Quartet-in-Residence season begins this month at Caramoor

The Poiesis Quartet performs at Caramoor's Rosen House on Nov. 16. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The Poiesis Quartet — violinists Sarah Ying Ma and Max Ball, violist Jasper de Boor, and cellist Drew Dansby — begins its season as the 2025-26 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at Caramoor, giving the first concert of the residency as part of the Rosen House Concert Series on Sunday, Nov. 16, at 3 p.m.

The Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence program was founded in 1999, and annually supports an exceptional emerging string quartet. The year-long residency includes three performances at Caramoor and two 10-day periods (Nov. 11 to 21, and April 27 to May 5, 2026) in which the quartet works with students in local schools. 

One thousand students will benefit from engagements in 11 schools across Westchester County. The Quartet-in-Residence program extends access to the arts for high school students by providing one-to-one mentoring with professional musicians, giving students insight into pursuing a career in the arts. Caramoor also commissions a new work by a composer of the Quartet’s choosing — the Poiesis Quartet will premiere the new piece written for the group at Caramoor in summer 2026. 

Formed in 2022 at Oberlin, the Poiesis Quartet (pronounced poy-EE-suhss), has swiftly risen to prominence. In addition to being the Grand Prize winners of the 2025 Banff International String Quartet, the ensemble is also the winner of the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

The Poiesis Quartet’s program for its Nov. 16 concert, titled “Surfacing,” is an exploration of the raw, human responses to existential and life-altering events. Incorporating musical influences as varied as electronic dance music, East Asian folk tunes, R&B, jazz, gospel, and traditional spirituals, four composers take us on a journey through phases of healing and growth, ultimately surfacing from confusion and pain with resilience and a renewed sense of hope. 

The Poiesis Quartet’s second performance as part of the Rosen House Concert Series takes place at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 3, 2026, and includes Michi Wiancko’s To Unpathed Waters, Undreamed Shores (2020); Eleanor Alberga’s String Quartet No. 2 (1994); and Béla Bartók’s String Quartet No. 5 (1934). Tickets are free for audience members ages 18 and under.

For Caramoor’s complete schedule go to caramoor.org/events 

Concert tickets are available for purchase online at caramoor.org; by phone at 914 -232-1252 Tuesdays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and on site from the Box Office two hours before each performance. 

Caramoor is at 149 Girdle Ridge Road in Katonah.