The Ivy League music school’s two-year string quartet track will combine mentorship from the Brentano Quartet with professional training
The Yale School of Music (YSM) is to open its Artist Diploma programme to string quartets for the first time as part of a redesign of its course, launching in the 2027/28 academic year.
Quartets admitted to the two-year programme within Yale University in New Haven, CT, will be mentored by the Brentano Quartet, YSM’s quartet-in-residence since 2014, and take part in a Chamber Coaching Practicum offering experience in music pedagogy.
The new quartet track forms part of a wider overhaul intended to provide emerging performers with more individualised mentorship and preparation for careers beyond the music school. Each Artist Diploma student will have a three-member advisory committee guiding their course choices and progress.
Students will also develop a professional portfolio, including an artist statement, business plan, recordings and evidence of public performance and professional communication.
‘The string quartet is one of the most demanding and rewarding paths in classical music, and the ensembles who choose it face similar professional challenges a soloist does,’ said YSM’s Dean, José García-León. ‘YSM has a long history of nurturing young quartets, and opening the Artist Diploma to them recognises that a quartet can benefit from the same high level of support.’
He added that mentoring by the Brentano Quartet and training through the coaching practicum would give ensembles ‘the artistry to perform at the highest level and the skills to build a lasting career’.
The newly added string quartet track builds on YSM’s long tradition of investing in ensemble performance, exemplified in the school’s String Quartet Fellowship. Previous fellowship participants include the Terra Quartet, Callisto Quartet and Omer Quartet, among others.
Since the YSM established its Artist Diploma programme in 1993, more than 400 students have completed it. The YSM is the only music school within the US’s prestigious Ivy League.
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