Poiesis Quartet

Poiesis Quartet plays The Baker-Baum Concert Hall on Sunday, October 11, at 3 PM. The Cincinnati-based string quartet is coming in as part of the La Jolla Music Society's Discovery Series, which is part of their 58th season. The series is billed as a first look at the musical icons of tomorrow, booking young artists who've won some of the most prestigious classical music competitions and awards in the world.

Poiesis fits that description. They took first prize at the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition, and The New York Times called their playing "brilliantly idiomatic." A review in San Francisco Classical Voice described it as "magnetic," pointing to the group's palpable chemistry and remarkable warmth. They're performing ahead of the release of a new album, Surfacing, which is dedicated to modern classical works.

The program for the day pulls from both ends of the century. They'll play Prokofiev's String Quartet No. 1 in B Minor, Op. 50 and Beethoven's String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135. In between, they're featuring two newer pieces: Jeff Scott's Tapestry of the Beloved Beatified, written in 2026, and Sky Macklay's Many Many Cadences. It's a set that puts the quartet's work with contemporary music right alongside the standard repertoire.

There's a free pre-show Musical Prelude at 2 PM, performed by student musicians from the Colburn School, so you can arrive early and hear them before the main event. The concert itself starts at 3 PM at The Baker-Baum Concert Hall, inside The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center at 7600 Fay Ave in La Jolla. Tickets start at $40.