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Isidore String Quartet

Isidore String Quartet
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Avery Fisher Screenshot.jpg
Isidore String Quartet
Meet the Isidore Quartet
PRESS ACCLAIM

“Perfect tonality, precision, and [an] unshakable concentration....the performance earned the quartet a well-deserved standing ovation and no doubt an open invitation to come back.."

—Arizona Daily Star/Tucson.com

“A striking New York debut”

The Strad

REPERTOIRE

2025-26 PROGRAMS

MASTER LIST OF PIECES OFFERED

* = available through Feb 13, 2026

** = available beginning Feb 14, 2026

 

JS Bach/arr. Devin Moore - choral arrangement (specific pieces to be confirmed)

Beethoven:  Quartet No. 6 in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No. 6

Brahms/(arr Devin Moore) - Geistliches Lied, Op. 30 arranged for string quartet (5 min)

Brahms:  Quartet No. 3 in B-flat Major, Op. 67

**Billy Childs:  String Quartet No. 4 (2026 – composed for Isidore Quartet)

Dvořák:  Quartet No. 13 in G Major, Op. 106

Haydn:  Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 76 No. 4 “Sunrise”

György Ligeti:  String Quartet No. 2 (1968)

Schubert:  Quartet No. 13 in A minor, D. 804, Op. 29 “Rosamunde”

*Gabriella Smith:  Carrot Revolution (2015 – 11min)

Tyshawn Sorey:  Everything Changes, Nothing Changes (2018 – 25 min)

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 or Mozart clarinet quintet (TBD)

 

With Miró String Quartet:  Nov 8-16, 2025 for a program celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Mendelssohn Octet for Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 20 (1825). 

SPECIFIC SUGGESTED PROGRAMS

Program 1: “Brahms - the Admirer”

Bach/(arr. Moore) choral arrangement (specific piece/s to be confirmed)

Brahms/(arr. Moore)  Geistliches Lied, Op. 30

Beethoven:  Quartet Op. 18, No. 6

-intermission-

Brahms:  Quartet in Bb-Major, Op. 67

Though the Clara, Robert, Johannes love-triangle has captured public interest for centuries, this particular program aims to understand Brahms as an innovative traditionalist with a deep reverence for compositional giants Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven. “Brahms: the Admirer” explores the composer’s mastery of both polyphonic choral writing and the art of the string quartet with complimenting works of Bach and Beethoven, providing a throughline of devout admiration, lasting legacy, and explorative individualism. A vital component of the three B’s (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms), Brahms leaves a lasting impression on the music world as an academic traditionalist, a tortured perfectionist, a hopeless Romantic, and a one-of-a-kind composer.

SPECIFIC SUGGESTED PROGRAMS (cont'd)

Program 2: “Proximities”

Ligeti Quartet No. 2

T. Sorey Everything Changes, Nothing Changes (2018)

-intermission-

Schubert Quartet in A minor, D. 804, Op. 29 “Rosamunde”

From Gyorgy Ligeti’s mastery of micropolyphony to Schubert’s yearning lyricism, this program offers no shortage of aesthetic and stylistic differences, yet each piece retains a central dilemma: a struggle between unification and divergence. Tyshawn Sorey’s Everything Changes, Nothing Changes is the perfect microcosm of this dialectic, which reflects the inherent darkness present throughout the evening’s works and demands a close examination of a quartet’s proximities, both to itself and to an audience.

 

 

Program 3

Haydn Op. 76 No. 4 “Sunrise”

G. Smith Carrot Revolution or Billy Childs - String Quartet No. 4 (2026)

-intermission-

Dvořák Quartet No. 13 in G Major, Op. 106

 

NOTES:  if your date is before Feb 13, 2026 then 2nd work will be the G. Smith.  For concerts after Feb 13 the 2nd work will be the Billy Childs.  Also, a few of the Bach arrangements may be added to this program – this still TBD.

 

 

Program 4

Haydn Op. 76 No. 4 “Sunrise”

Ligeti Quartet No. 2

-intermission-

Brahms Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 67

 

 

Program 5

Bach/(arr. Moore) choral arrangement (specific piece/s to be confirmed)

Schubert Quartet in A minor, D. 804, Op. 29 “Rosamunde”

-intermission-

Brahms/(arr. Moore)  Geistliches Lied, Op. 30

Brahms:  Quartet in Bb-Major, Op. 67

April 2024

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.

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