Poiesis Quartet

The award-winning Cincinnati-based Poiesis Quartet continues our 61st season on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at Libby Gardner Concert Hall on the University of Utah campus. Grand Prize winners of the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and winners of the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition, Poiesis brings what The New York Times calls “multifaceted artistry” and “brilliantly idiomatic” programming to every performance.

Estimated duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

• Joseph Haydn – String Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 71, No. 1 (23 min)
• Jeff Scott – Tapestry of the Beloved Beatified (new work; timing unknown)
• Intermission (15 min)
• Sky Macklay – Many Many Cadences (9 min)
• Ludwig van Beethoven – String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135 (25 min)

All timings are approximate. Program and artists are subject to change.

A free pre-concert talk takes place at 6:30 p.m. before the performance.

Poiesis Quartet
Sarah Ying Ma, violin
Coco Mi, violin
Jasper de Boor, viola
Drew Dansby, cello

Formed at Oberlin Conservatory in 2022, Poiesis has emerged as one of the distinctive young string quartets of its generation. The Quartet received the Grand Prize and Canadian Commission Prize at the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition, as well as the Grand Prize and Lift Every Voice Prize at the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Its 2025 performance at Caramoor was named one of The New York Times’ Best Classical Performances of the year.

Poiesis pairs a cohesive ensemble sound with programs that place canonical works in conversation with contemporary voices. Collectively queer, the Quartet brings its identity to the stage through expressive performances and work that makes space for stories historically underrepresented in chamber music.

The Quartet commissions and performs new works, including Jeff Scott’s Tapestry of the Beloved Beatified, which premiered at Caramoor in July 2026. Its projects include A Love Letter to the Queer Community, featuring five works commissioned from queer and trans composers of color connected to Oberlin. Poiesis’s 2024 debut album, as we are, was released by Bright Shiny Things and features world-premiere recordings with mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby.

Poiesis is currently the Nina von Maltzahn String Quartet at the Curtis Institute of Music. The members perform on instruments and bows generously loaned by Jonathan Solars Fine Violins.