This concert is performed by the Calidore String Quartet, an ensemble acclaimed for its expressive artistry and balance of technical brilliance with warmth. The program opens with a String Quartet in F major long attributed to Benjamin Franklin, the American statesman and inventor. Though its authorship remains uncertain, the piece offers a fascinating glimpse into 18th-century musical life. Haydn’s “Joke” Quartet follows, one of the witty Op. 33 quartets that earned him the title “father of the string quartet.” Mozart’s “Prussian” Quartet in B-flat major, written for the cello-loving King of Prussia, highlights graceful melodies and elegant writing for all four instruments. The Italian Serenade by Hugo Wolf brings lively charm and character, and the evening closes with Wynton Marsalis’s At the Octoroon Balls, a modern work that draws on jazz, blues, and dance rhythms to give the string quartet an unmistakably American voice.
Program
Benjamin Franklin (attr.)
(1706-1790)Quartet in F major for Three Violins and Cello
Joseph Haydn
(1732–1809)Quartet in E-flat major for Strings, Hob. III:38, Op. 33, No. 2, "The Joke"
(1781)Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756–1791)Quartet in B-flat major for Strings, K. 589, "Prussian"
(1790)Hugo Wolf
(1860-1903)Italian Serenade for String Quartet
(1887)Wynton Marsalis
(b .1961)Selections from At the Octoroon Balls for String Quartet
(1995)
Calidore String Quartet
The Calidore String Quartet has been recognized for achieving an extraordinary cohesion of individual artistry and collective expression—as the Washington Post wrote, “four more individual musicians are unimaginable, yet these speak, breathe, think and feel as one.” Their artistry reflects a profound engagement with both the classical canon and the evolving language of 21st-century chamber music.
The Calidore has performed at many of the world’s greatest concert halls, including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Wigmore Hall, and festivals such as the BBC Proms, Verbier, Ravinia, and Caramoor. Collaborators have included Anne-Sophie Mutter, Joshua Bell, Anthony McGill, Marc-André Hamelin, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, David Finckel and Wu Han, the Emerson String Quartet, and Quatuor Ébène, among others.
Dedicated advocates for today’s music, the Calidore has premiered works by Caroline Shaw, John Williams, Anna Clyne, and Gabriela Montero, to name a few. During the 2025–26 season, they gave the world premiere of a new quartet, Arietta by Mark-Anthony Turnage, at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
In 2026, the Calidore released an all-American album, American Tapestry on Signum Records, featuring music by Samuel Barber, Wynton Marsalis, Erich Korngold, and John Williams. In 2025, they unveiled a landmark box set of the complete Beethoven string quartets, recorded for Signum following their live cycle at CMS during the 2024–25 season.
Formed in 2010 at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, the Calidore has won top prizes at major US chamber music competitions, including the Fischoff, Coleman, Chesapeake, and Yellow Springs. In 2016, they won the Grand Prize of the inaugural M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition as well as the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. Additional honors include the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, and selection as BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists. They are alums of CMS’s Bowers Program.
Currently the Distinguished String Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Delaware, the Calidore has also held residencies at the University of Toronto, University of Michigan, and Stony Brook University.