An emerging young “ensemble to watch” (Hyde Park Herald), The Poiesis Quartet is the 2023 Grand Prize winner of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and was recently named a winner of the 2024 Concert Artists Guild Louis & Susan Meisel Competition. As the Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), they are primarily coached by the Ariel Quartet.
Founded during Oberlin Conservatory’s Advanced Quartet Seminar program in Fall 2022, within their first year playing together, they also received Fischoff’s Senior Strings Gold Medal and the Lift Every Voice prizes, and Gold Medal and BIPOC Prize at the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition. In January 2023, the Quartet completed an international tour in Uruguay with artistic residencies in Punta del Diablo and Punta del Este’s premiere concert series, “Conciertos del Este.” Performances included the world premiere of Alejandro Melo’s Elegy, which was dedicated to the Quartet. As part of their Fischoff Gold Medal prize, which included a recording of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s Calvary Quartet at Guarneri Hall in Chicago and a feature on the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series broadcast live on Chicago’s WFMT, Poiesis was a showcased ensemble on the 2024 Chamber Music America conference in New York. Recently, Poiesis presented the opening concert of the Rocky River Chamber Music Society’s 65th season, including the Cleveland premiere of a new song cycle by Cleveland Orchestra trombonist Rick Stout with the illustrious mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby. For this performance, the Quartet was lauded as “agile collaborators” with an “extraordinary, honeyed group sound” (Cleveland Classical). In April 2024, they presented their New York City debut at Schneider Concerts at the Mannes School of Music, which included the City’s premiere of Kevin Lau’s String Quartet No. 3.
As graduates of Oberlin College & Conservatory, they have previously been mentored by the Verona Quartet and Sibbi Bernhardsson of the Pacifica Quartet. Comprised of violinists Sarah Ma (21) and Max Ball (22), cellist Drew Dansby (22), and violist Jasper de Boor (22), members of the Poiesis Quartet have attended programs such as Kneisel Hall, the Perlman Music Program, Verbier Festival Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival, and Madeline Island Chamber Music’s Fellowship program. Additionally, Poiesis is grateful to have worked with Kirsten Docter of the Cavani Quartet, Sandy Yamamoto of the Miró Quartet, Philip Setzer and Paul Watkins of the Emerson Quartet, Matt Albert of Eighth Blackbird, and renowned soloist Jinjoo Cho. When not playing chamber music, Poiesis loves to learn new languages on Duolingo, share delicious ice cream cakes, and take long walks on the beach.
The name Poiesis is derived from the ancient Greek word ποιεῖν, which means “to make”—specifically, to create something that has never been made before. As a string quartet made up of inter- and multi-disciplinary young artists, Poiesis seeks to program music of all styles and genres with an emphasis on platforming works by emerging and underrepresented composers, and perform each work through a new perspective. The Poiesis Quartet strives to create unique moments of synchronicity, sensitivity, and verve in each performance.