Emerging String Quartet Program
Program Description
The St. Lawrence String Quartet — whose exploration of nontraditional venues and new audiences was developed, in part, by early community outreach opportunities — observed a need for similar training programs for the next generation of emerging artists. In response to this need, the SLSQ developed the Emerging String Quartet Program (ESQP).
The ESQP is a workshop focused on community outreach for young professional musicians, in which emerging ensembles are invited to Stanford for a residency of one to two weeks. During the residency, the musicians receive coaching from the SLSQ and experience an intense schedule performing both on- and off- campus for a variety of schools, community groups and Silicon Valley businesses. The musicians, already highly accomplished presenters and performers, are provided rare opportunities to interact with the audiences to develop both their skills as performers and as community builders.
Since the program launched in 2009, the greater Stanford community has benefited from the electricity, passion and excellence of these extraordinary young ensembles while the musicians have gained valuable experience presenting to a wide variety of audiences in a short period of time. The ensembles have gone on to develop rich connections with their communities both in the U.S. and abroad.
On-campus venues have included the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, libraries, medical facilities, and research labs, as well as graduate and undergraduate dorms. Each emerging quartet is presented in one formal recital at Campbell Recital Hall, an event that is free and open to the public. Beginning in 2013 the SLSQ and ESQP began presenting Azure Family Concerts, performing music programs for families with children and young adults on the Autism spectrum.
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Fall 2025
Poiesis Quartet
An “ensemble to watch” (Hyde Park Herald), the Poiesis Quartet is the Grand Prize, Gold Medal, and Lift Every Voice prize winners of the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, as well as Gold Medal and BIPOC Prize 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. Additionally, as the 2025 St. Lawrence Emerging String Quartet in Residence at Stanford University, Poiesis has also 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 as well as with the Oberlin Orchestra in Cleveland’s renowned Severance Hall. Poiesis has also 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 prestigious 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.
Fall 2024
The Balourdet Quartet
The Balourdet Quartet is acclaimed for their vibrant energy and masterful blend of technical precision and emotional depth that brings a fresh perspective to both beloved classics and modern compositions. Its unique closeness and willingness to take creative risks earned it the 2024 Avery Fisher Career Grant, as well as Chamber Music America’s 2024 Cleveland Quartet Award. With more than 70 concerts per season, recent highlights include the Balourdet’s debuts at Carnegie and Wigmore Halls, and new string quartets by composers Karim Al-Zand, Paul Novak, and Nicky Sohn through grants from Chamber Music America (2021) and the Barlow Foundation (2023). They are currently the Graduate Quartet in Residence at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and are recent graduates of the New England Conservatory’s Professional String Quartet Program.
The Balourdet journey began in 2018 in the mountains of New Mexico at the Taos School of Music, where violinists Justin DeFilippis, Angela Bae, and cellist Russell Houston first bonded as friends over long evenings of chamber music, luxurious Peppermint Schnapps and extravagant meals created by chef extraordinaire Antoine Balourdet, a renaissance man with an exceptional love of life and music. It was the friendships, a shared passion for music and food, and gratitude for the role the festival played in the formation of the quartet, that inspired the members to name the ensemble in Chef Balourdet’s honor.
Committed to sharing their musical values with the next generation, the quartet has served regularly as faculty at the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, JDR Summer Music Academy, Berkshire Summer Music, and Opus Chamber Music. They have also given masterclasses and coachings at Northwestern University, University of Michigan, Rice University, Emory University, New England Conservatory Preparatory Department, Fischoff Chamber Music Academy, Upper Valley Chamber Music, and Wright State University.
Winter 2023
Dior Quartet
Joined together from Israel, Korea-Canada, Saint Lucia, and the USA, the Dior String Quartet is the Quartet-in-Residence at the Glenn Gould School, Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
Silver prize winners of the 2021 Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition and Bronze Medalists of the 2019 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, they formed in Fall 2018 at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University under the tutelage of Pacifica Quartet. They studied with members of the Alban Berg, St. Lawrence, Danish, Artemis, Ébene, and Belcea Quartets.
The Dior Quartet participated in various programs, including the Britten-Pears Young Artists Program, Banff String Quartet: Evolution in collaboration with Tippet Rise Art Center, McGill International String Quartet Academy in Montreal, and the SLSQ Seminar. The Dior Quartet collaborated with Orion Weiss and Victor Yampolsky during their residency at Wintegreen Music Festival, and with Rolston String Quartet, Axel Strauss, and Stéphane Lemelin at the 2021 Prince Edward County Chamber Music Festival.
The quartet made their debut with the Schneider Concert Series In January 2021 and were quarter-finalists in the 2021 Bartok World Competition in Budapest.
The repertoire and projects they pursue intersect with their multicultural backgrounds and moral values, as they seek to explore the immigrant experience through art. The quartet takes their name from the French word “D’or” which means gold. It's a rare, elegant, and malleable element, precious to those who own it and often gifted to loved ones. Most importantly, gold holds the memory of the earth and absorbs the stories of the people who give it shape and form.
Summary of ESQP Site Visits
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"Seeing the immediate impact that the music of Schubert, Beethoven, or even Golijov has on scientists from SLAC or the families at the Azure Concert heightens our understanding of the uniting power of this eternal music. We've come to realize as a result of our experience with the SLSQ and Stanford that we have a passion for reaching audiences, beyong those of the concert hall. Sharing our passion for our art form with those who might not otherwise have the chance to experience it, will be an integral part of our mission moving forward."
- The Calidore Quartet
Emerging Quartets 2009-2019
- Omer String Quartet, ESQP 2019
- Puck Quartet, ESQP Fall 2018
- Invoke, ESQP Spring 2018
- Tesla Quartet, ESQP 2017, John Lad Prize 2017
- Rolston String Quartet, ESQP 2017; John Lad Prize 2016
- Telegraph Quartet, ESQP 2016
- Calidore String Quartet, ESQP 2016 and 2014; John Lad Prize 2015
- Cecilia String Quartet, ESQP 2015 and 2010
- Friction Quartet, ESQP 2015
- Excelsa Quartet, ESQP 2014
- Aeolus Quartet, ESQP 2013
- Afiara Quartet, ESQP 2013, 2009
- Arneis Quartet, ESQP 2011
- Tokai Quartet, ESQP 2010
Sponsors
The Emerging String Quartet Program was funded with a generous seed grant from the Hewlett Foundation. The St. Lawrence String Quartet is sponsored by the Stanford Department of Music, the Office of the Vice President for the Arts, and the Friends of Music at Stanford, with special thanks to Peter and Helen Bing, Joan and Philip Leighton, and Persis Drell and James Welch.
See free events at Stanford on our Outreach page.
Donate to support the ESQP here.