Calidore String Quartet
Mendelssohn: Quartet No. 2 in A minor for Strings, Op. 13, I. Adagio - Allegro vivace: youtube.com/watch?v=XMwh4KQdUjk
Calidore String Quartet
As one of the world’s premier chamber ensembles, the award-winning Calidore String Quartet serves as the Faculty String Quartet in Residence at the University of Delaware School of Music. For more than a decade, the Calidore has performed in major global venues, released critically acclaimed recordings and earned international recognition for its interpretations of a vast chamber music repertory—Beethoven and Mendelssohn to contemporary voices like György Kurtág, Jörg Widmann and Caroline Shaw.
At UD, members of the quartet mentor the next generation of classical musicians and lead two signature educational initiatives: the annual Calidore String Quartet Winter Seminar and the Graduate String Quartet Fellowship Residency.
Visit the Calidore String Quartet's website to learn more.
Calidore Presents — 2026–2027 Season
"Pioneers and Visionaries"
The 2026–2027 season of “Calidore Presents” celebrates “Pioneers & Visionaries”—artists whose distinctive voices, groundbreaking ideas and fearless approach to music have expanded the possibilities of chamber music.
The Calidore String Quartet anchors the season with performances spanning the Classical era to the present day, including a presentation of Schubert’s complete late string quartets. The quartet is joined by an extraordinary roster of guest artists, including violinist Yura Lee, and violist Timothy Ridout alongside masterclasses and educational programs with Ida Kavafian, Eugene Drucker and the celebrated Quatuor Ébène.
From Schubert’s visionary late quartets and Ysaÿe’s complete virtuosic solo sonatas to the adventurous music of Caroline Shaw, Samuel Adams and Mark-Anthony Turnage, the season explores artists who pushed—and continue to push—the boundaries of their art.
Through performances, residencies, masterclasses and its annual Winter Seminar, “Calidore Presents” brings these pioneers and visionaries into direct dialogue with University of Delaware students and audiences, celebrating both the great traditions of chamber music and the artists who carry them forward.
Upcoming Events
MASTERCLASSES & EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
The fifth annual Calidore String Quartet Winter Seminar brings together young string soloists and college-age string quartets for four days of intensive study with members of the Calidore String Quartet, University of Delaware faculty, and internationally renowned guest artists.
The seminar includes daily coachings and lessons and concludes with a performance featuring all participants in Gore Recital Hall.
Founding member of the Emerson String Quartet, violinist Eugene Drucker works with University of Delaware students in a public masterclass as part of the Calidore String Quartet Winter Seminar.
Violinist and distinguished educator Ida Kavafian works with University of Delaware students in a public masterclass as part of the Calidore String Quartet Winter Seminar.
Violinist Yura Lee joins the University of Delaware for a three-day residency featuring lessons, coachings, and educational activities with students, culminating in her February 24 performance of Eugène Ysaÿe’s Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, Op. 27.
The celebrated Quatuor Ébène leads a masterclass with University of Delaware chamber music students, offering students the opportunity to work directly with one of the world’s leading string quartets.
Calidore String Quartet Winter Seminar
The Calidore String Quartet will host its Winter Seminar at the University of Delaware School of Music from January 15–18, 2027. Held at the Amy E. du Pont Music Building on the UD campus, the tuition-free, intensive multi-day program brings together pre-professional young string musicians and emerging string quartets for intensive coaching, artistic mentorship and performance opportunities.
Seminar Highlights
- Daily coaching and lessons: Intensive sessions with the Calidore String Quartet and UD School of Music faculty.
- Guest artist masterclasses: Direct instruction and feedback from distinguished guest artists:
- Eugene Drucker—Violin, Emerson String Quartet
- Ida Kavafian—Violin Faculty, Curtis Institute of Music
- Faculty performance: A feature concert presented by the Calidore String Quartet.
- Participant performance: A grand finale concert featuring all seminar participants in the acoustically suberb Gore Recital Hall.
- Dates: January 15–January 18, 2027 (Arrival on the afternoon of January 14; final performance in the afternoon on January 18, 2027.
- Location: University of Delaware School of Music, Amy E. du Pont Music Building, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716.
- Tuition: Full tuition-free for all accepted participant (covers coaching, masterclasses and facility access).
- Application fees: $200 per ensemble | $50 per soloist.
- Pre-formed string quartets: All quartet members must be 18 years of age or older and currently enrolled or completed an undergraduate or graduate degree program.
- Young soloists: Young soloists must be between 10 and 24 years of age.
- The 2027 seminar will feature violin soloists, with opportunities for participation by exceptional young violists and cellists as space permits.
- Any participants under the age of 18 must attend with a parent or guardian for the duration of the seminar.
For questions regarding eligibility please contact echoi@udel.edu.
- Quartet Audition: Submit an unedited video link (private YouTube link preferred) featuring two contrasting movements from string quartets written in two different eras (for example, a movement of Haydn and a movement of Shostakovich).
- Soloist Audition: Submit an unedited video link (private YouTube link preferred) featuring a movement of solo Bach and the first movement of a standard concerto.
- Quartet and soloist auditioners must provide one letter of recommendation from a teacher, coach or performing artist.
- Questions regarding repertoire may be directed to meehanr@udel.edu.
- We are not able to accommodate housing for participants, but there are a variety of hotel options in the Newark, DE area.
- Having access to a car is recommended but not required. Uber/Lyft are readily available throughout the Newark area.
- Applications and audition materials must be submitted by December 1, 2026.
- Final decisions will be announced by December 10, 2026. Selected participants must confirm their participation by December 17, 2026.
- All events will take place at the University of Delaware School of Music.
- The 2027 Winter Seminar is tuition-free. Application fee is $50 for solo applications and $200 for quartet applications.
- Send completed application materials to echoi@udel.edu.
Graduate Student Fellowship String Quartet
In addition to the annual winter seminar, the University of Delaware School of Music hosts Graduate Fellowship Ensembles—a fully funded two-year master's degree residency for graduate students.
Selected through a competitive audition process separate from the seminar, the fellowship string quartet resides at UD, receives full tuition support and undergoes continuous, intensive coaching with the Calidore String Quartet.
Current Fellowship Quartet—Prometheus Quartet
Formed in the fall of 2023 at The Juilliard School, the Prometheus Quartet is a New York City-based string quartet inspired by the myth of Prometheus, striving to bring the gift of music to others. Just as Prometheus stole fire from the gods to gift to humanity, we aim to bring meaningful forms of connection to our audiences through performances of the beloved string quartet canon and undiscovered gems.
The quartet's current iteration formed after discovering an immediate bond while working on Korngold’s Piano Quintet in E Major in the 2024 Juilliard ChamberFest. Since then, the quartet coached intensively with Merry Peckham and was a Gluck Fellowship ensemble for the 2024-2025 school year. While at Juilliard, the quartet was coached by legendary cellist and chamber musician Joel Krosnick, Joseph Lin, Natasha Brofsky, and Catherine Cho. The quartet is currently the Graduate String Quartet in Residence at the University of Delaware where they are mentored by the Calidore String Quartet.
Additionally, the quartet has coached with members of Quatuor Ébène, the Alban Berg Quartet, the Jerusalem Quartet, Marc Danel, Timothy Eddy, André Roy, and appeared in masterclasses at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Festival appearances include being named the inaugural Emerging Artist String Quartet of Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, where they studied under the Takács Quartet, an educational residency at the Chamber Music Society of Fort Worth, the Schiermonnikoog Festival in the Netherlands, and the McGill International String Quartet Academy. Furthermore, the quartet were recently invited to compete in the 2025 Schoenfeld International String Competition and also took part in the Fischoff Competition.
Dedicated to innovation in the concert scene, the quartet also recently performed in “The Mad King,” a collaboration between Carnegie Hall and Juilliard’s “New Series” curated by music division dean David Ludwig. For this program, the quartet performed Schoenberg's Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, Op. 41, in a multimedia setting alongside guest pianist Baron Fenwick and actress Ana Karneža. The quartet has also worked closely with Juilliard Arnhold Creative Associate, flutist Claire Chase, as part of her project Density 2036. Rated as one of New York Classical Review Critic’s Choice 2024-25 performances, the quartet premiered a new version of Terry Riley’s “Holy Liftoff” for string quartet, flute and electronic tape for Juilliard’s Fall Festival.
Upcoming concerts include performances at the Music Academy of the West’s Mariposa Series, Chesapeake Music, the University of Delaware, and in Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Inside Chamber Music series with Bruce Adolphe.
The quartet members individually attained their Bachelors degrees from Mannes School of Music, the New England Conservatory, the Peabody Institute, and the Eastman School of Music before forming at Juilliard.
Previous Fellowship Quartet
Trellis Quartet
Leo Matsuoka, Violin
Dallas Noble, Violin
Zachary Levin, Viola
Priscilla Kim, Cello
Inaugural Graduate Fellowship Quartet
Njioma Grevious, Violin
Rebecca Benjamin, Violin
James Kang, Viola
Brian Gadbow , Cello
