For professional and early-career string players

Applications open until September 15, 2026

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Stay updated on Rising Artists program news and application deadlines

The Rising Artists Program of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach provides intensive performance, career, and community engagement opportunities for exceptionally talented emerging professional and conservatory-level musicians. The program embraces a collaborative environment where rising artists create, perform and learn alongside established leaders and musicians who have made a significant impact in the chamber music field.

The Rising Artists Program offers a unique platform for musicians at a pivotal stage of their careers to work closely with world-renowned artist-mentors during an immersive week of rehearsals, performances, and professional development.

Program Highlights:

  • Collaborative music-making with artists who share a passion for chamber music
  • Intensive rehearsals and performances with distinguished artist-mentors
  • Career development sessions on topics such as launching a project or organization, community engagement initiatives and in-school programming

PROGRAM DETAILS

Applications open until September 15, 2026

APPLICATION FEE: $35 by August 25; $55 from August 26 – September 15, 2026

Concert

Saturday, January 9, 2027
7:00 pm Performance (no intermission)
Norton Museum of Art

Program Dates

January 2 – 10, 2027

Application Deadline

September 15, 2026

Acceptance Decisions

October 31, 2026

Eligibility

Age 20–30 years old, as of 12/31/2026

Location

Palm Beach, Florida

Stipend

$1,500 + Housing, Meals, & Travel Provided

Instruments

Violin, Viola, and Cello

Application Fee

$35 by August 25
$55 from August 26 – September 15, 2026

Featured Work

George Enescu — Octet in F major, Op. 17

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Artist-Mentors

Apply to join our Artist-Mentors, Arnaud Sussmann and Edward Arron, along with guest Paul Neubauer, in Palm Beach, Florida for a week of close collaboration and performances. Rising Artists immerse themselves in learning what a week of professional chamber music looks like, complete with education and community concerts, performances with our Artist-Mentors, industry insight talks, donor engagement, and more.

From the Directors, Arnaud Sussmann and Edward Arron:

The Rising Artists program of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach is very much inspired by Caramoor’s Rising Stars, a program that made a meaningful impact in our lives as young artists. Musicians of different generations come together, sharing their love and joy for playing chamber music. This collaborative spirit is at the heart of the program, creating a dynamic learning environment where young musicians can gain invaluable insights and inspiration from their experienced colleagues, and vice-versa!

Young artists ages 20-30 in violin, viola, and cello are eligible to apply and the students selected will comprise a string quartet. Each Rising Artist will receive a $1,500 stipend plus travel and meals covered. Applications are due September 15, 2025. Please see the full application requirements below. 

Arnaud Sussman

Arnaud
Sussmann

Co-director

Winner of a 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Arnaud Sussmann has distinguished himself with his unique sound, bravura, and profound musicianship. Minnesota’s Pioneer Press writes, “Sussmann has an old-school sound reminiscent of vintage recordings by Jascha Heifetz or Fritz Kreisler, a rare combination of sweet and smooth that can hypnotize a listener.”

Mr. Sussmann has recently appeared as a soloist with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, and the Vancouver, and New World Symphonies. As a chamber musician, he has performed at the Tel Aviv Museum, London’s Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, and the White Nights Festival in Saint Petersburg. He has also given concerts at the Caramoor, Music@Menlo, La Jolla SummerFest, Mainly Mozart, and Seattle Chamber Music festivals, collaborating with many of today’s leading artists including Itzhak Perlman, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Wu Han, David Finckel, and Jan Vogler.

Sussmann is Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, Co-Director of Music@Menlo’s International Program, and teaches at Stony Brook University. Mr. Sussmann plays the 1731 ‘Schneeberger’ Stradivarius violin on loan from a private owner.

Edward
Arron

Co-director

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Arron made his New York recital debut in 2000 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since that time, he has appeared in recitals, as a soloist with major orchestras, and as a chamber musician, throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

The 2024-25 season marks Mr. Arron’s 12th season as the co-artistic director with his wife, Jeewon Park, of the Performing Artists in Residence series at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Mr. Arron tours and records as a member of the renowned Ehnes String Quartet and he is a regular performer at the Boston and Seattle Chamber Music Societies, the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Bargemusic, Caramoor, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival, Seoul Spring Festival in Korea, Music in the Vineyards Festival, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival, Manchester Music Festival, and the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in Finland.

Mr. Arron’s performances are frequently broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today. In 2021, Mr. Arron’s recording of Beethoven’s Complete Works for Cello and Piano with pianist Jeewon Park was released on the Aeolian Classics Record Label. The recording received the Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artists Award from the Classical Recording Foundation. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Mr. Arron currently serves on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Paul
Neubauer

Guest Artist

Violist Paul Neubauer’s exceptional musicality and effortless playing have earned him praise as “a master musician” from The New York Times. In 2025, he will release two albums for First Hand Records, each featuring the final works of two great composers: an all-Bartók album, which includes the revised version of the Viola Concerto, and a Shostakovich album, featuring the monumental Viola Sonata.

At age 21, Mr. Neubauer was appointed principal violist of the New York Philharmonic, a position he held for six years. He has since appeared as a soloist with over 100 orchestras, including the New York, Los Angeles, and Helsinki Philharmonics; the Chicago, National, St. Louis, Detroit, Dallas, San Francisco, and Bournemouth Symphonies; and the Mariinsky, Santa Cecilia, English Chamber, and Beethovenhalle Orchestras. He has also premiered viola concertos by Béla Bartók (including the revised version of the Viola Concerto), Reinhold Glière, Gordon Jacob, Henri Lazarof, Robert Suter, Joel Phillip Friedman, Aaron Jay Kernis, Detlev Müller-Siemens, David Ott, Krzysztof Penderecki, Tobias Picker, and Joan Tower.

In addition to his solo career, Mr. Neubauer performs with SPA, a trio with soprano Susanna Phillips and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, exploring a wide range of repertoire, including salon-style songs. He has been featured on CBS’s Sunday Morning, A Prairie Home Companion, and in Strad, Strings, and People magazines. A two-time Grammy nominee, he has recorded for numerous labels, including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, RCA Red Seal, and Sony Classical.

Mr. Neubauer is a frequent performer with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and serves as the artistic director of the Mostly Music series in New Jersey. He is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and Mannes College.

Outstanding Rising Artists alumni enjoy future performance opportunities as part of CMSPB main season concerts in Palm Beach and at our partner venue, the Boscobel Chamber Music Festival in New York.

Audition Requirements

Video Requirements

  • Each candidate must submit one of each of the selections:
  • Solo: 1st movement of a Major Sonata or Concerto (accompaniment preferred)
  • Chamber: Two (2) contrasting movements from one or more major chamber music works (can be from the same work)

Guidelines

  • For your chamber music selection, you must be in the ensemble
  • We prefer string trios or larger ensembles
  • We do not accept sonatas with piano for your chamber music selection
  • Performances of full works are welcome

Sample Schedule

Date

Schedule

Sunday, 1/3/27

Arrival

Monday, 1/4/27 –
Sunday, 1/10/27

10 am – 1 pm: Rehearsals or Outreach Performance

1 pm – 2:30 pm: Lunch and Conversations on Career Topics

2:30 pm – 6:30 pm: Rehearsals

7:30 pm: Evening activities (Donor Dinner, attend a Concert or Music Event, Private House Concert, or Rising Artists Program Concert)

Sunday, 1/10/27

Departure evening of Sunday, 1/10 OR morning of Monday 1/11

Alumni

2026 Rising Artists

• Bobby Boogyeom Park, Violin
• Gabrielle Després, Violin
• Katie Liu, Viola
• Sydney Lee, Cello 

2025 Rising Artists

• Angela Chan, Violin
• Matthew Hakkarainen, Violin 
• Brian Isaacs, Viola 
• Sara Scanlon, Cello 

FAQs

Professional and early career string players (violin, viola, cello); ages 20-30 years old

The application deadline is 11:59 pm on Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Application decisions will be sent by October 31, 2026

The application fee is $35 for applications before August 25 at 11:59pm ET, then $55 before September 15 at 11:59pm ET.

No letters are needed. Provide contact information (email address & phone number) for two (2) professional references.

Applications are open now and you can apply via this link: https://app.getacceptd.com/cmspb

The video submission procedures will be available once the application opens.

International students currently studying in the US can apply, but will need to apply for a work permit from your educational institution.

Our featured work will be George Enescu — Octet in F major, Op. 17 with other repertoire as assigned.

  • Starting an organization
  • Donor relations
  • Education and Community Engagement programming

Rising Artists Program is fully funded, and participants receive a $1,500 stipend plus travel and meals covered.

  • Flights: CMSPB will cover round trip domestic economy flights
    • seats for cellos will be covered
  • CMSPB will provide all local ground transportation 

Rising Artists will have rental home accommodations or hosted home stays.

All meals will be provided by CMSPB (home meals and restaurants)