Music in the Vineyards is delighted to introduce the recipients of our annual Fellowship String Quartet Program, The Cabaletta Quartet.
The Cabaletta Quartet was formed in 2023 by Juilliard undergraduate students Chili Ekman (violin), Henry Rogers (violin), Pearl de la Motte (viola), and Vanny Hu (cello).
Two of the members grew up in California; Chili is a Berkeley native, and Pearl spent time in both San Diego and San Francisco. Vanny is from Stratford, Canada, and Henry is from Princeton, New Jersey. Prior to their formation as a quartet, they individually spent recent summers at the Aspen Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Sarasota Music Festival, Heifetz Institute and Toronto Summer Chamber Festival.
During their first year together, they have been coached and mentored by many esteemed musicians including David Finckel, Daniel Phillips, Paul Neubauer, Robert Levin, Joseph Lin, and Brian Zeger.
The Quartet actively takes on performance opportunities and outreach events in New York City. In March, they worked with the Dvorak American Heritage Association to perform a concert at the Bohemian National Hall honoring Czech composer Bedrich Smetana’s 200th birthday.
In July, the Quartet will be studying in the Fellowship String Quartet Program at Madeline Island Chamber Music in Wisconsin prior to their arrival in Napa.
2024 is the seventh year of Music in the Vineyards Fellowship String Quartet Program, designed to identify and nurture an emerging pre-professional graduate ensemble. This year’s winner, the Cabaletta Quartet chosen by national auditions, joins our roster of 40 professional musicians—including the Miró and Pacifica Quartets for 2024—for three weeks of intensive mentoring and performance opportunities.
In addition to rehearsing and performing their own repertoire, the Cabaletta Quartet performs alongside MITV artists during our main festival concert series plus assists MITV in reaching out to our community partners in the Napa Valley, performing free workshops and concerts at a variety of venues around the valley.
