Escher String Quartet

Caramoor has established an annual String Quartet-in-Residence supported by major endowment gifts from the Ernst Stiefel Foundation. Each year Caramoor selects a quartet to help the advancement of its reputation and career, as well as to enhance the life of the Caramoor community. As a one-year appointment, the primary purpose of the Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residency is to provide outreach to young string players through a program called Student Strings. In addition to the student outreach in area schools, Student Strings offers a clinic at Caramoor for selected students as well as free vouchers for half-price tickets for students and their families to attend the Quartet-in-Residence’s concerts. The Escher String Quartet is the eighth annual Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at Caramoor; previous quartets have been the Amernet Quartet, Avalon String Quartet, Miró String Quartet, Pacifica Quartet, Rossetti String Quartet, Daedalus Quartet and the Jupiter String Quartet.

It can be argued that the United States has the most effective teaching mechanism for training professional musicians. There can be no doubt that America has more wonderful young players than performance outlets. Given this reality, a promising performer or ensemble needs as much perseverance as talent to launch a career. From Caramoor’s perspective, it takes commitment, intelligence, and patience to build an audience for young performers. Addressing these realities, the Ernst Stiefel String Quartet Residency gives Caramoor a chance to present a quartet each year for the advancement of its reputation and career, as well as to enhance the life of the Caramoor community.