Events

Lauded for their “palpable chemistry and remarkable warmth” (San Francisco Classical Voice), the Poiesis Quartet is the First Prize and Commission Prize winners of the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition. In 2023, they were named the Grand Prize and Lift Every Voice Prize winners of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, as well as Gold Medal and BIPOC Prize winners at the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition. In May 2024, Poiesis joined the Concert Artists Guild roster for North American management as winners of the Louis & Susan Meisel Competition.

Derived from ancient Greek (ποιεῖν), the word Poiesis means “to make”; specifically, to create something that has not existed before. With an emphasis on expanding the string quartet repertoire with vibrant new works by emerging composers, the Poiesis Quartet infuses each performance with unique moments of synchronicity and verve. Their 2024 debut album ‘as we are’ on the Bright Shiny Things label, which features world premiere recordings with mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby, was praised for the quartet’s “bottomless depth” (Cleveland Classical). In addition to a recent commission of Chinese-Canadian composer Kevin Lau’s seventh string quartet, an exciting new endeavor spearheaded by Poiesis – the Oberlin Commission Project (TOCP) – presents world premieres of five newly commissioned works by LGBTQ+ composers of color from Oberlin Conservatory in March 2026. Poiesis is also honored to serve as the 2025-26 Ernst Stiefel Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts.

Recent and upcoming engagements include the St. Lawrence Emerging String Quartet residency at Stanford University, Newport Classical, Chamber Music Raleigh, Austin Chamber Music Center, and John Adams’ Absolute Jest with the Dayton Philharmonic and Oberlin Orchestra. Poiesis has performed internationally, including Uruguay in 2023, Italy at the 2024 Emilia Romagna Festival, and France at the 2025 Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

The Poiesis Quartet is the current Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music studying with the Ariel Quartet. As graduates of Oberlin Conservatory, they were previously mentored by Sibbi Bernhardsson of the Pacifica Quartet and the Verona Quartet.