emerging string quartet program AT STANFORD
Stanford Archive of the program
The St. Lawrence String Quartet — whose exploration of nontraditional venues and new audiences was developed, in part, by early community outreach opportunities — observed a need for similar training programs for the next generation of emerging artists. In response to this need, the SLSQ developed the Emerging String Quartet Program (ESQP).
The ESQP is a workshop focused on community outreach for young professional musicians, in which emerging ensembles are invited to Stanford for a residency of one to two weeks. During the residency, the musicians receive coaching from the SLSQ and experience an intense schedule performing both on- and off- campus for a variety of schools, community groups and Silicon Valley businesses. The musicians, already highly accomplished presenters and performers, are provided rare opportunities to interact with the audiences to develop both their skills as performers and as community builders.
Since the program launched in 2009, the greater Stanford community has benefited from the electricity, passion and excellence of these extraordinary young ensembles while the musicians have gained valuable experience presenting to a wide variety of audiences in a short period of time. The ensembles have gone on to develop rich connections with their communities both in the U.S. and abroad.
On-campus venues have included the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, libraries, medical facilities, and research labs, as well as graduate and undergraduate dorms. Each emerging quartet is presented in one formal recital at Campbell Recital Hall, an event that is free and open to the public. Beginning in 2013 the SLSQ and ESQP began presenting Azure Family Concerts, performing music programs for families with children and young adults on the Autism spectrum.
Dolphins Quartet, Fall 2026
The Dolphins Quartet is a string quartet and composer collective dedicated to uniting spirits through musical interpretation, innovation, and improvisation. Based in New York City and formed at The Juilliard School, the Dolphins strive to make chamber music vibrant, relevant, personal, and reflective of our time. Their programs regularly feature works from the classical canon alongside underappreciated gems and original compositions.
The Dolphins have performed, taught, and collaborated across the United States. In Spring 2024, they were recognized as finalists in the Concert Artists Guild competition and have given masterclasses at major institutions including Duke and Shenandoah Universities. They are proud recipients of recent grants, including a Project Grant from the Marks Center at Juilliard and the 2025 Salon de Virtuosi Career Advancement Grant.
At Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the quartet presented the Juilliard premieres of Mieczysław Weinberg’s String Quartet No. 4 and Heitor Villa-Lobos’ String Quartet No. 5. They work closely with living composers, with recent collaborations including John Corigliano, Andy Akiho, and Jessie Montgomery. Their journey as composers began in 2023 with The Dolphin Miniatures, followed by The Angel Fire Quartet in 2024. That same year, they made their orchestral solo debut performing John Adams’ Absolute Jest at David Geffen Hall, conducted by the composer with the Juilliard Orchestra.
Festival appearances include Music from Angel Fire, the St. Lawrence Seminar, Kneisel Hall, and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, where they premiered their original work Tales from the Great Lakes in June 2025. The following month, they traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, teaching in the Ghetto Classics program in partnership with Project: Music Heals Us.
The Dolphins currently serve as the Arts Leadership Ensemble for Project: Music Heals Us, where they help lead Music for the Future, an initiative bringing Juilliard’s composition curriculum to correctional facilities nationwide. In Spring 2025, they launched the inaugural edition of their own Young Composers Program, culminating in eleven world premieres by middle and highschool-aged student composers from the NYC-area.
The quartet has been mentored by many of the field’s most revered artists, including Joel Krosnick, Laurie Smukler, Fred Sherry, Molly Carr, Joseph Lin, Nina Lee, Natasha Brofsky, and Catherine Cho.
This fall, The Dolphins will release their debut album, Dolphins at Play, featuring their three original compositions. Upcoming highlights include performances in the Schneider Concerts and Salon de Virtuosi series, as well as a December album release Dolph-celebration.
In their free time, The Dolphins enjoy playing frisbee together and exploring nature wherever they travel. Additionally, Ian is a savvy rock-climber, James is a pie-baking connoisseur, Isaac is a master of various video games, and Luke actively maximizes his spice tolerance. And yes, they can swim.
Poiesis Quartet, Fall 2025
An “ensemble to watch” (Hyde Park Herald), the Poiesis Quartet is the Grand Prize, Gold Medal, and Lift Every Voice prize winners of the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, as well as Gold Medal and BIPOC Prize 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 and Susan Meisel Competition.
Derived from ancient Greek (ποιεῖν), the word Poiesis means “to make”; specifically, to create something that has never existed before. With a focus 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 lauded for the quartet’s “bottomless depth” (Cleveland Classical). Having had presented several world premieres of works by composers including Brian Raphael Nabors, Kitty Brazelton, and Cara Haxo, their commission of String Quartet No. 7 ‘Surfacing’ by Chinese-Canadian composer Kevin Lau received its world premiere at the Chautauqua Institution in 2025. Furthermore, the Oberlin Commission Project (TOCP), an exciting new endeavor spearheaded by Poiesis, presents the world premieres of five newly commissioned works by LGBTQ+ composers of color from Oberlin Conservatory in March 2026.
Poiesis is honored to be selected as the 2025-26 Ernst Stiefl Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. Additionally, as the 2025 St. Lawrence Emerging String Quartet in Residence at Stanford University, Poiesis has also previously acted as ensemble-in-residence of concertnova, a Cincinnati-based collective which presents multi-sensorial and interdisciplinary concert experiences. Recent and upcoming engagements include the San Antonio Chamber Music Society, Newport Classical, Chamber Music Raleigh, Noe Music, Guarneri Hall, and the Austin Chamber Music Center, amongst others. Highlights of the 2025-26 season include performances of ‘Absolute Jest’ with the Dayton Philharmonic in Dayton, OH as well as with the Oberlin Orchestra in Cleveland’s renowned Severance Hall. Poiesis has also completed multiple international residencies in Punta del Diablo and Punta del Este, Uruguay; the Emilia Romagna Festival in Italy; the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance in Nova Scotia, CAN; the University of Victoria in British Columbia, CAN; and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in France. Additionally, the Poiesis was selected as the only North American ensemble to compete in the prestigious 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition in Alberta, CAN.
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. As graduates of Oberlin College & Conservatory, they were previously mentored by Sibbi Bernhardsson of the Pacifica Quartet and members of the Verona Quartet. As a multi-faceted ensemble, in addition to their performance degrees from Oberlin, members of the quartet also individually received formal education in disciplines 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.
Members of the Poiesis Quartet play on instruments and bows generously loaned by Jonathan Solars Fine Violins.
