Taiga Sasaki (he/him) - violin, Japan
Yu Mita (he/him) - violin, Japan
Jiliang Shi (he/him) - viola, China
Hotaka Sakai (he/him)- cello, Japan

The Quartet KAIRI is a Salzburg-based string quartet currently studying under Professor Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartett) and Professor Cibrán Sierra Vázquez (Cuarteto Quiroga) at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg. They began working as an ensemble during their studies at the Tokyo College of Music under the guidance of professor Saiko Azuma.

In winter 2023, Chinese violist Jiliang Shi joined the quartet's founding members: Taigaa Saski, Yu Mita and Hotaka Sakai.

January 2024, the Quartet KAIRI were invited to collaborate with the Salzburg Marionette Theatre during the "Mozartwoche" Music Festival. Additionally they were also part of the Fuji Mountain Music Festival, during which they performed with a renowned clarinettist Peter Schmidl (Former Principal Clarinetist of the Vienna Philharmoniker).

In Fall 2024, the Quartet KAIRI won first prize at the International Competition "Premio Annarose Taddei" in Rome.

They also received second prize (first prize not awarded) at the Japan Classical Music Competition in Tokyo.

They have participated in numerous masterclasses by renowned artists such as Günter Pichler during the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Jonathan Brown at the Guadix International String Quartet Seminar.

The word "Kairi" (Japanese) can be translated as a sea mile. The name of the quartet represents the strong will to cross human and musical boundaries of the sea and land in order to make music accessible to everyone despite of one's background. They strongly believe in the universality of the musical language that can be "spoken" and understood by each and every one of us. 

Francis Yiu-Ting Chik (he/him) - violin, Hong Kong
Hiu-Sing Fan (he/him) - violin, Hong Kong
Caleb Wong (he/him) - viola, Hong Kong
Yan-Ho Cheng (he/him) - cello, Hong Kong

Formed at the Indiana University in 2015, Cong Quartet recently served the 2023 artistic residency of Musique à Flaine and was the Ensemble-in-Residence at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) from 2019-22. The quartet is part of the Nederlandse Strijkkwartet Academie (NSKA), a musical partner of Domaine de La Garde in France, and a member of Le Dimore del Quartetto in Italy.

Drawing from the mentorship of the Pacifica Quartet at Jacobs School of Music, Ivan Chan at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Quatuor Danel and Quatuor Ysaÿe in Europe, Cong Quartet's journey was fueled by top prize wins at the likes of 2024 International Music Competition Triomphe de l'Art in Brussels, 2022 Virtuoso & Belcanto's Chamber Music Competition in Italy, and several other international chamber music competitions. The quartet has participated in many chamber music festivals & institutes, such as the Accademia Internazionale di Musica di Cagliari, Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, Robert Mann String Quartet Institute, Heifetz International Music Institute, Encore Chamber Music, the Harpa International Music Academy, Madeline Island Chamber Music, Music in PyeongChang, the Ozawa International  Chamber Music Academy, as well as the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) and Musethica. They have performed with world-renowned artists such as the Borromeo Quartet, Quatuor Danel, Yovan Markovitch, Enrico Pace & Yuri Bashmet among many others.

Cong Quartet believes that the humanistic experience of chamber music is a treasure to the community and shares the philosophy of promoting chamber repertoire from their cultural background. 

Sarah Ying Ma (she/they) - violin, USA
Max Ball (he/they) - violin, USA
Jasper de Boor (they/them) - viola, USA
Drew Dansby (he/him) - cello, USA

The Poiesis Quartet is the 2023 Grnd Prize winner of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and winner of the 2024 Concert Artists Guild Competition. Within eight months of their founding at Oberlin Conservatory, they also received Fischoff's Lift Every Voice Prize as well as Gold Medal and BIPOC Prize at the 2023 St. Paul String Quartet Competition. Poiesis has toured internationally, including in Uruguay in 2023, as well as Italy in 2024 for a residency at the Emilia Romagna Festival. As an ensemble passionate about new music, the recent release of their debut album as we are on the Bright Shiny Things label features world premiere recordings of works by Clint Needham and Richard Stout alongside mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby. In the 2024-25 season, they also served as ensemble-in-residence with concertnova, a collective presenting multi-sensorial and multi-disciplinary concert experiences, where they collaborated with composer Sarah Hannies, violinist Benjamin Beilman, and visual artist XUAN. The Poiesis Quartet is the current Graduate Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music studying with the Ariel Quartet. As graduates of Oberlin Conservatory, they were previously mentored by Sibbi Bernhardsson of the Pacifica Quartet and the Verona Quartet. 

The name Poiesis is derived from the ancient Greek word ποιεῖν, which means "to make". Poiesis seeks to program music of all styles and genres with an emphasis on platforming works by emerging and underrepresented composers, creating unique moments of synchronicity and verve in each performance.