{"id":117217,"date":"2025-09-03T12:49:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T16:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=117217"},"modified":"2025-09-03T14:00:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T18:00:01","slug":"report-poiesis-quartet-triumphs-banff-international-string-quartet-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/09\/03\/report-poiesis-quartet-triumphs-banff-international-string-quartet-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"REPORT | Poiesis Quartet Triumphs At The Banff International String Quartet Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Poiesis
Poiesis Quartet (Photo: \u00a0Eden Davis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Cincinnati based Poiesis Quartet stunned the Banff International String Quartet Competition\u2019s (BISQC) veteran audience and distinguished jury with an incontestable victory as the finest ensemble at the end of a superb week of music making by nine groups from realms as disparate as Seoul, Salzburg, Paris and Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

Poiesis, unreservedly out in its visual presentation, particularly the shaved head violist Jasper de Boor, who wore stunning dresses in several concerts, displayed their technical and aesthetic prowess in five quite distinct performances. Though their focus is on 21st century compositions, Poiesis acquitted themselves well while playing Haydn\u2019s String Quartet in D Major, Opus 71, No. 2 and Brahms\u2019 Quartet No. 3 in B Flat Major, Opus 67, showing a discerning crowd that their commitment to chamber music is deep and serious.<\/p>\n

The prize-winning announcement made at the competition\u2019s conclusion on Sunday night, August 31, was greeted by a heartfelt standing ovation at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.<\/p>\n

\"Arete
Arete Quartet (Photo: Jino Park)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Final Round<\/h3>\n

Poiesis were joined for the Competition\u2019s fifth and final round by two other remarkable ensembles, second prize winning South Korea\u2019s Arete<\/strong>, which received $12,000 (CAD), and the Japanese\/Chinese Kairi<\/strong>, which got $8,000 as third prize winner, and an additional $4,000 for best performance of a Haydn quartet.<\/p>\n

The remaining ensembles who didn\u2019t make it to the final round received the $5,000 Christine and David Anderson Career Development Prize.<\/p>\n

The other rounds of the week-long event, in which all ensembles participated, consisted of a Haydn and 21st century piece in a deliberately challenging and mismatched duo; a 19th century Romantic composers\u2019 sequence; a premiere of a piece by acclaimed Canadian Kati Agocs<\/strong> (interpreted differently by each); and a Beethoven or Schubert allegro accompanied by a 20th century composition (this reviewer\u2019s favourite).<\/p>\n

\"Quartet
Quartet KAIRI (Photo: Saya Ota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First Prize Package<\/h3>\n

The winning package for Poiesis is estimated as being worth $500,000, one of the grandest prizes in chamber music worldwide. It includes:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • $25,000 (Canadian) in cash;<\/li>\n
  • Winner\u2019s Concert Tours in North America handled by MIKI Artists and Europe by Kozertdirektion Hamplin;<\/li>\n
  • a recording produced by the Banff Centre;<\/li>\n
  • a residency with the Esterhazy Foundation, including concerts at Haydn Hall in Eisenstadt and the Lucerne Festival;<\/li>\n
  • a Southern Methodist University Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence Prize, including a one-year paid visiting residency at the Meadows School involving performances, coaching and mentorship;<\/li>\n
  • a two-week residency at Banff, and an opportunity for a two-week Chamber Music Residency at the English Britten Pears Arts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The Poiesis Quartet performs the last movement of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s String Quartet No. 1 “Calvary” at the final round of the 50th Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition at University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center (DPAC) on May 13th, 2023 in South Bend, IN:<\/p>\n