Isidore String Quartet
VIDEO
Meet the Isidore Quartet
PRESS ACCLAIM
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 Quintet (Op. 34) or César Franck Quintet
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
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 members of the quartet are violinists Adrian Steele and Phoenix Avalon, violist Devin Moore, and cellist Joshua McClendon. The four began as an ensemble at the Juilliard School, and following a break during the global pandemic reconvened at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in the summer of 2021 under the tutelage of Joel Krosnick. In addition to Mr. Krosnick, the ISQ has coached with Joseph Lin, Astrid Schween, Laurie Smukler, Joseph Kalichstein, Roger Tapping, Misha Amory, Timothy Eddy, Donald Weilerstein, Atar Arad, Robert McDonald, Christoph Richter, Miriam Fried, and Paul Biss.
Their Banff triumph brings extensive tours of North America and Europe, a two-year appointment as the Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at Southern Methodist University in Dallas beginning in 2023-24, plus a two-week residency at Banff Centre including a professionally produced recording, along with extensive ongoing coaching, career guidance, and mentorship.
The Isidore Quartet has appeared on major series in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Durham, Washington (JFK Center), San Antonio, Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa, and has collaborated with a number of eminent performers including James Ehnes, Jeremy Denk, Shai Wosner, and Jon Nakamatsu. Their 23/24 season will feature appearances in Berkeley (Cal Performances), Boston (Celebrity Series), Washington DC (Phillips Collection), New York (92nd St. Y), Chicago, Baltimore, Ann Arbor, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Tucson, Phoenix, Santa Fe, La Jolla, Aspen, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and at Dartmouth College, and Spivey Hall in Georgia, among many others. European highlights include Edinburgh, Lucerne, Brussels, Amsterdam, Hanover, Frankfurt, and Hamburg’s ElbPhilharmonie.
Outside the concert hall the quartet has worked with PROJECT: MUSIC HEALS US providing encouragement, education, and healing to marginalized communities - including elderly, disabled, rehabilitating incarcerated and homeless populations - who otherwise have limited access to high-quality live music performance. They have also been resident ensemble for the Contemporary Alexander School/Alexander Alliance International. In conjunction with those well-versed in the world of Alexander Technique, as well as other performers, the ISQ explores the vast landscape of body awareness, mental preparation, and performance practice.
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!
September, 2023. Please discard any previously or undated versions.