Our Team
Calvin VanZytveld
(Founder/Co-Director)
Calvin Van Zytveld A Ph.D student in Musicology pursuing a Doctoral Certificate in Composition, Calvin Van Zytveld researches the history and present state of audio engineering. His additional research interests include hymnody of pre-industrial America and music copyright law. An avid cellist, he has given solo and chamber music performances in Canada, Sweden, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain, and China and played with such musicians and ensembles as Gustavo Dudamel, Robert Spano, Ludovic Morlot, Per Tengstrand, the Richardson Chamber Players, and the English Concert.
Calvin graduated summa cum laude in music from Princeton University. Following graduation, he began master’s degrees in music composition and cello performance at the University of Michigan, but lost his vision suddenly in the second year of his studies due to Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON). Unable to read music, his composing and cello performance often incorporate improvisation and text- or audio-based scores. Together with violinists Paolo Dara and Karisa Chiu, Calvin co-directs the Plymouth Chamber Players, a grassroots chamber series in Michigan. Founded in 2016, the series, which is free and open to the public, regularly features players from top U.S. ensembles such as the Chicago, Atlanta, and Houston Symphony Orchestras, the Galvin Cello Quartet, and the Callisto Quartet. Calvin also co-writes and performs with composer and vocalist Lemon Guo. Since 2022, Calvin has served as program note writer for the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra.
Karisa Chiu
(Co-Director)
Renowned for her “easy virtuosity ... humor, nuance ... [and] playful[ness]” (Cleveland Classical), American violinist Karisa Chiu first came to international prominence with her first prize win at the 2021 Isangyun Violin Competition, resulting in her debut with the KBS Symphony Orchestra at the Seoul Arts Center. She has since appeared on major stages worldwide, including Severance Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and the Casals Forum. A top prize winner of the Singapore, Menuhin, Leopold Mozart, and Irving M. Klein Competitions, Karisa continues to earn recognition for her artistry. This season, she will make her Carnegie Hall recital debut in Weill Hall and release her debut album, Home, in collaboration with pianist Zhu Wang and Cedille Records.
Raised in a musical family, Karisa began her studies at age two with her father, Cornelius Chiu, a first violinist in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She collaborates frequently with her mother and uncle, pianists Inah Chiu and Frederic Chiu. The Chiu family has given annual concerts for two decades at the Festival of the Arts at Mohonk Mountain House. Karisa continues her familial musical traditions through the Plymouth Chamber Players, a Michigan-based concert series that she co-directs with her husband, violinist/violist Paolo Dara.
Karisa is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Juilliard School with Catherine Cho and Donald Weilerstein. She received her Master’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and she previously earned her Bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music. Her preceding mentors include Jaime Laredo, Malcolm Lowe, Ida Kavafian, and Almita Vamos.
Paolo Dara
(Co-Director)
A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Paolo Dara was appointed to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra viola section in 2025 by Zell Music Director Designate Klaus Mäkelä. Prior to joining the CSO, he served as a violinist in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, principal viola of the Grand Rapids Symphony, and principal second violin of the Akron Symphony.
Beyond his orchestral career, Dara is an avid chamber and solo musician, having been featured with orchestras such as the Grand Rapids Symphony and the Lansing Symphony. He began playing the viola at age 14 while attending the Meadowmount School of Music. Dara has gone on to appear at leading festivals including the Krzyzowa Music Festival, IMS Prussia Cove, the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop, the Accademia Chigiana, the Montreal International String Quartet Academy and the Gstaad Menuhin Academy. His collaborators have included such distinguished artists as Joseph Silverstein, Jaime Laredo, Sharon Robinson and Roger Tapping. Dara is also co-director of the Plymouth Chamber Players in Grand Rapids, Michigan, alongside his wife, violinist Karisa Chiu, and musicologist Calvin Van Zytveld. Together, they bring chamber music to West Michigan and support the next generation of young musicians.
Paolo Dara completed his undergraduate studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Jaime Laredo and Jan Sloman, where he received the Anna Y. Tringas Award. He later earned his master’s degree at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University under Kathleen Winkler. In 2022, Dara returned to the Cleveland Institute of Music to pursue a graduate diploma with Stephen Rose, graduating with the honor of the Sidney D. and Nina Josephs Chamber Music Prize. His other influential mentors include Gerhard Schulz, Joseph Silverstein, Donald Weilerstein and Gregory Maytan.