Isidore Quartet

The prize-winning, New York-based Isidore String Quartet returns to Salt Lake City for our 61st season on Wednesday, January 13, 2027, at Libby Gardner Concert Hall on the University of Utah campus. Winners of the 2022 Banff International String Quartet Competition and recipients of the 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, the quartet has performed at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Paris Philharmonie. The Chicago Classical Review praises their “polished sonority and well-balanced, tightly synchronized ensemble.”

Estimated duration: 1 hour and 50 minutes. All timings are approximate; program and artists are subject to change.

Program:
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – String Quartet No. 21 in D major, “Prussian,” K. 575, “The Violet” — 24 min
- Billy Childs – String Quartet No. 4, American Mosaic — 25 min
- Intermission — 15 min
- Ludwig van Beethoven – String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59, “Razumovsky,” No. 2 — 38 min

Featured performers: Isidore Quartet
- Adrian Steele, violin
- Phoenix Avalon, violin
- Devin Moore, viola
- Clara Abel, cello

“A silvery classical sound over a faultless technical foundation... Even in the most predictable of classical phrases they seem to take nothing for granted.”
—San Francisco Classical Voice

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 others.

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, San Francisco, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. They have collaborated with performers including James Ehnes, Sterling Elliott, Anthony McGill, the Miró Quartet, and Jeremy Denk. Their 2026/27 season includes performances in Denver, Ottawa, Aspen, Tucson, and San Antonio, as well as return engagements in Boston, New York, Seattle, Vancouver, Cincinnati, Memphis, San Francisco, and New Orleans. First-time collaborators include pianist Conrad Tao; they will also continue to perform with pianist Jeremy Denk and cellist Sterling Elliott.

In Europe, they have performed at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and in Bonn (Beethoven Haus), Stuttgart, Cologne, and Dresden, among other cities. During the 2025/26 season, they made their debuts in Paris (Philharmonie) and London (Wigmore Hall).

Over the past several years, the quartet has developed a strong connection to the works of composer and pianist Billy Childs, performing his Quartets No. 2 and 3 throughout North America and Europe. In February 2026, they premiered a new Childs quartet written expressly for them, Quartet No. 4 (“American Mosaic”).

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. It also 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!

The concert series’ lecture series sponsor is Sinfonia Salt Lake; garden sponsor is Cactus & Tropicals; post-concert reception sponsor is Délice Bakery & Café; and print sponsor is Sun Print Solutions.