The Kompass Quartet was formed in early 2023 while its members were studying at New York University.
Comprised of Jessica Gehring and Jade Schoolcraft on violin, Matthew Ryan on viola, and Victoria Lin on cello, the name Kompass was chosen to reflect the diverse, multi-national origins of its members. In its performances, the quartet endeavors to highlight composers from outside the traditional classical canon, with a particular focus on female and living composers.
Having all worked with each other in differing formations, the quartet as it is now formed in each of their final semesters of study in Spring 2023, where they focused on Grazyna Bacewicz’s String Quartet No. 4, a work by a female composer who is little performed in the English speaking world. The quartet’s deep dive into this work inspired them to discover more works by women and people of colour; composers who are often excluded from the core repertoire, but who are no less deserving to be heard.
The success of this lead to the quartet being offered the 2023 Young Artist Residency with the Craftsbury Chamber Players during the summer of 2023, where they performed as part of their 2023 season in Burlington and Hardwick, Vermont. As part of this residency, the Kompass Quartet collaborated with The Bread and Puppet Theater in “Deaf Beethoven:” a performance of Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge Op 133, with seven “stretches” added by composer and audio engineer Charlie Morrow, where he highlights and expands upon the temporal contradictions inherent to the original work. This re-imagining of one of the toughest works in the quartet repertoire was performed weekly through all of July and August 2023, and will be recorded for future release.
The Kompass Quartet performs at corporate functions, providing a broad range of music arranged for string quartet, including but not limited to; classical, jazz, popular music, film and television soundtracks, and more. In addition, each of the Kompass Quartet’s members maintains active freelance careers in music performance and teaching.
Members
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Jessica Gehring
Violin
Jessica Gehring is a violinist, violist and teacher based in the NYC city area. Originally from Nashville, TN, Jessica is trained in a variety of styles such as Classical, Bluegrass, Celtic and Jazz. She holds a BM in Violin Performance from Lawrence Conservatory where she studied with Dr. Samantha George, and an MM in Violin Performance at NYU Steinhardt in the studio of Giora Schmidt and the viola studio of Stephanie Baer. Jessica enjoys a diverse freelancing career, having played at venues such as The Schermerhorn Symphony Center, the Dimenna Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Apollo Theater alongside groups including the Nashville Symphony, the Chelsea Symphony, the Westchester Philharmonic, and the American Composers Orchestra. Most recently, she was the concertmaster of the Emo Orchestra on their inaugural 2023 United States National Tour, and will be playing violin, viola, and keyboard in the upcoming off-Broadway production of The Jerusalem Syndrome. She is also a founding member of the Kompass Quartet, which has performed both classical and contemporary works at premier events throughout the city. Over her career, Jessica has performed in over 40 musical productions, and has appeared in many studio recording sessions for artists such as Lenny White, Charlie Morrow and Richard Einhorn.
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Jade Schoolcraft
Violin
Jade Schoolcraft is a Master of Music graduate from New York University, having studied with Dr. Cyrus Beroukhim and Giora Schmidt. She is a member of the Kompass and Clover Quartets, a piano trio, and has also performed with NYUO1 and the Broadway Orchestra. Jade began studying violin at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music at the age of six. She studied under Masha Lankovsky and Adriatik Sefa. For her Bachelor of Music, Jade studied with Dr. David Fulmer and Dr. Reuben Blundell at CUNY: Hunter College.
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Matthew Ryan
Viola
Matthew Ryan is a New York City based violist and string teacher, performing and teaching a wide variety of chamber, orchestral, contemporary, and theatre music. Hailing from Brisbane, Australia, he holds degrees from the Queensland Conservatorium, the University of Queensland, and New York University, and has studied with Graeme Jennings, Patricia Pollett, and Karen Ritscher. Matthew has extensive experience in ensemble viola performance, having performed in multiple orchestral, opera, and Broadway Theatre productions at NYU. Outside of university, Matthew toured with the Emo Orchestra in their inaugural 2023 United States National Tour, has worked with the American Composers Orchestra, the Richmond County Orchestra, and has recorded for Richard Einhorn. In Australia, Matthew has performed and toured domestically and internationally with the Queensland and Australian Youth Orchestras, has worked with the Xi’an Symphony Orchestra in China through collaboration with the University of Queensland, was a featured soloist with the Queensland Philharmonia Orchestra, and has worked with numerous ensembles across South East Queensland.
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Victoria Lin
Cello
Victoria Lin is currently undertaking a Master of Music at New York University, having also completed her undergraduate studies in cello performance under the tutelage of Marion Feldman at New York University. She began her cello studies at age 7 in Australia before moving to Houston during her high school years where she studied under Mark Yee. She is a member of the Kompass quartet and is also active in the many different ensembles offered at NYU and has enjoyed working with many composers over the years. Victoria has also had the opportunity to perform with the American Composers Orchestra as well as the New York Pops on various occasions. In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing, ballroom dancing, and drawing.