Southampton Strings Festival
Intensive study, hands-on skills, fun, and creativity.
Thursday, August 6, 7:00 pm
Artists in Concert
Artists in Concert
Thursday, August 6
7:00 pm
7:00 pm
Join us for a special evening of high-level chamber music featuring performances by alumni, artist program musicians, and faculty. This intimate concert showcases the collaborative artistry and musical excellence cultivated throughout the week.
Donations will be taken at the door.
Friday, August 7, 6:30 pm
Summer String Soirée
Summer String Soiree
August 7, 6:30 pm
Celebrate summer with us at our String Soirée!
Our talented students have worked hard this summer to improve their “strings skills.” And now it’s time for them to show off! Join our young musicians, teachers, and Strings’ alumni in celebrating the 22nd Annual Southampton Strings Festival!
Donations will be taken at the door.
Artistic Director
Jessica Tortorice
Jessica Tortorice, a native of Southampton, NY, is widely regarded as a versatile violinist, both as orchestral player and chamber musician. She studied at the Juilliard School Pre-college division, the Royal College of Music in London for undergraduate performance studies, and the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, where she obtained her masters degree in performance. Among her teachers are Daniel Phillips, Itzhak Rashkovsky, Lewis Kaplan and Marek Kowalski. She has also performed in masterclasses for Itzhak Perlman, Jamie Laredo, Pinchas Zukerman, and Gordon Nikolitch.
Upon graduating from the Aaron Copland School she won the assistant principal second violin position with the Olympia Symphony Orchestra and subsequently the concertmaster position with Skagit Opera. Jessica has been a substitute player at Virginia Symphony, Illinois Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic and English National Opera. Most recently she joined the ranks of the New York Philharmonic for their summer concert series, and she performs regularly with the orchestras of La Monnaie Opera (Brussels), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liege, Belgian National Orchestra, and Brussels Philharmonic. Now based in Belgium, she is a principal second violin of the string orchestra, Boho Strings.
During her years in London, Jessica toured frequently with her former quartet. At the Aaron Copland School of Music, she was one of the founding members of the new music ensemble InnoVox. When first moving to Belgium she was member of the quartet Arel Ensemble. Currently, she is second violinist in the string quartet, BiSS Quartet (boho international string soloists quartet).
Jessica is the artistic director of the very successful Southampton Strings Festival, which offers dedicated string teaching to young students each August, set in the beautiful Hamptons.
Jessica currently plays on a beautiful Joseph Gagliano from the 1700s.
23rd Annual Strings Festival
July 27 – August 7, 2026
At Southampton Strings Festival, we give students (violinists, violists, cellists, bassists, chamber ensembles and composers) the opportunity to intensively study classical repertoire and skills in a hands-on, fun, and creative way.
Our goal is to broaden the scope of their musical knowledge and appreciation. Our group of coaches have a passion for inspiring students to learn and discover. Year after year, our students are amazed by how much they learn in such a short period of time – and more importantly, how much fun they have doing it.
We hope that you will join us and experience what Southampton Strings Festival has to offer!
One or Two week Courses Available!
