Hochstein Events

Live from Hochstein: Pegasus Rising Ensemble – Quartet Novalis

The Hochstein School’s Live from Hochstein concert series returns this fall with a new lineup of free noontime performances beginning Wednesday, October 14, 2026, and continuing weekly through December 16, 2026. Concerts take place from 12:10–12:50 p.m. in the Hochstein Performance Hall and are open to the public at no charge.

These concerts are presented in partnership with WXXI and broadcast live on WXXI Classical 91.5 and rebroadcast at 10 p.m. the day of the concert. The Hochstein School is grateful to Sidney & Barbara Sobel for generously providing continuous underwriting support for Live from Hochstein since 1993.

Pegasus Rising, an offshoot of Rochester’s Pegasus Early Music, is a competitive mentorship program that supports the next generation of professional early musicians. Based in New York City, Quartet Novalis seeks to bring a fresh perspective to the string quartet repertoire by uncovering old concepts of sound and musical understanding. By performing on historically-appropriate instruments, the group is able to draw out subtle and highly nuanced textures and impressions, while breathing life into repertoire that has fallen by the wayside. More info at pegasusearlymusic.org.

All ages welcome
FREE
Preregistration is encouraged

Hochstein welcomes community and school groups to attend Live From Hochstein. So we can better serve the needs of your group, please call our Front Office at (585) 454-4596 with the estimated number of guests and buses we can expect.


PROGRAM
Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 2 No. 1, Hyacinthe Jadin
Two Waltzes, Op. 54, B. 106, Antonín Dvořák

About Quartet Novalis

Quartet Novalis is a period-performance ensemble based in New York City. Made up of Eliana Estrada, Ela Kodžas, Annemarie Schubert, and Luka Stefanović, the group seeks to bring a fresh perspective to the string quartet repertoire by uncovering old concepts of sound, rhetoric, and musical understanding while also reshaping audience expectations of the string quartet and its 18th/19th-century repertoire. The members of Quartet Novalis have an attitude of curiosity and exploration, thinking of themselves as musical time travelers.

By performing on historically-appropriate instruments and engaging historical methods, the group draws out subtle and highly nuanced textures and impressions while breathing life into repertoire that has fallen by the wayside. Drawing inspiration from their namesake, the 18th-century German polymath and philosopher Novalis whose beliefs centered around dissolving the barriers between language and the surrounding world, the ensemble views music, as language, as a living organism that not only serves as a means of communication but also as a creative and magical force with potential to transcend our reality and borders.

Quartet Novalis was in residence as the Academy Quartet at the Carmel Bach Festival (2024), was a semi-finalist in the International Van Wassenaer Competition (Netherlands, 2025), and has performed throughout New York City, at the Boston Early Music Fringe Festival (2025), and at the Utrecht Fringe Festival (Netherlands, 2025). Most recently, the ensemble was selected for the Pegasus Rising Artists Series (Rochester, NY) and the Arizona Early Music Ensemble Residency (Tucson, AZ), and was named an Emerging Artist by Early Music America.
Recent and upcoming performances include residencies at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music (Nelson, NH), Early Music America Summit (Seattle, WA), a return concert in Carmel, CA and alongside fortepianist Yi-heng Yang on the Roosevelt Island Chamber Music Society (New York, NY).

Date
Oct 28 2026
Time
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm

More Info

Register Here
Location
Hochstein Performance Hall
Hochstein Performance Hall
50 N. Plymouth Ave. Rochester NY 14614
Register Here