Ensemble Connect to Welcome Twelve New Musicians This Season

In its 19th season, Ensemble Connect will welcome 12 new young professional musicians to take part in its celebrated fellowship program over the next two years. The new cohort offers concerts at Carnegie Hall and The Juilliard School, as well as residencies and performances at Skidmore College and in schools and community venues throughout New York City.

Highlights of Ensemble Connect’s 2025–2026 season include three concerts in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the first of which features Da pacem Domine and Quintettino by Arvo Pärt as part of his Carnegie Hall’s Deb’s Composers Chair appointment (Oct. 28). Ensemble Connect offers the New York premiere of a new Carnegie Hall-commissioned work by George Lewis (Feb. 17) following its world premiere by the group on February 13 at Skidmore College. This season’s final performance in Weill Recital Hall features works by American composers Joan Towers, Michael Tilson Thomas, Wynton Marsalis, and Leonard Bernstein as part of the Hall’s United in Sound: America at 250 festival (Apr. 13). Alongside these concerts at Carnegie Hall, the group offers two performances at The Juilliard School’s Paul Hall featuring works by Reena Esmail, Schoenberg, Gabriella Smith, Mozart, and others, including a Juilliard-commissioned work by Emily Liushen.

Ensemble Connect Up Close—an innovative concert series presented in the Weill Music Room that experiments with concert format, audience engagement, and multimedia—returns for a seventh season, featuring a collaboration with Marin Alsop, as part of her Perspectives series (Jan. 31). Clarinetist David Krakauer joins Ensemble Connect as its artistic partner for its second Up Close performance (May 6). More details will be announced later this season.

From October 21–25, Ensemble Connect continues its biannual residency at Skidmore College by connecting with the students and Saratoga Springs community. During the residency, fellows engage with Skidmore College students as well as students in local elementary, middle, and high schools offering master classes, lessons, class demonstrations, and interactive performances. The residency culminates with a performance in Skidmore’s Arthur Zankel Music Center, Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall, on Friday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m. Ensemble Connect returns to Skidmore College for a second residency this season from February 10–14, 2026.

In addition to their performances this season, Ensemble Connect begins partnerships with 12 New York City public schools, with each musician working alongside a New York City instrumental music teacher. The musicians bring their expert musicianship—as well as their professional performer’s perspective and creative approaches—to band, keyboard, and string programs across four New York City boroughs.

Ensemble Connect presents approximately 50 interactive performances in schools this season. Fellows develop these programs to explore a musical piece or concept and incorporate listening activities and audience participation. Ensemble Connect also partners with community venues in New York City in the spring, bringing interactive performances to incarcerated populations, senior community centers, homeless shelters, and for organizations supporting people with disabilities.

Over the course of their fellowship, Ensemble Connect musicians participate in professional development sessions to shape purposeful, personally rewarding career paths that redefine the role of the 21st-century musician. The cohort meets weekly to learn from artists, composers, and industry professionals in the fields of performance, teaching artistry and music education, arts management, entrepreneurship, and others. These sessions help the musicians gain new skills and experiment with new approaches to music performance and education while building a strong community within the ensemble. Ensemble Connect alums also play an important role in leading professional development workshops.

Ensemble Connect is an inspirational collective of young professional musicians created in 2007 by Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education. The program prepares exceptionally talented musicians for careers that combine musical excellence with teaching, community engagement, advocacy, leadership, and entrepreneurship. It offers them top-quality performance opportunities, partnerships with New York City public schools, and rigorous professional development. Ensemble Connect’s 158 alums have gone on to join more than 100 professional ensembles and teach at prestigious universities across the United States. To find out more about the impact of Ensemble Connect worldwide and to learn about projects led by alums, follow this link.

Ensemble Connect 2025–2027 Fellows & Partnerships

Elena Ariza, Cello (Cupertino, CA)
Education: Columbia University / The Juilliard School
Partnered with PS 58 The Carroll School, Brooklyn

Cameron Cullen, Flute (Carlisle, England)
Education: Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama / Yale School of Music / The University of Miami’s Frost School of Music
Partnered with PS21Q Edward Hart, Queens

Laurel Gagnon, Violin (Hooksett, New Hampshire)
Education: Park University / Indiana University / Yale School of Music
Partnered with Brooklyn Technical High School, Brooklyn

Nicole Martin, Clarinet (Westbrook, Maine)
Education: Cleveland Institute of Music / Case Western Reserve University / Yale School of Music
Partnered with Lower Manhattan Arts Academy, Manhattan

Coco Mi, Violin (Princeton, NJ)
Education: The Juilliard School
Partnered with Frank Sinatra High School, Queens

Grace O’Connell, Trumpet (Madison, WI)
Education: Middle Tennessee State University / Yale School of Music
Partnered with PS 130 The Parkside School, Brooklyn

Anoush Pogossian, Clarinet (Glendale, CA)
Education: Columbia University / The Juilliard School
Partnered with IS78 Roy H. Mann, Brooklyn

Will Sands, Horn (Pittsburgh, PA)
Education: Eastman School of Music / University of Rochester / Yale School of Music
Partnered with Robert F. Wagner Middle School 167, Manhattan

David Seder, Trombone (Lexington, KY)
Education: University of Kentucky / Yale School of Music
Partnered with Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music, Bronx

JJ Silvey, Oboe (Walkerton, IN)
Education: Indiana University / Mannes School of Music / The Juilliard School
Partnered with Midwood High School, Brooklyn

Abby Smith, Viola (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Education: Colburn School / Yale School of Music
Partnered with MS 180 Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, Bronx

Joseph Vaz, Piano (Blue Ash, Ohio)
Education: Indiana University / University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music / CUNY Graduate Center
Partnered with Edward R. Murrow High School, Brooklyn