Abi Fayette Leads ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA to Open Season at Carnegie Hall
The conductor-less ensemble offers free admission to its Carnegie Hall opener through its Orpheus for All initiative.
At 17, Abi Fayette pushed back when her local Long Island paper called her a prodigy, even as she prepared to perform Sarasate's 'Carmen Fantasy' with a full orchestra.
Today, she is Artistic Director of the 3x GRAMMY-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, one of the few major ensembles in the world to perform without a conductor.
Fresh off an appearance at the ChamberQUEER Pride Festival, Fayette is now preparing for Orpheus' 2026–27 season, opening October 17 at Carnegie Hall with piano duo Lucas and Arthur Jussen. Through Orpheus for All, every ticket to the concert will be free.
Abi began violin lessons at three at Long Island's North Shore Suzuki School, which her parents ran and all four Fayette children attended. By the time anyone called her a 'prodigy,' she had already spent eight years at Juilliard Pre-College, later continuing to the Curtis Institute of Music and New England Conservatory.
As a Curtis Community Artist Fellow, she taught in Philadelphia public schools before performing with Kim Kashkashian, Jonathan Biss, and Brett Dean; joining the GRAMMY-nominated Catalyst Quartet; and touring the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Now Fayette leads Orpheus artistically while continuing to perform within the ensemble on a rare 1860 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin. More than 50 years into its experiment in musical democracy, Orpheus remains at home at Carnegie Hall while bringing music to New Yorkers through school programs and working with those with dementia.
