‘A string quartet is like a family’: catching up with the Katarina Quartet

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On Sunday 26 April, the Katarina Quartet will perform a wide range of repertoire at the Schneider Concerts at the New School’s Auditorium. The performance is one of the latest engagements in the emerging ensemble’s busy concert calendar – a result of it being Juilliard graduate quartet in residence and grand prize winners of the 2025 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

The quartet, comprising violinists Jeanel Liang and Jérôme Chiasson, violist Celia Morin and cellist Maya Enstad, will give the New York premiere of Vivian Fung’s String Quartet no.5 ‘Spiraling’, plus a performance of Haydn’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 50 No. 2. The programme concludes with the Katarina Quartet joining forces with the Ulysses Quartet in Mendelssohn’s epic Octet.

The Katarina Quartet chats with The Strad about its upcoming performance this weekend, as well as season highlights and collaborating with the Ulysses Quartet.

Tell us about the stylistic writing of Vivian Fung’s String Quartet no.5 ‘Spiraling’. Any particular reason why it has that name? What are some technical and ensemble challenges that you’ve come across in this work. 

Fung’s fifth quartet was written as a response to global events in 2021. To us, the word ’Spiraling’ really captures that era - beyond the feeling of global panic we experienced, as artists the pandemic meant spending ample time practising alone and missing the type of camaraderie and inspiration we find by making music together.

We hear this wandering anxiety throughout Fung’s piece; untethered, sometimes close and concentrated, sometimes far away and murmuring. Yet, amid the chaos, we find glimpses of grounding and hope in melodic lines, reminding us that even during difficult times, the things that matter to us still exist.  

An exciting challenge in putting this piece together has been Fung’s extensive use of texture to convey emotion. Her writing often requires high technical precision (there are a lot of notes in this piece!) while at the same time a flowing, light and effortless touch. This results in shimmering colours in which notes are impossible to discern. 

As Juilliard graduate quartet in residence and winners of the 2025 Fischoff competition, you’re no doubt very busy as an ensemble. What are some highlights from your tenure so far, and what are some engagements you’re looking forward to? 

We find so much joy in spending time with the people we meet at concerts. The energy of the people we share music with keeps us going! Everywhere we go, we hear new stories, yet somehow there’s a thread of similarity between people, no matter if we’re playing in a senior center in New York City or a university in Sharjah, UAE. It’s fascinating.  

We’ve explored so much together over the past two years. In our very first semester, we organised a memorable tour of Alberta, Canada which brought us to schools and community centres across the province. 

Last year, we were also so fortunate to participate in the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet competition in London. We brought home the ProQuartet and Drimnin String Quartet Academy prizes which will send us to France and Scotland next year, we met so many inspiring musicians, and made new friendships.

This past year, we were honoured to join the roster at Concert Artists Guild, where we have found so much support, community, and guidance. We also leaned into our Québécois roots, writing our own arrangement of traditional Québécois tunes during a residency at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute. We can’t wait to keep exploring this together! 

We are so excited for what the future holds. Thanks to the support of Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward grant, we are currently working with a climate consultant who is helping us develop sustainability goals as a travelling quartet. With their guidance, we hope to show that a quartet doesn’t need to sacrifice a concertising career in order to mitigate their environmental impact.

In terms of concerts, we can’t wait for our year-end recital in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall on 7 May, as well as upcoming concerts alongside the Juilliard Quartet at Chamber Music Detroit; being the Graduate Resident String Quartet at Juilliard over the past two years has taught us so much, and we couldn’t think of a better way to end our time there.  

We have a jam-packed summer, including a residency at the Interlochen Public Radio Sound Garden Project, a trip to Italy for the Emilia Romagna Festival and performances at Kneisel Hall as well as Chamber Music America‘s conference in Chicago.

In the autumn, we’ll travel to our violinist Jeanel Liang’s alma mater, University of Victoria, for a week-long residency. We are so grateful and excited for everything to come! 

What are you most looking forward to combining forces with the Ulysses Quartet to perform the monumental Mendelssohn Octet? What do you find is the most effective way to rehearse this huge piece to unite two distinct ensembles? Are there any things you’ve learnt from the Ulysses Quartet?

We’re thrilled that, in their role as the 2025-2026 Schneider Concerts at The New School curating/performing ensemble, the Ulysses Quartet selected us to be the ensemble they present in the final concert of the season, and further that they will join us in performing Mendelssohn’s Octet, as part of the season-long focus on Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn. It will certainly be a highlight of our season. 

When working with such a large group, it almost begins to feel like a chamber orchestra, and we find that it’s helpful to send extra energy to the people you’re sitting close to or playing with at any given moment. It’s a complex and exciting energy to experience, and it almost feels like your ears and heart have to grow to double their usual size to take it all in.  

We often feel that a string quartet is like a family, and that each quartet will have a very distinct way of working and communicating. It’s always exciting to cross paths with another quartet and to share each of our ‘family secrets’. This sharing has helped us work through our own ’family’s’ roadblocks many times, and we’re grateful for the camaraderie and support that runs through our small string quartet world. 

We have especially admired the Ulysses Quartet since we formed, and are excited to have a front-row seat to their musicianship and process. And also, to have a blast together!

The Schneider Concerts presents the Katarina Quartet on Sunday 26 April 2026 at 2pm in a programme of Haydn, the New York premiere of Vivian Fung’s String Quartet No. 5 ’Spiraling’ and, joined by members of the Ulysses Quartet, Mendelssohn’s Octet.  The performance will take place in The New School’s Auditorium at 66 W. 12th Street. Info at newschoolconcerts.org