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Poiesis Quartet 1

String Quartet Brian Raphael Nabors

11:32

2 3 4

String Quartet No. 7 ‘Surfacing’ Kevin Lau Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

8:02 5:23 2:19

Many Many Cadences

Sky Macklay

8:58

Calvary (arr. by Max Ball for violin quartet) African-American spiritual S t r i n g Q u a r t e t N o . 1 ‘ C a l v a r y ’ C o l e r i d g e - Ta y l o r P e r k i n s o n I. Allegro II. Adagio III. Rondo - Allegro Vivace

2:45

7 8 9

P ro d u c e d b y E l a i n e M a r t o n e R e c o rd e d a t C l o n i c k H a l l , O b e r l i n O H , J a n u a r y 1 9 - 2 1 , 2 0 2 6 R e c o rd e d , E d i t e d a n d M i x e d b y A n d re w Tr i p p . M a s t e re d b y A n d re w G a r v e r © 2 0 2 6 • B S T D - 0 2 3 4 • b r i g h t s h i ny. n i n j a • A l l r i g h t s re s e r v e d U n a u t h o r i z e d re p l i c a t i o n & d i s t r i b u t i o n p ro h i b i t e d

5:34 4:33 5:39

“Based on our namesake ‘poiesis’, a Greek word meaning creation, our quartet is dedicated to crafting unique artistic experiences by studying, commissioning, and platforming engaging and timely repertoire. This album is a collection of our ‘staples’: the music that’s most dear to us, including the first piece we ever played together (Perkinson’s Calvary) as well as our first ever commissioned work (Lau’s Surfacing). Through deeply indulgent harmonic textures and playful rhythmic languages, these works contend with stories ranging from grief and political resistance to fantasy, celebration, and humor. Over the years, the imaginative compositions of Brian Raphael Nabors, Kevin Lau, Sky Macklay, and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson have guided us in our musical and spiritual growth, and we hope that it will do the same for you. We are indebted to Geneva Moores, Peter de Boor, and the University of Cincinnati Harmony Fund for their generous support in the creation of this album. Special thanks to the Resonate Project for their work in the commission of Brian Raphael Nabors’ String Quartet and Carl de Boor for the commission of Kevin Lau’s Surfacing. Finally, to all the incredibly special composers featured on this album: Your feedback, collaboration, and camaraderie has been invaluable, and your music indescribably moving. We are touched and grateful to be trusted with your art. Thank you.”

- Poiesis Quartet

ABOUT POIESIS QUARTET Celebrated for their "multifaceted artistry" and "brilliantly idiomatic" programming (New York Times), the Poiesis Quartet is the winner of the 2026 Cleveland Quartet Award and the First Prize and Commission Prize recipients of the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition. In 2023, they were also named the Grand Prize and Lift Every Voice Prize winners of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, as well as Gold Medal and BIPOC Prize winners at the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition. In May 2024, Poiesis joined the Concert Artists Guild roster for North American management as winners of the Louis and Susan Meisel Competition. Derived from ancient Greek (ποιεῖν), the word Poiesis means “to make”; specifically, to create something that has never existed before. With a focus on expanding the string quartet repertoire with vibrant new works by emerging composers, the Poiesis Quartet infuses each performance with unique moments of synchronicity and verve. Their 2024 debut album ‘as we are’ on the Bright Shiny Things label, which features world premiere recordings with mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby, was lauded for the quartet’s “bottomless depth” (Cleveland Classical). The Poiesis Quartet has presented several world premieres of works by composers including Brian Raphael Nabors, Kevin Lau, Kitty Brazelton, and Jeff Scott. Furthermore, the Oberlin Commission Project (TOCP), an exciting new endeavor spearheaded by Poiesis, presented the world premieres of five newly commissioned works by LGBTQ+ composers of color from Oberlin Conservatory in March 2026. Most recently, Poiesis and the Caramoor Center commissioned and gave the world premiere of Jeff Scott’s Tapestry of the Beloved Beatified, honoring four queer revolutionaries. Poiesis is honored to have served as the 2025-26 Ernst Stiefl Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, the 2025 St. Lawrence Emerging String Quartet in Residence at Stanford University, as well as ensemble-inresidence of concertnova, a Cincinnati-based collective which presents multi-sensorial and interdisciplinary concert experiences. In the 2026–27 season, Poiesis maintains an expansive international schedule. Two European tours, in September 2026 and January 2027, include the Quartet’s Lucerne Festival debut and appearances in Essen, Berlin, Budapest, Hannover, and Cologne. Across North America, the Quartet performs at Strathmore, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Brevard Music Center, with additional engagements from Boulder, La Jolla, and Seattle to New York, Chicago, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, and Salt Lake City. The Cleveland Quartet Award will also bring Poiesis to a consortium of eight prominent American presenters, including Carnegie Hall, over the coming seasons. The Poiesis Quartet is currently the Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the Curtis Institute of Music. As graduates of Oberlin College & Conservatory and the University of Cincinnati, they were previously mentored by the Ariel Quartet, Sibbi Bernhardsson, and the Verona Quartet. As a multi-faceted ensemble, members of the quartet also individually received formal education in disciplines such as chemistry, comparative American studies, feminist studies, baroque, and jazz. When not playing chamber music, Poiesis loves to learn new languages, share ice cream cakes, and take long walks on the beach.