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Poiesis Quartet
2025-26 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence
Music Room
Tickets from $34 (Free for 18 & under)

The Poiesis Quartet conclude their 2025–26 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence with another bold program. Performing in the intimate Music Room, the Quartet explore queer identity and heritage through a contemporary program including the Chickasaw-inspired textures of Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate’s Pisachi alongside newly –commissioned pieces by Jeff Scott, Zola Saadi-Klein, Daniel Lasagna, Maya Irizarry Lambright and Calvin Ray Shawler. This performance highlights the ensemble's commitment to social narrative and musical innovation, offering a unique window into the future of the string quartet. Poiesis’s first concert in residence at Caramoor was chosen as one of the best classical performances of 2025 by The New York Times.
Sarah Ying Ma, violin
Max Ball, violin
Jasper de Boor, viola
Drew Dansby, cello
A LOVE LETTER TO THE QUEER COMMUNITY
JEROD IMPICHCHAACHAAHA’ TATE: Pisachi “Reveal”
ZOLA SAADI-KLEIN: bolbol: āb garm o seylāb
DANIEL LASAGNA: Circus of the Mind
CALVIN RAY SHAWLER: Order
MAYA IRIZARRY LAMBRIGHT: forest of taldeni
JEFF SCOTT: Tapestry of the Beloved Beatified (World premiere, commissioned by Caramoor)

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About the Artists
Lauded for their “palpable chemistry and remarkable warmth” (San Francisco Classical Voice), the Poiesis Quartet is the First Prize and Commission Prize winners of the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition. In 2023, they were named the Grand Prize and Lift Every Voice Prize winners of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, as well as Gold Medal and BIPOC Prize winners at the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition. In May 2024, Poiesis joined the Concert Artists Guild roster for North American management as winners of the Louis and Susan Meisel Competition.
Derived from ancient Greek (ποιεῖν), the word Poiesis means “to make”; specifically, to create something that has never existed before. With a focus on expanding the string quartet repertoire with vibrant new works by emerging composers, the Poiesis Quartet infuses each performance with unique moments of synchronicity and verve. Their 2024 debut album as we are on the Bright Shiny Things label, which features world premiere recordings with mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby, was lauded for the quartet’s “bottomless depth” (Cleveland Classical). Having had presented several world premieres of works by composers including Brian Raphael Nabors, Kitty Brazelton, and Cara Haxo, their commission of String Quartet No. 7 “Surfacing” by Chinese-Canadian composer Kevin Lau received its world premiere at the Chautauqua Institution in 2025. Furthermore, the Oberlin Commission Project (TOCP), an exciting new endeavor spearheaded by Poiesis, presents the world premieres of five newly commissioned works by LGBTQ+ composers of color from Oberlin Conservatory in March 2026.
Poiesis is honored to be selected as the 2025-26 Ernst Stiefl Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, and as the 2025 St. Lawrence Emerging String Quartet in Residence at Stanford University. Poiesis has previously acted as ensemble-in-residence of concertnova, a Cincinnati-based collective which presents multi-sensorial and interdisciplinary concert experiences. Recent and upcoming engagements include the San Antonio Chamber Music Society, Newport Classical, Chamber Music Raleigh, Noe Music, Guarneri Hall, and the Austin Chamber Music Center, amongst others. Highlights of the 2025-26 season include performances of ‘Absolute Jest’ with the Dayton Philharmonic in Dayton, OH and the Oberlin Orchestra in Oberlin, OH. Poiesis has completed multiple international residencies in Punta del Diablo and Punta del Este, Uruguay; the Emilia Romagna Festival in Italy; the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance in Nova Scotia, CAN; the University of Victoria in British Columbia, CAN; and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in France. Additionally, the Poiesis was selected as the only North American ensemble to compete in the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition in Alberta, CAN.
The Poiesis Quartet is currently the Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) studying under the Ariel Quartet. As graduates of Oberlin College & Conservatory, they were previously mentored by Sibbi Bernhardsson of the Pacifica Quartet and members of the Verona Quartet. As a multi-faceted ensemble, in addition to their performance degrees from Oberlin, members of the quartet also individually received formal education in disciplines such as chemistry, comparative American studies, feminist studies, baroque, and jazz. When not playing chamber music, Poiesis loves to learn new languages, share ice cream cakes, and take long walks on the beach.
Members of the Poiesis Quartet play on instruments and bows generously loaned by Jonathan Solars Fine Violins.

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2025-26 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence