The Calidore String Quartet has been recognized for achieving an extraordinary cohesion of individual artistry and collective expression—what The Washington Post described as “four more individual musicians are unimaginable, yet these speak, breathe, think and feel as one.” Lauded by The Los Angeles Times for performances that are “astonishing…the kind of sublimity other quartets spend a lifetime searching for,” the Quartet is distinguished by its expressive depth, commanding precision and interpretive clarity. With repertoire spanning the complete quartet cycles of Beethoven and Mendelssohn to works by visionary contemporary voices such as György Kurtág, Jörg Widmann, and Caroline Shaw, the Calidore brings what The New York Times called “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct” to each performance. Their artistry reflects a profound engagement with both the classical canon and the evolving language of 21st-century chamber music.
The Calidore has performed at many of the world’s greatest 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 have included Anne-Sophie Mutter, Joshua Bell, Anthony McGill, Marc-André Hamelin, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, David Finckel and Wu Han, the Emerson String Quartet and the Ebene Quartet among others.
Dedicated advocates for today’s music, the Calidore has premiered works by Caroline Shaw, John Williams, Anna Clyne, Gabriela Montero, Sebastian Currier, Han Lash, Mark-Anthony Turnage, and Huw Watkins. In the 2025–26 season, they give the world premiere of a new quartet “Arietta” by Turnage at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts and reunite with Gabriela Montero at the Barbican Centre for a performance of her piano quintet. Additional highlights include a European tour with performances in Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Croatia, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, returns to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Denver Friends of Chamber Music, South Mountain Concerts in Pittsfield, MA, Sanibel Music Festival, the Bellingham Festival of Music as well as a tour of the West Coast. The Quartet will enjoy numerous collaborations this season, including with guitarist Sharon Isbin, pianists Gabriela Montero and Orion Weiss, violists Lawrence Dutton and Matt Lipman, and clarinetist Ricardo Morales.
In 2026, the Calidore releases an all-American album on Signum Records featuring music by Barber, Marsalis, Korngold, and John Williams. In 2025, they unveil a landmark box set of the complete Beethoven string quartets, recorded for Signum following their live cycle at Lincoln Center during the 2024–25 season. 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.
Formed in 2010 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. In 2016, they won the Grand Prize of the inaugural M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition and became recipients of 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 have included 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 byDominique 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 August 2024 for use in the 2024/25 season. Please discard any older material.
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