The Calidore String Quartet is renowned for combining individual brilliance and exceptional ensemble synergy.Praised by the Los Angeles Times for playing that is “astonishing…the kind of sublimity other quartets spend a lifetime searching for,” the ensemble has also inspired The Washington Post to write that “four more individual musicians are unimaginable, yet these speak, breathe, think and feel as one.” Le Devoir described them as “one of the finest quartets on the planet.”
With its original four members together since the quartet’s 2010 founding, the Calidore has been able to cultivate deep musical understanding and continuity that informs its sound and its interpretations. The Calidore is as committed to presenting authoritative readings of the great masterworks as it is to expanding the string quartet repertoire through commissions and collaborations with leading composers including John Williams, Caroline Shaw, and Anna Clyne.
The Calidore has performed at many of the world’s great concert halls and festivals, including Lincoln Center,Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, the Berlin Konzerthaus, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussels BOZAR, and festivals such as the BBC Proms, Verbier, Ravinia, Caramoor, Music@Menlo, and annually at The Bellingham Festival of Music. Collaborators include Anne-Sophie Mutter, Joshua Bell,Anthony McGill, Marc-André Hamelin, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, David Finckel and WuHan, the Emerson String Quartet and the Ébène Quartet, among others.
Dedicated advocates for contemporary music, the Calidore has premiered works by Caroline Shaw, John Williams, Anna Clyne, Sebastian Currier, Han Lash, and Huw Watkins. Last season, they gave the world premiere of a new quartet Arietta by Mark-Anthony Turnage at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts and reunited with Gabriela Montero at the Barbican Centre for a performance of her piano quintet Canaima.
During the 26/27 season, the Calidore give the world premiere of a new piece by Anna Clyne in Stockholm, followed by an American premiere in Baltimore. The piece is co-commissioned by Konserthuset Stockholm, Shriver Hall Concert Series, and The Phillips Collection and will be featured on an upcoming album of Anna Clyne’s complete chamber works to be released on Signum. The quartet tours widely across North America,with engagements at New York’s Lincoln Center and in Montreal and Portland, a tour of California, and a Beethoven residency in Denver. In Europe, they return to Amsterdam, London’s Wigmore Hall, and Padova.
In 2025, the Calidore unveiled a landmark box set of the complete Beethoven string quartets, recorded for Signum following their live cycle at Lincoln Center in New York. The first volume—featuring the late quartets—was released in 2023 to widespread acclaim and earned the Quartet the 2024 BBC Music Magazine Chamber Award. The second volume, released in 2024, was named Editor’s Choice by Gramophone Magazine. Earlier recordings for Signum include Babel, featuring works by Schumann, Shaw, and Shostakovich, and Resilience, with music by Prokofiev, Janáček, Golijov, and Mendelssohn. The Calidore’s latest release, American Tapestry, features music by Barber, Marsalis, Korngold, and John Williams.
Formed at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, the Calidore rose to prominence with top prizes at the ARD Munich,Hamburg, Fischoff, Coleman, Chesapeake, and Yellow Springs competitions, along with the Grand Prize of the inaugural M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition and the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. Additional honors include the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, and selection as BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists.
Currently the Distinguished String Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Delaware, the Calidore has also held residencies at the University of Toronto, University of Michigan, and Stony Brook University. The Quartet’s mentors include the Emerson String Quartet, Quatuor Ébène, Andre Roy, Arnold Steinhardt, David Finckel, Günter Pichler, Guillaume Sutre, Paul Coletti, and Ronald Leonard.
The Calidore String Quartet plays the following instruments:
Jeffrey Myers plays on a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini c. 1775 “Eisenberg,” owned by a private benefactor and bows by Dominique Peccatte and Francois Tourte.
Ryan Meehan plays a violin by Vincenzo Panormo c.1775 and a bow by Joseph Henry.
Jeremy Berry plays a viola by Umberto Muschietti c.1903 and a bow by Pierre Simon.
Estelle Choi plays a cello by Charles Jacquot c.1830
Updated October 2026 for use in the 2026/27 season. Please discard any older material.
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