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Arts writing by Thomas May

September 19, 2026 • 11:48 am 0

‘A new chapter unfolding’: Poiesis Quartet on its evolving identity

Poiesis Quartet in their Lucerne Festival debut: Sarah Ying Ma, Coco Mi, Drew Dansby and Jasper de Boor; photo © Manuela Jans / Lucerne Festival

It was such a pleasure meeting and hearing the Banff-winning, innovative Poiesis Quartet at Lucerne Festival, where they played in the prestigious Debut series. Here’s my interview with violinist Sarah Ying Ma and cellist Drew Dansby for The Strad:

On the eve of their Lucerne Festival debut, Sarah Ying Ma and Drew Dansby of the Banff-winning American Poiesis Quartet talk about a changing line-up, an expanding repertoire and the ideas shaping the ensemble’s next chapter….

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Filed under: Lucerne Festival, string quartet, The Strad

December 2, 2025 • 1:03 pm Comments Off on A New Sound Takes Shape: Leonard Fu on Joining the Juilliard Quartet

A New Sound Takes Shape: Leonard Fu on Joining the Juilliard Quartet

Leonard Fu; photo: Eric Tsai

UPDATE: The concert on December 4 will be livestreamed here at 7.30pm EST.

The Juilliard String Quartet gives its first New York performance with new violinist Leonard Fu on Thursday. I interviewed him for The Strad about joining the storied ensemble and about the program they will perform:

As the Juilliard Quartet makes its New York debut in its new formation, newly appointed second violinist Leonard Fu reflects on tradition, renewal and shaping the ensemble’s evolving voice…
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Filed under: Juilliard, music news, string quartet, The Strad

November 28, 2025 • 3:35 pm Comments Off on Gathering around the Hearth: Inside the Miró Quartet’s New Holiday Album

Gathering around the Hearth: Inside the Miró Quartet’s New Holiday Album

Miró Quartet: Daniel Ching (violin), Joshua Gindele (cello), John Largess (viola) and William Fedkenheuer (violin); photo: Barry Carlton

I interviewed John Largess, violist of the Miró Quartet, about the ensemble’s new holiday album:

Celebrating 30 years together, the Miró Quartet swaps concert halls for the fireside with Hearth, a collection of festive songs newly arranged by fifteen leading composers. Violist John Largess talks about collaboration, nostalgia and what togetherness means after three decades on the road….

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Filed under: holiday, string quartet, The Strad

October 24, 2025 • 5:00 pm Comments Off on Sharing the Spotlight: The Isidore Quartet at Honens 2025

Sharing the Spotlight: The Isidore Quartet at Honens 2025

The Isidore Quartet at Honens: Adrian Steele, Phoenix Avalon, Joshua McClendon and Devin Moore, with finalist Carter Johnson in the centre; photo: Jorge Gustavo Elias

–> Follow the final round and announcement of awards starting at 7pm MDT on the Honens livestream here.

Tonight is the final round at the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition. I spoke with violinist Phoenix Avalon of the Isidore String Quartet about the experience of partnering with each of the three finalists in last night’s first round of the finals. Here’s my interview for The Strad:

For a string quartet, sharing the spotlight with fellow chamber musicians is second nature – but not usually in circumstances like this. The New York City-based Isidore Quartet took the stage last night (23 October) for the chamber-music final of the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition, held at the Jack Singer Concert Hall in the Werklund Centre, downtown Calgary, Alberta. ..

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Filed under: competitions, Honens International Piano Competition, pianists, string quartet, The Strad

October 6, 2025 • 1:15 pm Comments Off on JACK Quartet Celebrates Helmut Lachenmann at 90

JACK Quartet Celebrates Helmut Lachenmann at 90

JACK Quartet in rehearsal with Helmut Lachenmann; courtesy of JACK Quartet

To celebrate the 90th birthday of German avant-garde composer Helmut Lachenmann, the JACK Quartet perform his three string quartets in a single evening at Columbia’s Miller Theatre – and reflect on their long association with his radical sound world. My interview with the ensemble for The Strad:

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Filed under: JACK Quartet, string quartet, The Strad

August 21, 2025 • 11:17 pm Comments Off on At the Edge of the Storm: String Quartets in a Turbulent Decade

At the Edge of the Storm: String Quartets in a Turbulent Decade

Telegraph Quartet; photo: Matthew Washburn

On its new album Edge of the Storm, the San Francisco-based Telegraph Quartet explores string quartets from 1941-51. My interview for The Strad:

Edge of the Storm, the new album by the Telegraph Quartet, is the second instalment in its ongoing 20th-Century Vantage Points series – a curatorial project that maps key string quartet works against the seismic historical forces of the last century. Where the first volume (Divergent Paths, 2023) explored the early modernist rupture through Ravel and Schoenberg, this new release turns to the years 1941–1951: a turbulent decade shaped by war, exile, and the search for renewal….

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Filed under: Britten, Strad, string quartet

August 7, 2025 • 11:51 am Comments Off on Across the Americas: The Miró Quartet Celebrates Alberto Ginastera

Across the Americas: The Miró Quartet Celebrates Alberto Ginastera

Miró Quartet: Daniel Ching, Joshua Gindele, John Largess and William Fedkenheuer

Here’s an interview I did for The Strad with the Miró Quartet on their new recording of the complete quartets by Alberto Ginastera:

Among the Miró Quartet’s projects marking its milestone 30th-anniversary season in 2025 is a new recording of the three string quartets by Alberto Ginastera. For the String Quartet No. 3, Miró is joined by soprano Kiera Duffy. Long a staple of the ensemble’s live repertoire, these works trace the full arc of the Argentine composer’s creative evolution. As violist John Largess notes, they synthesise Argentine folk idioms with bold modernist language, making extraordinary technical demands. 

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Filed under: South America, string quartet, The Strad

May 27, 2025 • 7:26 pm Comments Off on Dover Quartet in Seattle

Dover Quartet in Seattle

Dover Quartet: Joel Link, Bryan Lee, Camden Shaw, Julianne Lee; photo: Jorge Gustavo Elias

My review for The Strad of this past weekend’s Dover Quartet performance, presented by Seattle Chamber Music Society:

On a glorious spring Sunday in Seattle, the Dover Quartet drew a full house to the 536-seat Nordstrom Recital Hall for a splendid afternoon concert – no small feat given the lure of sunshine and blue skies on a holiday weekend. Notably, the audience included a sizable contingent of younger listeners – a testament to the Seattle Chamber Music Society’s outreach efforts and to the appeal of this Signature Series concert, which closed the organisation’s inter-season extension between its winter and summer festivals.
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Filed under: review, Seattle Chamber Music Society, string quartet

April 10, 2025 • 7:11 pm Comments Off on Takács Quartet and Marc-André Hamelin

Takács Quartet and Marc-André Hamelin

Takács Quartet with Marc-André Hamelin; photo (c) Easel Images

A recent interview with the wonderful Richard O’Neill from Takács:

This year, the Takács Quartet celebrates its 50th anniversary with global tours, new commissions, and another opportunity to savour their artistry on disc. Their latest album — made in collaboration with a favourite partner, keyboard phenomenon Marc-André Hamelin — continues the ensemble’s commitment to expanding the chamber music repertoire by championing female composers….
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Filed under: Strad, string quartet

December 24, 2024 • 6:17 pm Comments Off on The Calidore Quartet on Their Beethoven Cycle

The Calidore Quartet on Their Beethoven Cycle

Calidore String Quartet: Ryan Meehan, left, Estelle Choi, Jeffrey Myers, and Jeremy Berry, Photo: Marco Borggreve

I spoke with Calidore Quartet violinist Ryan Meehan about their recording of the complete Beethoven quartets:

To accompany its ongoing release of the complete Beethoven cycle, the Calidore String Quartet has chosen Mark Rothko–like images as cover art: floating fields of color that seem suspended in time. “We’re all huge fans of Rothko’s work,” says violinist Ryan Meehan. “These colors are so bold and sometimes polarizing. Each color creates such a clear feeling on its own, but then as a collective, they also fill the viewer with an intense inner feeling. That’s very similar to Beethoven in that sections can be so contrasting from one to another, but the combination is an experience that you don’t forget.”
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Filed under: Beethoven, string quartet

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