January 25, 2026
Cecilian Chamber Series - Calidore Quartet with Arnold Choi
Presented by Cecilian Chamber Series - Rental Event
Showtimes
- Sunday, January 25 - 3:00pm
The Calidore String Quartet, recognized as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of a vast chamber music repertory, presents a concert of works by two giants of chamber music literature - Beethoven and Schubert. Beethoven's favourite of the late quartets, opus 131 in C-sharp minor, has a grandeur which no words can express. After hearing this work Schubert said, “After this, what is there left to write?” Sibling cellists come together as Arnold Choi joins the quartet for Schubert’s sumptuous and profound Cello Quintet, his final chamber music composition.
The Calidore String Quartet is recognized as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of a vast chamber music repertory, from the cycles of quartets by Beethoven and Mendelssohn to works of celebrated contemporary voices like György Kurtág, Jörg Widmann, and Caroline Shaw. The Los Angeles Times described the musicians as “astonishing,” their playing “shockingly deep,” approaching “the kind of sublimity other quartets spend a lifetime searching.” The New York Times noted the Quartet’s “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct,” and the Washington Post wrote that “four more individual musicians are unimaginable, yet these speak, breathe, think and feel as one”.
The New York City based Calidore String Quartet has appeared in venues throughout North America, Europe, and Asia including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussels’ BOZAR, and at major festivals such as the BBC Proms, Verbier, Ravinia and Music@Menlo. The Quartet has collaborated with artists such as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Anthony McGill, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Marc-André Hamelin, Joshua Bell, Emerson String Quartet, Gabriela Montero, David Finckel and Wu Han and many more.
In their most ambitious recording project to date, the Calidore is set to release Beethoven’s complete String Quartets for Signum Records. Volume I, containing the late quartets, was released in 2023 to great critical acclaim, earning the quartet BBC Music Magazine’s Chamber Award in 2024.
Founded at the Colburn School in Los Angeles in 2010, the Calidore String Quartet has won top prizes at major US chamber music competitions, including the Fischoff, Coleman, Chesapeake, and Yellow Springs. The quartet won the $100,000 Grand Prize of the 2016 M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition as well as the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. The Calidore has been a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist and recipients of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award.
The Calidore String Quartet is Jeffrey Myers, Violin, Ryan Meehan, Violin, Jeremy Berry. Viola, Estelle Choi, Cello.
Described by The New York Times as having a “rich tone and muscular style,” Canadian cellist Arnold Choi has earned acclaim for performances across North America, Europe, and Asia. A prizewinner of Korea’s Gyeongnam (Isang Yun) International Cello Competition and Mexico’s Carlos Prieto International Cello Competition, he has also claimed top honors in numerous North American competitions, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition and the Canadian National Music Festival. Choi has appeared as soloist with renowned orchestras, such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Quebec Symphony Orchestra, and Shanghai Opera House Orchestra. At 14, he gave his first recital tour in Mexico and has since performed extensively as both a soloist and chamber musician. As a former member of the Janaki String Trio, Choi won the Grand Prize at the Coleman Chamber Music Competition and the Concert Artists Guild International Competition. Arnold began studying cello with John Kadz in Calgary before earning degrees from the Colburn Conservatory, Yale School of Music, and Stony Brook University, where he studied with esteemed teachers Ronald Leonard, Aldo Parisot, and Colin Carr. He is the principal cellist of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and performs on a cello from the French School of Caussin, circa 1880.
Program: Beethoven and Schubert
Beethoven: String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131
Schubert: Cello Quintet in C Major, D. 956
Tickets are $70 for Level 1, $65 for Level 2, and $25 for students. Prices are inclusive of fees and taxes. Seating is assigned.
Single tickets go on sale on September 1, 2025.
To donate to the Cecilian Chamber Series, please visit: DONATE
The Calidore String Quartet is recognized as one of the world’s foremost interpreters of a vast chamber music repertory, from the cycles of quartets by Beethoven and Mendelssohn to works of celebrated contemporary voices like György Kurtág, Jörg Widmann, and Caroline Shaw. The Los Angeles Times described the musicians as “astonishing,” their playing “shockingly deep,” approaching “the kind of sublimity other quartets spend a lifetime searching.” The New York Times noted the Quartet’s “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct,” and the Washington Post wrote that “four more individual musicians are unimaginable, yet these speak, breathe, think and feel as one”.
The New York City based Calidore String Quartet has appeared in venues throughout North America, Europe, and Asia including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussels’ BOZAR, and at major festivals such as the BBC Proms, Verbier, Ravinia and Music@Menlo. The Quartet has collaborated with artists such as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Anthony McGill, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Marc-André Hamelin, Joshua Bell, Emerson String Quartet, Gabriela Montero, David Finckel and Wu Han and many more.
In their most ambitious recording project to date, the Calidore is set to release Beethoven’s complete String Quartets for Signum Records. Volume I, containing the late quartets, was released in 2023 to great critical acclaim, earning the quartet BBC Music Magazine’s Chamber Award in 2024.
Founded at the Colburn School in Los Angeles in 2010, the Calidore String Quartet has won top prizes at major US chamber music competitions, including the Fischoff, Coleman, Chesapeake, and Yellow Springs. The quartet won the $100,000 Grand Prize of the 2016 M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition as well as the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. The Calidore has been a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist and recipients of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award.
The Calidore String Quartet is Jeffrey Myers, Violin, Ryan Meehan, Violin, Jeremy Berry. Viola, Estelle Choi, Cello.
Described by The New York Times as having a “rich tone and muscular style,” Canadian cellist Arnold Choi has earned acclaim for performances across North America, Europe, and Asia. A prizewinner of Korea’s Gyeongnam (Isang Yun) International Cello Competition and Mexico’s Carlos Prieto International Cello Competition, he has also claimed top honors in numerous North American competitions, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition and the Canadian National Music Festival. Choi has appeared as soloist with renowned orchestras, such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Quebec Symphony Orchestra, and Shanghai Opera House Orchestra. At 14, he gave his first recital tour in Mexico and has since performed extensively as both a soloist and chamber musician. As a former member of the Janaki String Trio, Choi won the Grand Prize at the Coleman Chamber Music Competition and the Concert Artists Guild International Competition. Arnold began studying cello with John Kadz in Calgary before earning degrees from the Colburn Conservatory, Yale School of Music, and Stony Brook University, where he studied with esteemed teachers Ronald Leonard, Aldo Parisot, and Colin Carr. He is the principal cellist of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and performs on a cello from the French School of Caussin, circa 1880.
Program: Beethoven and Schubert
Beethoven: String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131
Schubert: Cello Quintet in C Major, D. 956
Tickets are $70 for Level 1, $65 for Level 2, and $25 for students. Prices are inclusive of fees and taxes. Seating is assigned.
Single tickets go on sale on September 1, 2025.
To donate to the Cecilian Chamber Series, please visit: DONATE
