Norwegian violist and composer NJORD KÅRASON FOSSNES (b. 2001) is a rising star in the classical music world, celebrated for his artistry and versatility. Having finished his bachelor in 2024 studying at the New England Conservatory in Boston under the renowned Kim Kashkashian, Fossnes has already achieved remarkable milestones in his young career. Fossnes has earned accolades from the Midgard and Virtuoso & BelCanto Competitions and won second prize at the inaugural Hindemith International Viola Competition in 2021. At 17, he gained widespread acclaim as the youngest participant in the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and returned at 22 to be the youngest semifinalist, performing and leading his own arrangement of Mozart Clarinet Concerto with the Munich Chamber Orchestra. Fossnes has also appeared as a soloist in Bartok Viola Concerto, Mozart Sinfonia Concertante and Hindemith Kammermusik 5 with Peter Tilling and HSO München in addition to Kurt Atterberg’s Suite for violin, viola and orchestra with violinist Gustav Rørmark and the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. Together with solo performances, Fossnes is a passionate chamber musician and performs at some of the most prestigious chamber festivals in the States and Europe such as Marlboro Music Festival, Cleveland ChamberFest, Caramoor Evnin Rising Stars, Fjord Classics, IMPULS festival and Festival&Friends. In 2023, he competed with Quartet Luminera in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition where they won the silver medal. Fossnes is also frequently invited to play with some of the leading chamber orchestras in Europe such as the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and Camerata Bern which has led to tours in Shanghai, Norway and Switzerland. From a young age, Fossnes has always been an avid composer. His works have been commissioned and played at Ose Kammerspel in Norway and PULSAR festival in Copenhagen, and in 2018 his orchestra piece Etyde was performed by the Oslo Philharmonic. Fossnes currently lives with his husband in Copenhagen where he pursues a master at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with Asbjørn Nørgaard, violist in the acclaimed Danish String Quartet. With a growing international presence, Fossnes continues to captivate audiences and shape the future of classical music. Fossnes plays on a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Piacenza 1745 viola, generously on loan from Anders Sveaas’ Charitable Foundation.
About our Rising Stars
ChamberFest Cleveland’s Rising Stars are recognized for their extraordinary talent. They are invited to deepen their connection to the art of chamber music by immersing themselves in the festival, rehearsing side by side with the leading chamber musicians of our time, and performing in a professional concert setting for discerning audiences and critics alike.
The Rising Stars program is generously sponsored by Michael Frank and the late Pat Snyder.
KIRSTEN DOCTER is associate professor of viola and chamber music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. First prize wins at the Primrose International and American String Teachers Association Viola Competitions launched her on a career that includes a 23-year tenure with the Cavani Quartet, concerts on major series and festivals, and numerous appointments as a master class clinician and teacher.
Violist PEARL DE LA MOTTE is currently pursuing her undergraduate degree at The Juilliard School where she studies with Hsin-Yun Huang. She is the second of eleven children in a musical family and began playing the violin at the age of two. She later switched to viola when she was
JESSICA BODNER, described by the New York Times as a “soulful soloist”, is the violist of the Grammy award-winning Parker Quartet. A native of Houston, TX, Jessica began her musical studies on the violin at the age of two, then switched to the viola at the age of twelve because of her love of the deeper sonority.
WILLIAM BENDER grew up just south of Nashville, Tennessee. He started playing the viola at Vanderbilt University’s Blair Academy at age thirteen. After studies at The Juilliard School and Cleveland Institute of Music, Mr. Bender joined The Philharmonia Orchestra in London as Assistant Principal Viola under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen. With The Philharmonia, Mr. Bender performed in many of the great concert halls of the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Japan, China, and South Korea. Concurrently, he regularly performed chamber music concerts as part of the Philharmonia Chamber Players and worked on new compositions through the orchestra’s “Music Of Today” series. Mr. Bender has played Principal Viola with The Philharmonia, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Echor Music, and London Concertante. He joined the viola section of The Cleveland Orchestra in November 2021, under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst.
Awarded the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award for 2014, violinist ITAMAR ZORMAN is the winner of the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia. 
Awarded the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award for 2014, violinist ITAMAR ZORMAN is the winner of the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia.Mr. Zorman has performed as a soloist with such orchestras as the Mariinsky Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, KBS Symphony Seoul, German Radio Philharmonic, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Utah Symphony and American Symphony, conductors Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, David Robertson, James DePreist and Yuri Bashmet, at Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and Amsterdam Concertgebouw. As a recitalist he performed at Carnegie Hall’s Distinctive Debut series, People’s Symphony Concerts, the Louvre Museum, Suntory Hall and Frankfurt Radio.Mr. Zorman was invited to the Verbier, Marlboro, Rheingau, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Radio France Festivals. He is a member of the Israeli Chamber project, and a member of the Lysander Piano Trio, which won the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Competition.Mr. Zorman studied at the Jerusalem Academy, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music and the Kronberg Academy, working with Sylvia Rosenberg and Christian Tetzlaff. He plays a 1734 Guarneri Del Gesù violin from the collection of Yehuda Zisapel. 
Violinist JASON YU joined The Cleveland Orchestra as Assistant Principal Second Violin in January 2024 after spending nine seasons with the New York Philharmonic. Previously, he was a fellow at the New World Symphony, in which he served as concertmaster under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas and appeared as a soloist, having won the concerto competition. Yu has performed in the Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta Symphony Orchestras.
ANDREW WAN has been Concertmaster of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since 2008 while maintaining an acclaimed international career as soloist, chamber musician, and recording artist. He has appeared with major orchestras across North America, Europe, and Asia under conductors including Rafael Payare, Kent Nagano, Maxim Vengerov, Vasily Petrenko, and Bernard Labadie. 
Violinist JAMES THOMPSON enjoys a multifaceted career as a chamber musician, soloist, educator, and lecturer. He performs regularly as a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.