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Oberlin Orchestra with the Poiesis Quartet in Finney (Oct. 31)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Fresh from winning the grand prize at the prestigious Banff Competition on the last day of August, the Poiesis Quartet (Sarah Ying Ma & Max Ball, violins, Jasper de Boor, viola, and Drew Dansby, cello) took a late October victory lap at the Oberlin Conservatory, returning to their place of birth as an ensemble to give master classes and solo with the Oberlin Orchestra.

Judging from the turnout in Finney Chapel on Friday, it might not have been a prizewinning idea to schedule a major orchestra concert on a college campus on Halloween, but there was nothing slim about the sound that the stage full of musicians produced. Brilliantly scored works by Carlos Simon, John Adams, Angélica Negrón, and Zhou Tian, were conducted with precision by Rafael Jiménez.

[Read more…]

Poiesis Quartet returns to Oberlin

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by Mike Telin

Since forming at Oberlin Conservatory in the fall of 2022, The Poiesis Quartet have enjoyed a meteoric rise in the ranks of professional string quartets.

In 2023, the Quartet won the Gold Medal and BIPOC Prize at the St. Paul String Quartet Competition and the Grand Prize and Lift Every Voice Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

In May 2024, they joined the roster of Concert Artists Guild and last August were named First Prize and Commission Prize winners at the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition. The Poiesis are currently the Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

On Friday, October 31, violinists Sarah Ying Ma and Max Ball, violist Jasper de Boor, and cellist Drew Dansby will return to their alma mater to be featured in John Adams’ Absolute Jest with the Oberlin Orchestra. Directed by Raphael Jiménez, the program at 7:30 pm in Finney Chapel also includes Carlos Simon’s Fate Now Conquers, Angelica Negrón’s Campos Flotantes, and Zhou Tian’s Transcend. The concert is free.

[Read more…]

Poiesis Quartet return to Northeast Ohio for a Cleveland composing celebration

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by Stephanie Manning

The long, rich history of string quartet music leaves today’s ensembles with plenty of classic works to explore. The Poiesis Quartet knows such standard repertoire well — their performances of Béla Bartók’s String Quartet No. 5 helped earn them their win at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, which skyrocketed the group’s career in 2023.

But you’re more likely to find the Cincinnati-based ensemble playing something new. So when Poiesis was offered the opportunity to perform seven different string quartets by members of the Cleveland Composers Guild, of course they said yes.

That concert on Sunday, March 16  — which will be held in Cleveland State University’s Drinko Hall at 3:00 pm — features both premieres and other contemporary selections from the local composers. [Read more…]

Recording review: Poiesis Quartet fearlessly forges something new (Bright Shiny Things)

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by Stephanie Manning

Creating something new can come with a lot of expectations. Founding an ensemble. Releasing a debut album. Recording a world premiere, or two. But whatever you might expect from the Poiesis Quartet, they want you to take them exactly as they are.

It might sound like quite the proclamation for the young string quartet, founded two years ago at Oberlin Conservatory by violinists Sarah Ma and Max Ball, violist Jasper de Boor, and cellist Drew Dansby. But their debut recording, as we are — to be released on October 18 — sees the four players completely confident in themselves and the music they’re performing.

The name “Poiesis,” from the ancient Greek ποιεῖν, refers to this act of making what has never been made before. Accordingly, the two pieces on the album are each world premiere recordings (though each have had multiple live performances). Both works also have strong ties to Northeast Ohio, with one by Baldwin Wallace composer-in-residence Clint Needham and the other by Cleveland Orchestra trombonist Richard Stout. [Read more…]

Kent Blossom: Poiesis Quartet’s youthful energy abounds (July 10)

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by Peter Feher

It’s not just the student performances at this year’s Kent Blossom Music Festival that are infused with youthful energy.

The Wednesday, July 10 faculty concert in Ludwig Recital Hall brimmed with optimistic, enthusiastic music-making. The Poiesis Quartet, the string ensemble-in-residence at Kent Blossom this summer (a role filled in previous seasons by the venerable Miami String Quartet), has been together for less than two years. Yet this fresh-faced group — violinists Sarah Ma and Max Ball, violist Jasper de Boor, and cellist Drew Dansby, all recent alums of Oberlin Conservatory — already plays like an ensemble with a long and storied history.

[Read more…]

Kent Blossom faculty concerts continue with Poiesis Quartet

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by Daniel Hathaway

The Poiesis Quartet, founded during Oberlin Conservatory’s Advanced Quartet Seminar program in fall 2022, has been on an award-winning roll beginning with the Grand Prize in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition (2023) as well as Fischoff’s Senior Strings Gold Medal and the Lift Every Voice prizes, and the Gold Medal and BIPOC Prize at the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition.

Most recently, they won the Louis & Susan Meisel Competition, which put them on the Concert Artists Guild roster for management in North America.

The Quartet — violinists Sarah Ma & Max Ball, violist Jasper de Boor & cellist Drew Dansby — have also been appointed to the faculty of the Kent Blossom Music Festival, and will hold master classes and give a 7:30 recital on Wednesday, July 10 in Ludwig Recital Hall at Kent State University. [Read more…]

Poiesis Quartet to join Mezzo-Soprano Nancy Maultsby at Baldwin Wallace

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by Mike Telin

Winning a competition can serve as a jump-start to a young musician or chamber ensemble. Case in point: the Poiesis Quartet, founded during Oberlin Conservatory’s Advanced Quartet Seminar program in Fall 2022. During their first year as an ensemble, they became the 2023 Grand Prize winner of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. They were also awarded the Gold Medal and BIPOC Prize at the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition.

And when Cleveland Orchestra trombonist and composer Richard Stout was looking for a string quartet to perform his Songs of Correspondence — which he wrote for his Baldwin Wallace faculty colleague Nancy Maultsby — on the opening concert of the Rocky River Chamber Music Society series in October, he sought out the Poiesis. Click here to read an interview with Richard Stout.

On Monday, March 25 at 7:30 pm in Gamble Auditorium, Nancy Maultsby and the Poiesis Quartet — Sarah Ma and Max Ball (violins), Jasper de Boor (viola), and Drew Dansby (cello) — will perform Stout’s song cycle based on letters of Willa Cather. The program will also include Clint Needham’s String Quartet No. 2, “Shades Of Green.” The concert is free.

[Read more…]

Rocky River Chamber Music Society opens season with Stout premiere (Sept. 25)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

In a program of Cleveland discoveries on Monday, September 25, a lively crowd at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church got to hear Richard Stout’s new work, Songs of Correspondence, based on letters of early 20th-century American author Willa Cather.

Featured performers were mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby, faculty at Baldwin Wallace, and the Poiesis Quartet (Sarah Ma and Max Ball, violins, Jasper de Boor, viola, and Drew Dansby, cello), who formed at Oberlin Conservatory and were Grand Prize winners of the 2023 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. The concert kicked off the Rocky River Chamber Music Society’s season. [Read more…]

Rocky River Chamber Music Society to present new work by Richard Stout

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 by Mike Telin

When you’re looking for a source of inspiration, sometimes you find it sitting right in front of you. Such was the case with Richard Stout. “I wanted to write some songs for mezzo-soprano and string quartet and I was looking for material,” Stout said during a phone conversation. “I looked at this book — Selected Letters of Willa Cather — that I had sitting at home that my mother had co-edited, and thought, ‘There’s some beautiful material in here.’”

On Monday, September 25 at 7:30 pm at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church, the Poiesis Quartet — Sarah Ma and Max Ball (violins), Jasper de Boor (viola), and Drew Dansby (cello) — will join mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby to perform Stout’s Songs of Correspondence during the opening concert of Rocky River Chamber Music Society’s 2023-24 season. The program will also include Brahms’ String Quartet No.1 in c. The concert is free and will be livestreamed.

Stout, who is a member of The Cleveland Orchestra’s trombone section and a faculty member at Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, said that after he wrote the first few songs he realized that he should ask for permission to use the letters. [Read more…]

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