Summer-Festival: Debut Poiesis Quartet

Creating something new, bringing something into being that did not exist before: that is the meaning of the ancient Greek verb poiein. Sarah Ying Ma thought it a fitting name when she and her fellow Oberlin Conservatory students Max Ball, Jasper de Boor, and Drew Dansby founded a string quartet in Ohio in 2022. And the four of them hit the ground running: after just one year, the Poiesis Quartet - which collectively identifies as queer - shot straight to first prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Fun fact: their final round of rehearsals was propelled by a special sense of urgency, as they had accidentally prepared according to the previous year’s repertoire guidelines. More awards followed, most recently first prize at the renowned Banff International String Quartet Competition, which also comes with their debut at Lucerne Festival. The “American Dream” of this American quartet? Giving a platform to composers who do not belong to the traditional canon. They will fully embrace that artistic freedom in Lucerne as well: with Pisachi by Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, and a quartet by the Black composer Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, who fused classical, jazz, and pop idioms in his music.

Performers:
Poiesis Quartet: Sarah Ying Ma, violin | Max Ball, violin | Jasper de Boor, viola | Drew Dansby, cello

Program:
Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate (*1968)
Pisachi. Six Epitomes for String Quartet

Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson (1932–2004)
String Quartet Calvary

Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)
String Quartet in F major

This concert has no intermission

Tickets from 24.03.2026 | 10.00 am (CET)