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Promise and possibility: the Isidore Quartet

2026-01-23T09:48:00

ISQ_5212_Jiyang Chen

The Isidore Quartet players tell Pauline Harding about their sudden propulsion into professional string quartet playing, a beloved mentor whose loss has inspired their debut album, and their emotionally raw collaboration with the composer Billy Childs

The Isidore Quartet’s mood seems surprisingly light for a young ensemble embarking on the initial round of what is, perhaps, the world’s most prestigious string quartet contest. Behind the foursome, an enormous image of a Canadian lake and mountains boasts of the beautiful landscape around them at the Banff International String Quartet Competition. But they are so wrapped up in each other and the music, as they delve into Haydn’s String Quartet in C major op.20 no.2, that they could be anywhere…

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