Online solo strings intensive (osSI)
Summer Intensive with World-Renowned Teachers
Daily seminars
Panel discussions with conservatory teachers
Seven exciting masterclasses
Open studio classes
Encouraging community
You don’t have to choose between working/saving money and attending a festival.
Get ahead of the game by studying with some of the greatest teachers around while enjoying flexibility at home.
…want to study with a renowned teacher.
Our faculty is incredible, with not just most of the top professors from conservatories and universities around the country, but also with some incredible soloists that don’t typically take on students.
Some studios are even split, so you can have a lesson with each teacher.
…want to stay motivated between the end of school and the beginning of an in-person festival.
Sometimes being home isn’t inspiring. Sometimes it helps to have guidance from a teacher or to hear your peers perform so you get that little kick to keep you practicing. If you’re going to an in-person festival, receiving feedback on material prior to arriving is helpful too.
And having a different perspective from a different teacher can give you new ideas for old pieces.
…want to work or gig while still learning and staying in shape.
If you choose to go to an in-person festival, you won’t be able to have a summer job. Attending OSSI is a great option because you’ll be able to work and also have those lessons to keep you practicing and give you a goal. You’ll have flexibility with when your lesson is to fit around your work schedule.
Although we encourage you to make sure you have enough time to practice if you’re working, you know best! You’ll get out of the program what you put in. Try to absorb as much as possible!
…don’t want to travel to receive quality instruction.
Traveling is expensive. And maybe even more so now than last year! Many OSSI students live on the other side of the world and yet are able to take lessons with incredible American professors because they don’t have to travel.
…are interested in learning from and talking to successful musicians.
With our new daily discussion panels, we’ll be bringing in both faculty members and special guests to talk and answer your questions on careers and music. Whatever you’ve wondered about how to get into college or how to make money as an artist will get answered during these panels!
We’re also bringing in guests who are recent graduates that have found lots of success and their stories will be very inspiring.
…can’t (or don’t want to) spend a lot of money on a long festival.
It is understandable that a lot of longer festivals are out of financial reach of many students. OSSI is a wonderful way to study with those same professors for a significantly smaller cost and get the same instruction.
Join us for ten inspiring days full of learning and growth.
Guest artists will be giving masterclasses, and sitting on a discussion panel. See schedule for more details.
Applications open February 17, 2023, and close April 10, 2023 (extended deadline).
Masterclasses
More Info
Incredible Faculty
More Info
Panel Discussions
More Info
The details
Whether or not you have attended OSSI before, you will be excited to know we are switching sessions into panel discussions. It’s most helpful to hear directly from faculty and successful artists and get your questions answered — so that’s what you’ll get to do! We’ll go over how to get into school, prepare for auditions, win a job, get management, transition into arts admin, grow a career, and way more through these intimate talks with faculty and special guests.
We’ll also have masterclasses with our guest artists – you are welcome to attend any of them, and students will be selected to play based on faculty recommendation and audition materials.
We’re bringing in so many teachers from schools across the country, and you’ll definitely walk away with a ton of feedback and inspiration for the upcoming semester.
As with most festivals, making connections and having fun is one of the most lasting memories you have of your experience. Through OSSI, you’ll get to participate in game nights, Slack conversations, lunch times and more so you develop more friendships that will transition to the real world when you meet people!
Why attend ossi?
Get intensive and personal attention from faculty
Hear directly from successful musicians
Be inspired for the upcoming semester
Get in-depth work with your assigned faculty member
Use your summer break wisely
Receive feedback from teachers at major conservatories & universities
Develop a plan for the next few weeks
Meet and get to know your peers during mealtimes
Learn about recording techniques, performance anxiety, and more
Get direct feedback from top teachers and
walk into the semester excited like never before!
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Violin

Stefan Jackiw
Full Biography
Jackiw has performed in numerous important festivals and concert series, including the Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Philharmonie de Paris, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Celebrity Series of Boston, and the Washington Performing Arts Society. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with such artists as Jeremy Denk, Steven Isserlis, Yo-Yo Ma, and Gil Shaham, and forms a trio with Jay Campbell and Conrad Tao.
Born to physicist parents of Korean and German descent, Stefan Jackiw began playing the violin at the age of four. His teachers have included Zinaida Gilels, Michèle Auclair, and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, as well as an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, and is the recipient of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Jackiw plays a violin made in 1750 in Milan by G.B. Guadagnini, on generous loan from a private collection. He lives in New York City.

Soovin Kim, New England Conservatory, Yale University
Full Biography

Ayano Ninomiya, New England Conservatory
Full Biography

Mark Kaplan, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
Full Biography
Kaplan has also maintained a flourishing international career for over four decades, with highly acclaimed concerto and recital appearances in all the musical centers of Europe – London, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Prague, Zurich, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Milan – as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Also devoted to chamber music. Mr. Kaplan appears with pianist Yael Weiss and cellist Peter Stumpf as the Weiss-Kaplan-Stumpf Trio, with recordings and concerts world-wide.
Mr. Kaplan has a wide range of repertoire available on CD. His second recording of Bach’s solo violin works was issued in 2016 by Bridge Records, and due for release this season is a Weiss-Kaplan-Stumpf Trio set of Beethoven’s complete Trios. Other recordings include concerti of Berg Stravinsky, Lalo, Bartók, Paganini, Wieniawski and Viotti, Sonatas of Schumann and Schubert, Spanish Dances of Sarasate, trios of Brahms, Debussy, Dvorak, Fauré, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninov, Saint-Saens, Schubert, Smetana and Tchaikowsky.
Since 2005, Mark Kaplan has been Professor of Violin at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, and prior to that he served as Professor with Distinction at UCLA. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where he was a student of Dorothy DeLay. Kaplan plays a violin made by Antonio Stradivari in 1685, known as the Marquis.

Tessa Lark
Full Biography
She solos regularly with many of the major orchestras around the world, from the Royal Scottish National Orchestra to Seattle Symphony, and has appeared in recital in such prestigious venues and series as Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Carnegie Hall’s Distinctive Debuts series in Weill Hall (2017).
She is also a highly acclaimed fiddler in the tradition of her native Kentucky, delighting audiences with programming that includes Appalachian and bluegrass music and inspiring composers to write for her – most notably SKY, a bluegrass-inspired violin concerto written for Tessa by Michael Torke which earned both a GRAMMY nomination for Tessa and a Pulitzer finalist distinction for Torke.
Lark is a graduate of New England Conservatory and completed her Artist Diploma at The Juilliard School. She plays a ca. 1600 G.P. Maggini violin on loan from an anonymous donor through the Stradivari Society of Chicago.

Benjamin Beilman, Curtis Institute of Music
Full Biography
In past seasons, Beilman has performed with many major orchestras worldwide including the Rotterdam Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Zurich Tonhalle, Sydney Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Houston Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestra both at home and at Carnegie Hall. In recital and chamber music, Beilman performs regularly at the major halls across the world, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Wigmore Hall, Louvre (Paris), Philharmonie (Berlin), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Bunka Kaikan (Tokyo) and at festivals he has performed at eg Verbier, Aix-en-Provence Easter, Prague Dvorak, Robeco Summer Concerts (Amsterdam), Music@Menlo, Marlboro and Seattle Chamber Music amongst others. In early 2018 he premiered a new work dedicated to the political activist Angela Davis written by Frederic Rzewski and commissioned by Music Accord which he has performed extensively across the US.
Beilman studied with Almita and Roland Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago, Ida Kavafian and Pamela Frank at the Curtis Institute of Music, and Christian Tetzlaff at the Kronberg Academy, and has received many prestigious accolades including a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a London Music Masters Award. He has an exclusive recording contract with Warner Classics and released his first disc ‘Spectrum’ for the label in 2016, featuring works by Stravinsky, Janáček and Schubert. Beilman plays the “Engleman” Stradivarius from 1709 generously on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.
Viola

Yi-Fang Huang, Juilliard Pre-College
Full Biography
In 2008, Ms. Huang was both guest lecturer and collaborative pianist at the International Viola Congress. She has worked with top prize winners in the William Primrose Viola Competition, Lionel Tertis Viola Competition, Munich Viola Competition and with musicians from the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Her radio credits include WQXR; Radio France; WWFM 89.1, The Classical Network; and Public Radio Tulsa. She recorded the Loeffler Two Rhapsodies with New York Philharmonic principal violist Cynthia Phelps and associate principal oboist Sherry Sylar.
Viola has been the focus of her pedagogy for the past 13 years. She is a member of the Juilliard Pre-College viola faculty and the artistic administrator and repertoire coach of the ACHT viola studio at the Juilliard college division. In addition, she serves on the viola faculty and is a chamber music coach at the Special Music School at the Kaufman Music Center.

Matthew Lipman, Stonybrook University
Full Biography

Ettore Causa, Yale University
Full Biography

Dimitri Murrath, San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Full Biography
Born in Brussels, Belgian American viola player Dimitri Murrath has made his mark on the international scene, performing regularly as a recitalist and soloist in venues including Kennedy Center (Washington), Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Royal Festival Hall (London), and Théâtre de la Ville (Paris).
A first prize winner at the Primrose International Viola Competition, Dimitri Murrath has won numerous awards, including second prize at the First Tokyo International Viola Competition and the special prize for the contemporary work at the ARD Munich Competition. In 2012, he was named laureate of the Juventus Festival, an award recognizing young European soloists. He is a recipient of a 2014 Avery Fisher Career Grant through which he recorded and released his first solo album recording music by Vieuxtemps, Clarke and Hindemith in 2017.
An avid chamber musician, Mr. Murrath is a member of the Boston Chamber Music Society. He has collaborated with Richard Goode, Gidon Kremer, Menahem Pressler, Mitsuko Uchida, and members of the Cleveland, Mendelssohn and Guarneri Quartets. He has performed in festivals that include Verbier, Caramoor, Juventus, and Marlboro.
Dimitri Murrath began his musical education at the Yehudi Menuhin School studying with Natalia Boyarsky, his Bachelor of Music in London with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and graduated with an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory as a student of Kim Kashkashian.
After 9 years teaching viola at New England Conservatory, he is currently Professor of Viola and Chair of Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Dimitri Murrath participates in the Music for Food project, which raises awareness of the hunger problem faced by a large percent of the population, and gives the opportunity to experience the powerful role music can play as a catalyst for change.
www.dimitrimurrath.net

Heidi Castleman, The Juilliard School (split studio with Victoria Chiang)
Full Biography
A founding trustee of Chamber Music America (and its president from 1983 to 1987), she also served on the boards of the American String Teachers Association, Aspen Music Festival, and the Perlman Music Program. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Fischoff Competition. Castleman has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including two teacher of the year awards from the American String Teacher Association, Chamber Music America’s Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award, the American Viola Society’s Maurice W. Riley Viola Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Viola, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Montreal. She holds a BA from Wellesley College and a MA from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and studied with Dorothy DeLay and Paul Doktor.

Victoria Chiang, Peabody Conservatory (split studio with Heidi Castleman)
Full Biography
Chiang is a founding member of The Aspen String Trio. The group concertizes internationally, and was Ensemble in Residence at the University of Baltimore. Currently a member of the artist/faculty of the Peabody Conservatory and the Aspen Music Festival, Chiang has given master classes throughout the world. Formerly on the faculty of The Juilliard School and the Hartt School of Music, and a former member of the board of the American Viola Society, her students hold significant positions in orchestras, in string quartets, and on conservatory faculties across the US and in Europe. Additionally, Chiang has taught at the Perlman Music Program: Winter Residency in Sarasota, Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival, Heifetz International Music Institute, Domaine Forget, Great Wall Festival (Beijing) among others.
Chiang earned the Master of Music degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, and the Bachelor of Music degree from the Cincinnati College‐Conservatory of Music. Her principal teachers include Heidi Castleman and Masao Kawasaki, viola; and Dorothy DeLay and Kurt Sassmannshaus, violin.

Helen Callus, Northwestern University Bienen School of Music
Full Biography
Ms. Callus’s career includes distinguished work as an award-winning recording artist. Her seven releases include the works of Walton, Prokofiev, Vaughn Williams, J.S. Bach, Gordon Jacob, and more, and have been met with high critical acclaim. The American Record Guide observed, “Only really great artistry can hold a listener in thrall like that, and that is the artistry of Helen Callus.”
Ms. Callus currently holds the appointment of Professor of Viola at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. Sought after as a visiting professor, she has given over 100 master classes at many of the world’s leading schools of music. She also served as the first female President of the American Viola Society.
Born in England, Ms. Callus graduated from London’s Royal Academy of Music, and was bestowed an Honorary ARAM and FRAM for her achievements in the field. She continued her graduate studies at the Peabody Conservatory.
Ms. Callus plays on a viola made for her by Gabrielle Kundert which is a copy of the ex-Primrose Amati.
For more information please visit www.helencallus.com.
Cello

Jean-Michel Fonteneau, San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Full Biography
Jean-Michel is a founding member of the Quatuor Ravel which received top prizes at the Evian International String Quartet Competition in 1989 and won the Victoire de la Musique Classique in 1994. The Quatuor Ravel performed annually at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, as well as regularly at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Salles Gaveau, and Suntory Hall. They also toured extensively throughout the United Kingdom, Germany, and North America. Jean-Michel created and led the first ever string quartet residency program in France.
Recent collaborations include performances with Leon Fleisher, Peter Frankl, Claude Frank, Nobuko Imai, Gilbert Kalish, Kim Kashkashian, Anthony Marwood, Menahem Pressler, and Mark Steinberg. Jean-Michel has also performed alongside the Amadeus, Escher, Fine Arts, Pro Arte, and Tokyo Quartets. He has recorded extensively for Albany Records, MSR Classics, Centaur Records, and Musidisc-France.
A passionate and dedicated teacher, Jean-Michel previously served on the faculty of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Lyon, France before coming to San Francisco. His students have won international competitions — including the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition — and gone on to major solo, chamber, and orchestral careers. His students have appeared at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, the Concertgebouw, the Wigmore Hall, the Verbier Festival, and on many more of the world’s premier stages. In addition to his annual residence at Yellow Barn, he previously taught at Domaine Forget, the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival, and the Morges Summer Academy in Switzerland.
Jean-Michel is currently a member of the San Francisco Piano Trio together with violinist Axel Strauss and pianist Jeffrey Sykes. The Trio performs annually at the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, along with regular performances throughout North America. He also performs regularly with the Houston-based Music in Context ensemble dedicated to historically informed performance on period instruments.
Jean-Michel studied at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Musique de Paris and plays cellos made by Francesco Goffriller in 1730 and Andrew Carruthers in 2016. He lives in Berkeley, CA together with his wife Dana.

Tommy Mesa
Full Biography
Highlights in the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 seasons include premiering and touring Jessie Montgomery’s Divided for solo cello and orchestra, around thirty recitals, a residency at Colburn Conservatory, curating and performing chamber music programs with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and duo recording projects with Olga Kern, JP Jofre, and Michelle Cann. Next season’s venues will include Carnegie Hall, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, The Supreme Court of the United States, Colburn School of Music, Kohler Foundation and numerous others.

Brandon Vamos, Indiana University, Pacifica Quartet
Full Biography
Brandon Vamos, a Grammy-award winning cellist, has performed solo and chamber music recitals both in the U.S. and abroad to critical acclaim. Called a “first-rate cellist” by the Chicago Reader and praised for his “gutsy bravura” by the Chicago Tribune, Mr. Vamos has appeared as soloist with orchestras worldwide, including performances with the Taipei City Symphony, the Suwon Symphony in Seoul, the Samara Symphony in Russia, and the New Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Vamos has collaborated with many distinguished artists, including Paul Katz, Michael Tree, Yo-Yo Ma, Menahem Pressler, and the Emerson Quartet, and has recorded for Cedille, Naxos, and Cacophony Records. Awarded a Performer’s Certificate at the Eastman School of Music, where he earned a Bachelor’s of Music Degree as a student of Mr. Katz, Mr. Vamos has also studied with distinguished artists such as Tanya Carey in Macomb, Illinois, and Aldo Parisot at Yale University, where he earned a Master of Music Degree. As a member of the Pacifica Quartet, with whom he performs over 90 concerts a year, he won a 2009 Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance and the Cleveland Quartet Award, in addition to being named Musical America’s 2009 Ensemble of the Year.

Richard Hirschl, Chicago Symphony, Roosevelt University
Full Biography
Richard Hirschl joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s cello section in 1989. A native of Washington, Missouri, he began cello lessons with his father, an amateur cellist. His intermediate studies were with Savely Schuster, associate principal cellist of the St. Louis Symphony. He was accepted into the class of Leonard Rose and Channing Robbins at the Juilliard School, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1987 and a master’s degree in 1988.
Before moving to Chicago, Hirschl was an associate teacher at Juilliard. He was the winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition and Irving M. Klein International String Competition in 1988, and St. Louis Symphony Scholarship Competition in 1980.
In addition to his New York debut with the Juilliard Orchestra, Hirschl has given concerto performances with the Peoria Symphony, Jupiter Symphony, St. Louis Philharmonic, Maracaibo Symphony (Venezuela), National Repertory Orchestra, St. Louis Chamber Orchestra and Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York.
He has appeared in chamber music performances with celebrated pianists Daniel Barenboim, Sir András Schiff, and Ursula Oppens; cellists Lynn Harrell and Yo-Yo Ma; and violinist Vadim Repin. He is on the faculty of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where he also serves as head of the string department. He plays a Venetian cello made by Matteo Goffriller in 1710 and a cello made in Chicago by William Whedbee in 2014.
He and his wife Laura make their home in a downtown high-rise where they are the proud parents of Ava Clare and Vivian Rose Hirschl.
Guest Artists (more to be announced)

Alexi Kenney (violin)
Full Biography

Danielle Belen (violin)
Full Biography
Winner of the 2008 Sphinx Competition, Ms. Belen has appeared as a soloist with the Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Nashville and San Francisco Symphonies, the Boston Pops, and the Florida and Cleveland Orchestras. Zachary Lewis from the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote “Violinist Danielle Belen… captivated every ear with an assured, impassioned performance of Ravel’s “Tzigane,” knocking off the daunting showpiece as if it were a trifle.”
A graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music and the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles, Ms. Belen joined the faculty of the Colburn School of Performing Arts in 2008. In addition to maintaining her own violin studio, she was the teaching assistant to renowned pedagogue Robert Lipsett for five years. During that time, Ms. Belen also served as the Director of the Ed and Mari Chamber Music Institute at Colburn.
In 2010, Ms. Belen founded Center Stage Strings, a summer camp and performance festival for gifted young musicians in central California. After gaining national attention, CSS moved to the campus of The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor as part of MPulse, a summer program at the School of Music, Theatre and Dance. As the Artistic Director and head of the violin faculty for Center Stage Strings, she has attracted students and seasoned artists from around the world. Lynn Harrell, James Ehnes, Arnold Steinhardt, Sarah Chang, William Hagen, Rohan de Silva and Stefan Jackiw have joined to perform in support of the program.
As the winner of the 2014 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, Ms. Belen performed for Justice Sonia Sotomayor and her guests at the Supreme Court in Washington DC, where she was awarded a $50,000 career grant. In turn, she used that money towards a matching campaign for Center Stage Strings, doubling the amount into $100,000 for student scholarships.
Ms. Belen plays on a violin made in Mantua, Italy by Stefano Scarampella.
Panelists (to be announced)
Overview of the Week
Friday, May 26
Mic checks
Faculty Panel with Q&A session
Game night
Saturday, May 27 – Monday, May 29
Daily session on key topics
Tuesday, May 30 – Thursday, June 1
Daily session on key topics
Young Professionals Panel with Q&A session
Friday, June 2 – Saturday, June 3
Sunday, June 4
Last masterclass
Goodbye party
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is the program?
You should expect to be practicing intensively during the program, although there are no formal practice sessions.
What is the tuition cost?
Total tuition is $597 and includes any masterclass(es) you may be selected to play in.
You will be required to make a $300 non-refundable deposit to secure your place upon acceptance.
Is there scholarship available?
You may indicate on your application your need; a written letter is the most important part of a scholarship appeal.
What are the age/level requirements?
Do I have to be in the US to participate?
What time zone are the events in?
How are faculty assigned?
What are the application requirements?
Recordings should not be more than one year old and should contain standard repertoire, such as a movement of Bach and a movement of a concerto. No formal repertoire is required.
Is there an application fee?
Yes. The nonrefundable application fee is $40 until March 20.
The nonrefundable application fee raises to $60 from March 20-April 10.
Will you have a wait list?
When are decisions released?
Can I take lessons with other faculty members?
How many spots are there in the program?
What technology do I need to participate?
If you are in need of a microphone and would like to rent one through OSSI, please contact Alyssa after your acceptance.
What does split studio mean?
Start your application Today. space is limited.
Applications open February 17 and close April 10 (extended deadline).