Isidore String Quartet
VIDEO
Meet the Isidore Quartet (2025 Version)
PRESS ACCLAIM
REPERTOIRE
2027-28 PROGRAMS
MASTER LIST OF PIECES OFFERED
A selection of Schubert Lieder and Renaissance Madrigal arrangements – 15-20’
Thomas Adès: Arcadiana, Op. 12 (1994) - 20’
Bartók: String Quartet No. 3, Sz. 85 (1927) - 15’
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131 (1826) - 40’
Brahms: String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51, No. 1 (1873) - 35’ (available starting Jan ‘28)
Billy Childs: String Quartet No. 4 American Mosaic (2026) - 25’
Haydn: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20 No. 5 (1772) - 25’
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80 (1847) - 30’ (available until Jan ‘28)
Kaija Saariaho: Terra Memoria (2007) - 15’
Schubert: String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D. 887 (1826) - 50’
Schumann: String Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Op. 41, No. 1 (1842) - 25’
George Walker: “Lyric” (molto adagio) from String Quartet No. 1 – 6’
SPECIFIC SUGGESTED PROGRAMS
Program I "“Remembrance”
A selection of Schubert Lieder and Renaissance Madrigal arrangements
Adès: Arcadiana, Op. 12
Schubert: String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D. 887
Memory, longing, and the passage of time unite this program, tracing echoes between composers separated by centuries. At its heart is the music of Franz Schubert, whose gift for melody and profound emotional insight continues to resonate long after his lifetime. Mark Steinberg’s Madrigal arrangements look back to the Renaissance with a sense of reverence for the polyphonic tradition while Moore's arrangement of Schubert's Auf dem Wasser zu singen offers a different act of remembrance, reimagining one of Schubert's most beloved songs for string quartet. Adès's Arcadiana expands this idea of remembrance through seven musical miniatures that evoke real, imagined, and remembered places. Drawing on paintings by Watteau and Poussin, music by Couperin and Mozart, and Schubert's Auf dem Wasser zu singen, the work weaves together fragments of cultural memory into dreamlike landscapes where beauty and loss exist side by side. The program culminates in Schubert's monumental String Quartet No. 15 in G major, a work that stands among the supreme achievements of the chamber music repertoire. Composed during the final years of his life, the quartet embraces an extraordinary emotional spectrum - from radiant lyricism to unsettling darkness, from tenderness to overwhelming power. It is a work that seems to encompass the fullness of human experience, transforming memory, sorrow, love, and hope into music of timeless depth. By the program's end, remembrance is no longer simply an act of looking back, but a living thread that binds the past to the present, revealing how music continues to preserve, transform, and renew our shared humanity.
Program II “The Art of Counterpoint”
Schumann: String Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Op. 41, No. 1
Bartók: String Quartet No. 3, Sz. 85
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131
Few works have shaped the history of the string quartet as profoundly as Beethoven's late quartets. This program traces the enduring influence of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 131, exploring how two later masters absorbed and transformed its contrapuntal ingenuity, motivic unity, and remarkable emotional breadth. More than displays of technical mastery, these works use counterpoint as a deeply expressive language, revealing the full range of human experience through the interplay of independent voices. Robert Schumann's String Quartet No. 1 opens with a solemn introduction that recalls the spirit of Beethoven's Op. 131, its voices entering in imitation and unfolding with quiet intensity. Béla Bartók's Third Quartet likewise builds an entire musical world from a handful of tightly woven motives, its continuous, through-composed structure reflecting Beethoven's revolutionary approach while forging an unmistakably modern voice. The program culminates with Beethoven's Op. 131 itself - a monumental seven-movement journey whose seamless architecture and emotional scope continue to stand as one of the crowning achievements of the chamber music repertoire. Together, these three quartets reveal counterpoint not as an academic exercise, but as a living, evolving art capable of expressing humanity in all its complexity.
COLLABORATIONS
With Jeremy Denk, piano: choose between Brahms (Op. 34) or Schumann (Op. 44) or César Franck piano Quintets.
With Sterling Elliott, cello: Schubert Quintet in C-Major, D 956 [after January 1, 2028 only]
Plus very limited opportunity for concerts with Anthony McGill, clarinet.
Program III “Loss”
Haydn: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20 No. 5
Kaija Saariaho: Terra Memoria (2007) - 15’
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80 (if before Jan 1, 2028)
or Brahms: String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51, No. 1 (if after Jan 1, 2028)
This program explores the many ways music gives voice to grief, remembrance, and the enduring presence of those who have passed. Spanning more than two centuries, these works reveal how composers transform personal sorrow into lasting artistic expression, preserving memory while giving shape to experiences of mourning, love, and remembrance. Haydn's String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20 No. 5 opens the program with one of the most introspective and emotionally searching works of his celebrated "Sun Quartets." Its dark intensity and expressive depth foreshadow the deeply personal works that follow. Kaija Saariaho's Terra Memoria, dedicated "for those departed," contemplates the changing nature of memory, suggesting that those we have lost continue to live through recollection even as memory itself evolves, softens, and transforms over time. George Walker's deeply lyrical Molto Adagio, written in memory of his grandmother, offers an intimate elegy before the program concludes with Mendelssohn's final String Quartet, Op. 80. Composed in the aftermath of the sudden death of his beloved sister Fanny, the quartet abandons the poise and brilliance often associated with Mendelssohn in favor of music of extraordinary urgency, anguish, and emotional intensity. Together, these works affirm music's enduring power to preserve memory and to give lasting voice to love, loss, and remembrance.
NOTE: additional program combinations are possible by request.
July 2026
BIOGRAPHY
Adrian Steele and Phoenix Avalon, violins
Devin Moore, viola
Joshua McClendon, cello
"A polished sonority and well-balanced, tightly synchronized ensemble with nearly faultless intonation....it is heartening to know that chamber music is in good hands with such gifted young ensembles as the Isidore Quartet"
—Chicago Classical Review
Winners of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the 14th Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022, the New York City-based Isidore String Quartet was formed in 2019 with a vision to revisit, rediscover, and reinvigorate the repertory. The quartet is heavily influenced by the Juilliard String Quartet and the idea of ‘approaching the established as if it were brand new, and the new as if it were firmly established.’
The quartet began as an ensemble at the Juilliard School, and has coached with Joel Krosnick, Joseph Lin, Astrid Schween, Laurie Smukler, Joseph Kalichstein, Roger Tapping, Misha Amory, and numerous others.
In North America, the Isidore Quartet has appeared on major series in Boston, New York, Berkeley, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Durham, Washington DC, Houston, San Francisco, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, and has collaborated with several eminent performers including James Ehnes and Jeremy Denk. Their 25/26 season includes performances in Philadelphia, Cleveland, Calgary, Tulsa, Pasadena, Santa Barbara, New York, Washington’s Library of Congress, plus return engagements in Montreal, Berkeley, Houston, La Jolla, Phoenix, Indianapolis, Baltimore, and Spivey Hall in Georgia. First-time collaborations include clarinetist Anthony McGill, cellist Sterling Elliott, and the Miró Quartet.
In Europe they have performed at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and in Bonn (Beethoven Haus), Stuttgart, Cologne, and Dresden, among many others. During 25/26 they will make their debuts in Paris (Philharmonie) and London (Wigmore Hall).
Over the past several years, the quartet has developed a strong connection to the works of composer and pianist Billy Childs, performing his Quartets No. 2 and 3 throughout North America and Europe. In February 2026 they will premiere a new Childs quartet written expressly for them.
Both on stage and outside the concert hall, the Isidore Quartet is deeply invested in connecting with youth and elderly populations, and with marginalized communities who otherwise have limited access to high-quality live music performance. They approach music as a “playground” and attempt to break down barriers to encourage collaboration and creativity. The name Isidore recognizes the ensemble’s musical connection to the Juilliard Quartet: one of that group’s early members was legendary violinist Isidore Cohen. Additionally, it acknowledges a shared affection for a certain libation - legend has it a Greek monk named Isidore concocted the first genuine vodka recipe for the Grand Duchy of Moscow!
May, 2025. Please discard any previously or undated versions.