DaPonte String Quartet is coming to Georgetown for their annual summer visit!

Join the DaPonte String Quartet with new violinist, Philipp Ellsner, in a performance of Mozart’s Quartet in Bb Major, K. 589 and Beethoven’s epic Quartet in Eb Major, Op. 127

NEW! This year we are partnering with Periwinkle Pie Co. for food!  Your new destination for mouthwatering hand pies and an assortment of other goodies! Their signature hand pies will be available in a variety of flavors. Enjoy the classics such as blueberry and strawberry rhubarb, or try something savory like buffalo chicken or spinach and ricotta! Come early for a spot of dinner, drinks and conviviality!

More about DSQ’s newest member Philipp!

PHILIPP ELSSNER, VIOLIN. German-American violinist, violist, and music theorist Philipp Elssner is currently based in Northport, Maine. Philipp received his bachelor’s degree in 2021 from the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM), where he studied violin with Jaime Laredo and Jan Sloman. In 2024 he received his master’s degree in music theory from McGill University in Montreal, where he also studied violin with Jinjoo Cho. Philipp has recently been appointed as the new violinist of the DaPonte String Quartet, a celebrated Maine-based group that has made appearances across the United States and around the world. He will begin performing with the group in June of 2024. Other recent engagements include sold-out concerts in Bayside, Maine and Ann Arbor, Michigan as a member of the Lake Trio. The trio’s 2024 schedule will include performances in North Carolina, Michigan, and Maine.

In 2017, Philipp won the North Carolina American String Teacher’s Association competition, as well as being a finalist at the North Carolina Symphony Concerto Competition. Philipp has played in master classes for renowned artists and pedagogues such as Enrico Pace, Sung-Won Yang, Paul Kantor, and Soovin Kim, as well as for members of the Emerson and Pacifica string quartets, among others. He has performed at summer festivals including Encore Chamber Music and Bowdoin International Music Festival.

As an academic, Philipp has presented research on classical and popular music at national and international conferences, including at the Society for Music Theory’s 2022 and 2023 annual meetings. His master’s thesis, “Groove in the Mix: Spatial Manipulation in Groove-Based Popular Music, 1970–Present,” focuses on the embodied effects of stereo mixing practices in funk, soul, disco, and Hip Hop.

As an educator, Philipp has taught music theory and musicianship courses at McGill University, as well as serving as a Teaching Assistant for many more music theory courses at McGill and CIM. He has also taught violin and music theory privately to students of varying levels. Philipp believes that music is an art form everyone should be able to take part in, and seeks to nurture the unique musical voices of his students.

Philipp also has many years of performance experience as a violist. Recently, this has included performances of Saint-Saëns’s Piano Quartet, Op. 41, Dohnányi’s Serenade for string trio, and Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht in Montreal, Canada.