Performers
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About
Event Sponsors:
- Season Sponsor: Available
- Series Sponsor: Available
- Concert Sponsor: Available
- Artist Sponsor: Available
- Garden Sponsor: CACTUS & TROPICALS
- Post-Concert Reception Sponsor: DÉLICE BAKERY & CAFÉ
- Print Sponsor: SUN PRINT SOLUTIONS
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 First Prize winners of the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Poiesis Quartet brings what the New York Times calls "multifaceted artistry" and "brilliantly idiomatic" programming to every performance.
Program: TBD
There will be a free Pre-Concert Talk at 6:30 p.m. before the performance.
Featured Performers:
- POIESIS QUARTET
- Sarah Ying Ma, violin
- Max Ball, violin
- Jasper de Boor, viola
- Drew Dansby, cello
Poiesis is celebrated for its performances and for expanding the string quartet repertoire with vibrant new works by emerging composers. Their honors include the 2026 Cleveland Quartet Award; First Prize and Commission Prize at the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition; Grand Prize and Lift Every Voice Prize at the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition; and Gold Medal and BIPOC Prize at the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition. In May 2024, Poiesis joined the Concert Artists Guild roster as winners of the Louis and Susan Meisel Competition.
Derived from ancient Greek (ποιεῖν), the word Poiesis means "to make"; specifically, to create something that has never existed before. Their 2024 debut album 'as we are' on the Bright Shiny Things label, featuring world-premiere recordings with mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby, was praised for the quartet’s "bottomless depth" (Cleveland Classical). Poiesis has presented world premieres by composers including Brian Raphael Nabors, Kitty Brazelton, and Cara Haxo. Their commission of String Quartet No. 7 'Surfacing' by Kevin Lau received its world premiere at the Chautauqua Institution in 2025. The Oberlin Commission Project (TOCP), led by Poiesis, presented five world premieres by LGBTQ+ composers of color from Oberlin Conservatory in March 2026.
Poiesis was selected as the 2025-26 Ernst Stiefl Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts and as the 2025 St. Lawrence Emerging String Quartet in Residence at Stanford University. They have served as ensemble-in-residence of concertnova and have appeared with organizations including the San Antonio Chamber Music Society, Newport Classical, Chamber Music Raleigh, Noe Music, Guarneri Hall, and the Austin Chamber Music Center. Highlights of the 2025-26 season include performances of 'Absolute Jest' with the Dayton Philharmonic and with the Oberlin Orchestra. Poiesis has completed international residencies in Uruguay, Italy, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and France, and was the only North American ensemble invited to compete in the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition.
The Poiesis Quartet is currently the Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), studying under the Ariel Quartet. They are graduates of Oberlin College & Conservatory and have been mentored by Sibbi Bernhardsson of the Pacifica Quartet and members of the Verona Quartet. In addition to their performance degrees, members have studied subjects such as chemistry, comparative American studies, feminist studies, baroque, and jazz.
When not playing chamber music, Poiesis loves to learn new languages, share ice cream cakes, and take long walks on the beach.