Violinist Kate Arndt, from Boston, Massachusetts is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree under Ani Kavafian. Kate holds Masters degrees from Yale in both Music and Musical Arts and completed her undergraduate studies at New England Conservatory of Music under Miriam Fried. A passionate chamber musician, Kate has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of New Orleans with her current group, the Vera Quartet. In 2021, Kate received first prize at the CSU Bakersfield Competition for her recording of Michael Friedmann’s Fantasy for Solo Violin. Kate’s academic interests focus on studying the contributions of women in classical music, an area she hopes to expand through featuring works by female composers in future performances. 

Violinist Nick Hammel is currently pursuing his Master’s in Violin Performance at the New England Conservatory under Donald Weilerstein, and has also completed his Bachelor of Music Performance at the University of Texas at Austin under Sandy Yamamoto. He has soloed with orchestras such as the Richardson Symphony and the University of Texas Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, Nick won first prize in the 2022 Ann & Charles Eismann Young Artists Competition. 

Grace Takeda is a violist based in Philadelphia, PA, and has received degrees from McGill University, The Juilliard School, and the Curtis Institute of Music. Her primary mentors have been Misha Amory, Roberto Diaz, Edward Gazouleas, Hsin-Yun Huang, Andre Roy, and Steve Tenenbom. For the past couple of years, she has been working on developing her passion project, MUSE-ical Tales, which is a music and literacy program for elementary-aged students aimed to promote a love of music and books. 

Born in New York City, Macintyre Taback began his cello studies at the age of 11 as a part of his school’s strings program. He has recently performed at the IMS Prussia Cove Masterclasses and Open Chamber Music Seminar, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and the Perlman Music Program. Mac has worked with musicians such as Mark Steinberg, Steven Isserlis, and Gary Hoffman, and has performed with Erich Höbarth, Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, and the Emerson, Borromeo, and St. Lawrence String Quartets. In 2021, Mac completed his undergraduate studies with Steven Doane and Rosemary Elliott at the Eastman School of Music, where he received the Performance Certificate and Harris Cello Prize. He has just finished his master’s degree at New England Conservatory, and will return to NEC for his DMA under Laurence Lesser, Donald Weilerstein, and Vivian Weilerstein. Mac plays on a cello made by Francesco Rugeri in 1695, on generous loan from Rare Violins of New York. 

Together, the Veras have held residencies at the Colorado Music Festival and Music from Angel Fire, presenting concerts to a wide range of audiences including interactive workshops in public schools and retirement homes. In the past two years, they have commissioned two unique works centered around community by American composers, Elise Arancio and Alexis Lamb.