such as the La Jolla Music Society Summerfest, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the Emilia Romagna Festival, the Jeunesses Musicales Deutschland Chamber Music Campus, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and the McGill International String Quartet Academy. In 2021, Callisto performed a series of concerts in Berlin and Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, at the Musethica International Chamber Music Festival, where they collaborated with Musethica director and violist Avri Levitan. Callisto has been honored to share the stage with many legendary artists, including Misha Amory, Ettore Causa, Tara Helen O'Connor, Desmond Hoebig, Nina Lee, Frank Morelli, Tai Murray, Lawrence Power, David Shifrin, Miguel da Silva, Paul Watkins, and many others.

As dedicated educators, the Callisto Quartet is deeply committed to mentoring students and connecting with audiences. Callisto has taught master classes at universities including Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the University of Washington, and the University of California–Santa Barbara, and served as faculty at summer festivals such as Credo Chamber Music, Bravo International Music Festival, and the Hudson Montessori Conservatory Chamber Music Intensive. In summer 2025, Callisto will join the faculty of Rocky Ridge Music as their Faculty Quartet in Residence. Callisto developed a unique chamber music curriculum entitled “Chamber Music Deconstructed,” which they have shared with arts organizations across the country. As a result of the success of this curriculum, Callisto was asked in 2023 to assist in spearheading a chamber music pedagogy initiative at the Hudson Montessori School Conservatory of Music, which focused on teacher training and sharing chamber music teaching techniques with private music faculty. Return to top of page

Questions? Email Professor Julia Yang at yang.7708@osu.edu.