Isidore String Quartet
VIDEO
Meet the Isidore Quartet (2025 Version)
PRESS ACCLAIM
REPERTOIRE
2026-27 PROGRAMS
MASTER LIST OF PIECES OFFERED
Beethoven: String Quartet in E-minor, Op. 59, No. 2
Frank Bridge: 3 Idylls, H. 67 (1906)
Britten: String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 25 (1941)
Britten: Three Divertimenti for String Quartet (1936)
John Cage: String Quartet in Four Parts (1950)
Billy Childs: String Quartet No. 4 (2026 – composed for Isidore Quartet)
Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10
Mozart: String Quartet No. 21 in D Major, K. 575
Haydn: String Quartet in F minor, Op. 20 No. 5
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80
Anton Webern: Langsamer Satz (1905)
SPECIFIC SUGGESTED PROGRAMS
Program 1:
Debussy: Quartet Op. 10; Bridge: 3 Idylls // Britten: Three Divertimenti; Britten: Quartet No. 1
Program 2:
Haydn: Quartet Op. 20/5; Billy Childs: Quartet No. 4 // Webern: Langsamer Satz; Mendelssohn: Quartet Op. 80
Program 3
Mozart: Quartet in D, K 575; Cage: Quartet in 4 Parts OR Childs #4 // Beethoven: Quartet Op. 59/2
NOTE: additional program combinations are possible by request.
COLLABORATIONS
With Jeremy Denk, piano: choose between Brahms (Op. 34) or Schumann (Op. 44) or César Franck piano Quintets.
With Anthony McGill, clarinet: James Lee III - Clarinet Quintet (new work – approx. 12 minutes) plus Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B-minor, Op. 115
With Sterling Elliott, cello: Schubert Quintet in C-Major, D 956
March 2025
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. They are currently completing their final year as Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
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, Toronto, and Montreal, and has collaborated with several eminent performers including James Ehnes, Jeremy Denk, Shai Wosner, and Jon Nakamatsu. Their 24/25 season includes performances in Salt Lake City, Buffalo, Kansas City, Portland (OR), Louisville, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Memphis, Vancouver, San Francisco, and many other cities across the U.S. and Canada. In Europe they will appear at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and in Bonn (Beethoven Haus), Stuttgart, Cologne, and Dresden, among many others.
Over the past several years, the quartet has developed a strong connection to the works of composer and pianist Billy Childs. His String Quartet No. 2, “Awakenings” was among the repertoire that delivered the Isidore their Banff victory, and this season they will play Childs’ Quartet No. 3, “Unrequited.” In the 2025-26 season, 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, 2024. Please discard any previous or undated versions.