Lauded as “an ensemble to watch” (Hyde Park Herald), the Poiesis Quartet has quickly emerged as one of today’s most exciting young ensembles. Winners of the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition Grand Prize and the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition Grand Prize, Poiesis makes their much-anticipated Newport Classical debut as they open the 2025–26 Chamber Series season. The program begins with Beethoven’s radiant Opus 59 Number 3, an energetic and expressive work that sets the tone for an evening of dynamic contrasts. Poiesis performs Kevin Lau’s String Quartet Number 7, written for the ensemble, followed by Sky Macklay’s inventive and witty Many Many Cadence. The program also includes Calvary, a powerful arrangement of an African American spiritual, and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s String Quartet Number 1, which draws inspiration from the same melody in a work that fuses classical form with spiritual roots.
PROGRAM
BRIAN RAPHAEL NABORS String Quartet
BEETHOVEN Andante con moto – Allegro vivace from String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3
KEVIN LAU String Quartet No. 7
– Intermission –
SKY MACKLAY Many Many Cadence
TRAD Calvary, African-American spiritual, for Violin Quartet
(arr. Max Ball)
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR PERKINSON String Quartet No. 1, Calvary
Complimentary wine, generously provided by Gold’s Wine and Spirits, will be served during intermission.
