Trio Cavatina

Formed in early 2005, Trio Cavatina is deeply rooted in a strong sense of shared musical values and is rapidly emerging as one of today’s outstanding chamber ensembles.  Their 2007-2008 season began with notable debut appearances at Kneisel Hall’s “Emerging Artists” Series in Blue Hill, Maine, at Union College in Schenectady, New York, and at the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival as well as with an appearance at the closing concert of the Chamber Music America conference in New York City.  In the spring of 2008, the ensemble continued with concerts in New York City, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Boston, and Sarasota, Florida.  Last April, the Trio performed in its first international tour with debut concerts in Vilnius and Kaunas, Lithuania.  Highlights of the 2006-2007 season included the Trio’s New York City debut at the Schneider Concerts at the New School and Boston debut at Jordan Hall.  Trio Cavatina also appeared at New York’s Merkin Hall, at the Brattleboro Music Center, and on the Performers of Westchester Concert series and recently completed the New England Conservatory’s Professional Piano Trio Training Program.  In addition to the classical and romantic trio repertoire, Trio Cavatina is committed to performing 20th century and newly composed works and has worked with American composer Leon Kirchner. 

Raman Ramakrishnan

Cellist Raman Ramakrishnan is a member of the Daedalus Quartet, winner of the 2001 Banff International String Quartet Competition. With the quartet, he has performed coast-to-coast in the United States and Canada, in Japan and Panama, and across Europe on a tour developed by the European Concert Halls Organization, which also provided for a Carnegie Hall debut. The quartet was in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center from 2005 until 2007, and is currently in residence at Columbia University and at the University of Pennsylvania.

Raman has given solo recitals in New York, Boston, Seattle, and Washington, D.C., and has performed chamber music on Caramoor’s “Rising Stars” series, at Bargemusic, and at the Marlboro, Bravo! Vail, Charlottesville, Lincolnshire (UK), Mehli Mehta (India), OK Mozart, and Four Seasons Chamber Music Festivals. He has toured with Musicians from Marlboro and has performed frequently with the Zankel Band, the East Coast Chamber Orchestra, and the contemporary chamber group Proteus, which made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2001. As a member of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, he has collaborated with musicians from the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra and performed in New Delhi and Agra, India and in Cairo, Egypt. This past season he performed concertos in Lake George, Newburgh, and New York City, and he presented a recital program in Seattle's Town Hall with the pianist Byron Schenkman.

Raman was born in Athens, Ohio and grew up in East Patchogue, New York. His father is a molecular biologist and his mother is the children's book author and illustrator Vera Rosenberry. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvard University and a Master’s from The Juilliard School. His principal teachers have been Fred Sherry, Andrés Díaz, and André Emelianoff. His cello was made in Cremona, Italy in 1996 by Edson Puozzo. He lives in New York City with his wife, the violist Melissa Reardon.

Jessica Thompson

Violist Jessica Thompson is an accomplished solo and chamber musician who performs regularly throughout the United States and abroad as a member of the Daedalus Quartet.  The quartet, Grand Prize winner of the 2001 Banff International String Quartet Competition, is currently in residence at Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania, and from 2005-2007 was quartet-in-residence with Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society Two.  Ms. Thompson has performed at numerous festivals, including Aspen, Taos, and Marlboro, and has toured with Musicians from Marlboro.

Ms. Thompson has appeared as soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra and in recital in cities such as Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Washington, DC. In 2004 she was invited to perform at the International Viola Congress on a program of works by American women composers.  She is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Karen Tuttle.