The Banff International String Quartet Competition is proud of the many partnerships developed with concert presenters across Europe and North America, who have supported its mission by providing opportunities for the winners of BISQC to perform for audiences world-wide.
As part of their First Prize, Isidore String Quartet will embark on concert tours in partnership with Konzertdirection Andrea Hampl (Europe) and David Rowe Artists (Canada/USA).
- Europe in March/April 2023, November 2023, January/February 2024, June/July 2024, possibly spring 2025
- Austria as part of the Esterházy Foundation Prize
- North America between June 2023 - August 2024
- BISQ Festival September 2024
Upcoming Concerts
In addition to BISQC Winner's Tour concerts, the Isidore have many other performances through their management - we are pleased to share all their concert details to keep you informed of their many engagements:
JULY
July 1 | Bologna, IT
July 2 | Lesmo, IT
July 5 | Fincken, DE Bad
July 9 | Arolsen, DE
July 12 | Mettlach, DE
July 13 | Rheingau, DE
July 17 | Newport Classical, Newport, RI
AUGUST
August 18 | Maverick Concerts, Woodstock, NY
August 19-26 | Music in the Vineyards, Napa, CA
August 30-September 1 | Banff International String Quartet Festival, Banff, AB
Past Concerts
2024
June 29 | Bologna, IT
June 28 | Munich, DE
June 27 | Bürgerhaus Pullach, Pullach, DE
June 26 | Konzerthaus Berlin, Berlin, DE
June 23 | Zurich, CH
June 22 | Geneva, CH
June 15 | Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle, Red Hook, NY
May 9-12 | Performance Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM
May 5 | Howland Chamber Music Circle, Beacon, NY
May 3 | Huntsville Chamber Music Guild, Huntsville, AL
May 1 | Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH
April 28 | Friends of Music Concerts, Sleepy Hollow, NY
April 25 | 92Y, New York City, NY
April 22 | Carlos Moseley CMS, Spartanburg, SC
April 20 | Edmonton Chamber Music Society, Edmonton, AB
April 19 | Chamber Music Kelowna Society, Kelowna, BC
April 18 | Valley Concert Society, Abbotsford, BC
April 16 | Lyell Gustin Recital Series, Saskatoon, SK
April 14 | Cecelian Chamber Series, Regina, SK
April 13 | Calgary Pro Musica Society, Calgary, AB
March 30 | Shriver Hall Concert Series, Baltimore, MD
March 27 | Celebrity Series of Boston, Boston, MA
March 24 | The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC
March 10 | University Musical Society, Ann Arbor, MI
March 9 | The Jeffrey Concerts, London, ON
March 7 | Aspen Music Festival, Aspen, CO
March 5 | CalPerformances, Berkeley, CA
March 3 | The Coast Recital Society, Sechelt, BC
February 29 | ArtSpring, Salt Spring Island, BC
February 24 | Chamber Music Columbus, Columbus, OH
February 10 | Phoenix Chamber Music Society, Phoenix, AZ
February 9 | UC San Diego, San Diego, CA
January 28 | Eindhoven, NL
January 27 | String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL
January 26 | Brussels, BE
January 24 | Bad Tölz, DE
January 23 | Nürnberg, DE
January 22 | Meran, DE
January 20 | Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, DE
January 19 | Heppenheim, DE
January 18 | Frankfurt, DE
January 17 | Trier, DE
January 15 | Rheda, DE
January 13 | Buchholz, DE
2023
December 8 | Wisconsin Union Theatre, Madison, WI
December 6 | Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, Tuczon, AZ
December 3 | Chamber Music in Yellow Springs, Yellow Springs, OH
November 29 | Ensemble Music Society, Indianapolis, IN
November 28 | Friends of Chamber Music, Denver, CO
November 13 | The Bremen Bell, Bremen, Germany
November 12 | Medienhaus der Braunschweiger Zeitung, Braunschweig, Germany
November 11 | Herrehausen Galerie, Hannover, Germany
November 10 | Bruchsal Castle, Bruchsal, Germany
November 7 | Bruckner House, Linz, Austria
October 15 | Rennolds Chamber Concert Series, Richmond, VA
October 10-31 | Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at SMU Meadows School of the Arts, Dallas, TX
October 10-13 | Music in the Morning, Vancouver, BC
October 7 | Troy Friends of Chamber Music, Troy, NY
October 5 | Lenard Chamber Music Series, Storrs, CT
September 18-30 | Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at SMU Meadows School of the Arts, Dallas, TX
September 17 | Herbst Gold Festival at Esterházy Palace, Eisenstadt, Austria
September 15 | KunstFreunde Wiesloch, Germany
September 12-13 | Ulm, Germany
September 7 | Lucerne Festival Debut, Lucerne, CH
August 29-31 | 64th Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition, Bolzano, IT
August 24-25 | Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh, UK
August 18-20 | Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, Blue Hill, ME
August 8 | Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Barnstable, MA
August 4 | Hornby Festival, Hornby Island, BC
August 2 - 3 | Victoria Summer Music Festival, Victoria, BC
July 24 - 30 | Bravo! Vail, Vail, CO
July 21 | Ottawa Chamberfest, Ottawa, ON
July 19 & 20 | Toronto Summer Music Festival, Toronto, ON
July 16 | Under the Spire Music Festival, Prince Edward Island
July 1 | Rockport Music, Rockport, MA
June 16 | Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Montreal, QC
June 10 | Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle, Bard College, NY
May 10 | Seattle Chamber Music Society, Seattle, WA
April 27 | Fortas Chamber Music Series, The Kennedy Center, Washington, DC
April 23 | San Antonio Chamber Music Society, San Antonio, Texas
March 30 – April 2 | Eisenstadt, Austria, String Quartet Festival
March 19 | Schneider Concerts, The New School, New York, NY
February 24 | University of Vermont, Lane Series, Burlington, VT
February 19 | Philharmonic Society of Orange County, as part of the Laguna Chamber Music Festival
February 13 | Chamber Music Pittsburgh - MainStage Live
Europe
In Europe, BISQC has concert agreements in principle with:
- Strijkkwartet Biënnale, Amsterdam, NL
- Kammermusik Basel, Basel, CH
- Konzerthaus Berlin, Berlin, DE
- University of Bonn, Bonn, DE
- Konzertverein Bozen, Bozen, IT
- Die Glocke, Bremen, DE
- Bruchsaler Schlosskonzerte, Bruchsal, DE
- Flagey, Brussels, BE
- Herbstgold Festival, Eisenstadt, AT
- Conservatoire de Musique, Esch, LU
- Festival Meckenburg-Vorpommern, DE
- Stadt Fulda, Fulda, DE
- Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, DE
- Lucerne Festival, Lucerne, CH
- Wigmore Hall, London, UK
- Esterházy Foundation, Eisenstadt, AT
- Lucerne Festival, Lucerne, CH
- Philharmonie, Paris, FR
- Mozarteum, Salzburg, AT
North America
In North America, BISQC has concert agreements in principle with:
- Victoria Summer Music Festival, Victoria, BC
- Music in the Morning, Vancouver, BC
- Chamber Music Kelowna, Kelowna, BC
- The Coast Recital Society, Sechelt, BC
- White Rock Concerts, Surrey, BC
- ArtSpring, Salt Spring Island, BC
- Candlelight Concerts, Maple Ridge, BC
- Calgary Pro Musica, Calgary,AB
- Banff Centre International String Quartet Festival, Banff, AB
- St. Albert Chamber Music Society, St. Albert, AB
- High River Gift of Music, AB
- Lyell Gustin Recital Series, Saskatoon, SK
- Cecilian Chamber Series, Regina, SK
- Virtuosi Concerts, Winnipeg, MB
- Toronto Summer Music Festival, Toronto, ON
- The Jeffery Concerts, London, ON
- Leith Summer Festival, Leith, ON
- Aurora Cultural Centre, ON
- Ottawa Chamberfest, Ottawa, ON
- Women's Musical Club of Toronto, Toronto, ON
- Cecilia Concerts, Halifax, NS
- Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance, Lunenburg, NS
- Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Montreal, QC
- Under the Spire Music Festival, Indian River, PEI
- Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Rockport, MA
- Friends of Chamber Music, Troy, NY
- Valley Concerts Society, Abbotsford, BC
- Edmonton Chamber Music Society, AB
- Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake City
- Howland Chamber Music Circle
Meet the Isidore String Quartet
Adrian Steele and Phoenix Avalon, violins
Devin Moore, viola
Joshua McClendon, cello
"A polished sonority and well-balanced, tightly synchronized ensemble with nearly faultless intonation....it is heartening to know that chamber music is in good hands with such gifted young ensembles as the Isidore Quartet"
—Chicago Classical Review
Winners of a 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the 14th Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022, the New York City-based Isidore String Quartet was formed in 2019 with a vision to revisit, rediscover, and reinvigorate the repertory. The quartet is heavily influenced by the Juilliard String Quartet and the idea of ‘approaching the established as if it were brand new, and the new as if it were firmly established.’
The quartet began as an ensemble at the Juilliard School, and has coached with Joel Krosnick, Joseph Lin, Astrid Schween, Laurie Smukler, Joseph Kalichstein, Roger Tapping, Misha Amory, and numerous others. They are currently completing their final year as Peak Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
In North America, the Isidore Quartet has appeared on major series in Boston, New York, Berkeley, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Durham, Washington DC, Houston, Toronto, and Montreal, and has collaborated with several eminent performers including James Ehnes, Jeremy Denk, Shai Wosner, and Jon Nakamatsu. Their 24/25 season includes performances in Salt Lake City, Buffalo, Kansas City, Portland (OR), Louisville, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Memphis, Vancouver, San Francisco, and many other cities across the U.S. and Canada. In Europe they will appear at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, and in Bonn (Beethoven Haus), Stuttgart, Cologne, and Dresden, among many others.
Over the past several years, the quartet has developed a strong connection to the works of composer and pianist Billy Childs. His String Quartet No. 2, “Awakenings” was among the repertoire that delivered the Isidore their Banff victory, and this season they will play Childs’ Quartet No. 3, “Unrequited.” In the 2025-26 season, they will premiere a new Childs quartet written expressly for them.
Both on stage and outside the concert hall, the Isidore Quartet is deeply invested in connecting with youth and elderly populations, and with marginalized communities who otherwise have limited access to high-quality live music performance. They approach music as a “playground” and attempt to break down barriers to encourage collaboration and creativity. The name Isidore recognizes the ensemble’s musical connection to the Juilliard Quartet: one of that group’s early members was legendary violinist Isidore Cohen. Additionally, it acknowledges a shared affection for a certain libation - legend has it a Greek monk named Isidore concocted the first genuine vodka recipe for the Grand Duchy of Moscow!
To partner with BISQC, contact BISQC Manager Lisa Ramsey at bisqc@banffcentre.ca.