OUR MISSION
Phoenix Chamber Ensemble has been dedicated to making classical music highly accessible to all residents of the New York area, regardless of their financial limitations. The ensemble continuously strives to enrich lives by presenting world-class concerts in an intimate setting, nurturing a vibrant and inclusive community of concertgoers at the Center for Jewish History.
Meet the Founders
Vassa Shevel
Inessa Zaretsky
Vassa Shevel, piano
Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia, Vassa Shevel won the Cappella Competition at age eleven performing the Bach Double Concerto and later began her undergraduate education at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, where she studied with Galina Orlovskaya. Immigrating to the U.S. with her family in 1978, she continued her studies at the New England Conservatory and SUNY Purchase and earned her master’s degree at the Juilliard School, where she was a student of Oxana Yablonskaya. She has studied piano with Jacob Maxin, Russell Sherman, Jerome Loewenthal, Gregory Haimovsky, and Karl Schnabel, and chamber music with Yehudi Wyner Jennifer Langham, Lawrence Lesser, Nancy Cirullo, Paul Doctor, and Robert Levin.
A finalist in the Murray Dranoff International Competition, Ms. Shevel has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, Symphony Hall (Boston), as well as major venues and festivals in Europe. In addition to being artistic director of the Phoenix Chamber Ensemble, she is a member of the Philadelphia Piano Duo with Claire Belkovsky, and also maintains an active private teaching practice. Ms. Shevel is the Artistic Co-Director of the Phoenix Chamber Music Series in New York and Co-Artistic Director of the recently relaunched Incontri di Canna Festival in Calabria, Italy.
Inessa Zaretsky, piano
Inessa Zaretsky, winner of Mannes Concerto Competition, Frina Auerbach International Piano Competition, Moscow Conservatory College Contemporary Music Competition, Gnesin School Concerto Competition, and Moscow Young Artists Piano Competition, has received scholarships from Mannes College, Yale, and the Exxon Corporation. Born in Russia, Ms. Zaretsky studied with Richard Goode at the Mannes College of Music in New York. She studied chamber music with Felix Galimir, Julius Levine, and Claude Frank, and composition with Robert Cuckson.
As a pianist, her performances have been broadcast on WQXR, WNYC, and WNPR. Ms. Zaretsky performs extensively across the United States and around the world, including a special Millennium Concert in Havana, Cuba. As a chamber musician, she collaborated with the Miro, Cavani, Cassat, Phedrus, Parker, and Claring String Quartets. Known for her interpretation of Scriabin, she has recorded many of this composer's works.
As a composer, Ms. Zaretsky's music has been performed by many notable musicians, such as the Miro, Clarin, Phedrus and Cassat String Quartets, Paganini Duo, Kent/Blossom Festival Orchestra, Antara Chamber Orchestra, Lincoln Center Chamber Music II, Chamber Music Series of the St Luke's Orchestra, members of the Boston, Chicago, City Opera, Orpheus Orchestras, members of the Metropolitan Opera, and many others. "Fireoptics," a CD of her music for viola, was released in 2005. Several commissions premiered over the last couple of seasons including a trio for voice, violin, and piano at Weill Hall and a Russian Song cycle on the poetry of Robert Rozhdestvensky in Princeton and New York. Her Piano and Wind Quintet was performed at the Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival. A one-act operetta commissioned as an opener for a rock group "Drozdy" premiered in December 2009 at Symphony Space. Ms. Zaretsky has received the ASCAP Annual Composition Awards for 1999 through 2004. She is the recipient of the "Commission: USA - 2000" grant from the Meet the Composer Foundation and was chosen as one of the composers for the Vocal Essence "Essentially Choral" Readings in 2006.
Ms. Zaretsky is on the piano faculty at the Mannes College of Music in New York. She is the Artistic Director at the Chamber Music Society of the Carolinas and the Artistic Co-Director of the Phoenix Chamber Music Series in New York.
Upcoming Artists
Michelle Lie, violin
As an active performer in comprehensive musical genres, Michelle has been featured in diverse performances throughout the country. Currently a violinist with the Tesla Quartet, she was a founding member of the Iannis String Quartet and received the Special Recognition award from the Plowman Chamber Music Competition in 2008. She has performed as first violinist with Aeolus String Quartet (Silver Medal winner of Fischoff Competition 2011) during its residency at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in the summer of 2010. Her other chamber music festival appearances include two fellowships at the Norfolk Yale Chamber Music Festival, Perlman Music Program, St. Lawrence String quartet seminar, and Sunflower Music Festival. Her particular interest in chamber music was greatly influenced by such world-renowned ensembles as the Tackács Quartet, Tokyo String Quartet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Miró Quartet, Artis Quartet, and Brentano String Quartet.
Although her musical education in violin started at the age of 14 from the influence of her vocalist father, she was quickly recognized through various performances and awards. 1st prize winner of the 250th Anniversary of J.S. Bach Violin Competition in Seoul, 2nd Prize winner and Audience choice of the Ekstrand Competition 2012 she was featured as a soloist with various orchestras in South Korea and the United States. Also, recently Michelle received the Mrs. Hong Pham recognition award from Indiana University to celebrate her active role in premiering modern works. Known for her in-depth musical projects, Michelle performed a complete Beethoven Violin Sonata cycle in Kansas City in June, 2011. She also was featured at the Society of Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) conference at the University of Florida in 2011 as well as the Schumann Society in Indiana in 2010. As an orchestral performer, she has appeared as a substitute with the Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall and on tour in Carnegie Hall 2006 - 2010. She has held concertmaster positions at various orchestras in Indiana, Ohio and Colorado at the Boulder Symphony Orchestra.
Michelle received her Bachelor’s Degree from Dankook University, where she studied with Deashik Kang, and her Master’s Degree from the New England Conservatory, where she studied with Eric Rosenblith. She also holds a Professional Studies certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music with William Preucil. While she is performing with the Tesla Quartet, Michelle received her Doctor of Music Degree in 2013 with Mark Kaplan at Indiana University, where she was an Associate Violin Performance Instructor 2008-11.
Austin Fisher, cello
Austin Fisher, the newest member of the Tesla Quartet, resides in Brooklyn, NY and is the former Assistant Principal Cello of the Colorado Symphony. He served as Acting Principal Cello for the 2016-17 Season and made his solo debut with the Symphony performing Saint‐Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1.
Previously, he was a member of the New World Symphony in Miami under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. As a winner of New World’s concerto competition, Austin was a featured soloist in performances of Schumann’s Cello Concerto. Before his time at New World, Austin was Principal Cello of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago where he worked closely with Yo-Yo Ma and musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
An active soloist and chamber musician, Austin has been praised for his “virtuosity, refinement, and style” (South Florida Classical Review). Austin was the featured soloist in Dvorak’s Silent Woods with the Colorado Symphony and joined the Lakewood Symphony as soloist for a performance of Schumann’s Cello Concerto. He was a regular performer on the Englewood Arts Chamber Music Series, active in Denver’s newly emerging Groupmuse scene, and recently joined the Miami String Quartet for a performance of Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht in Fort Collins. Austin has also performed in concert at Banff’s Rolston Hall with members of the Miró Quartet.
Austin has attended festivals and master classes around the world, including IMS Prussia Cove, London Master Classes, and the Pacific Music Festival in Japan. He is Co-Principal Cello at the Lakes Area Music Festival in Minnesota, where he returns for his 13th season this summer, and regularly performs with the Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
Austin holds a Master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music and a Bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music, studying under Hans Jørgen Jensen and Steven Doane. Important mentors include Yo‐Yo Ma, Silver Ainomäe, and the Miró Quartet. He plays on a French cello made by Francois Caussin, 1830.
Phoenix Chamber Ensemble 2023 ©