Violinist Eliana Estrada and cellist Sarah Ghandour join H+H in a two-year fellowship aimed to foster development in early-career musicians of underrepresented ethnicities
The Handel and Haydn Society (H+H) has announced the selection of emerging instrumentalists Eliana Estrada (violin) and Sarah Ghandour (cello) as Stone Fellows for the 2025-2027 seasons.
A first of its kind among period instrument orchestras, the H+H Stone Fellowship provides a two-year learning experience that includes training and mentorship, performances with the H+H Orchestra and Chorus, career counseling, and additional coaching and performance opportunities with partners including the New England Conservatory.
This is the ensemble’s second cohort of fellows following its inception in 2023, in an aim to create pathways toward a more diverse and inclusive orchestra in the future.
Estrada began her musical journey at age four with fiddle music. She received a bachelor of music in baroque violin from Oberlin College and Conservatory, where she served as concertmaster of the baroque ensemble.
She gained a master of music from San Francisco Conservatory of Music, leading the baroque ensemble as concertmaster and winning the 2023 and 2024 SFCM Baroque Concerto Competitions. She is a founding member of the period instrument quartet, Quartet Novalis based in New York City.
Lebanese-American cellist Sarah Ghandour recently completed her doctor of musical arts at Stony Brook University, where she also earned her master’s degree under the mentorship of cellist Colin Carr. She continued her cello studies with Irene Sharp in San Francisco and later worked closely with Jean-Michel Fonteneau at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She completed her undergraduate studies at Bard Conservatory, receiving a bachelor of music under the tutelage of Peter Wiley and a bachelor in mathematics.
Ghandour was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Slovenia, where she researched and performed Slovenian folk and classical music across the country. In addition to the H+H Stone Fellowship, this autumn she will begin studies in baroque cello with Phoebe Carrai at The Juilliard School.
’Both Eliana and Sarah stood out not only because of their incredible talent, but for the energy and passion they have for early music and period performance,’ said H+H artistic director Jonathan Cohen.
’I am confident that over the next two years Eliana and Sarah will become part of the fabric of H+H and contribute much to Boston’s vibrant music community.’
The Fellowship is made possible through a $1 million gift from the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
H+H recently appointed Stephen Goist as principal viola and Katherine Spencer as principal clarinet beginning in the 2025-26 season.
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