Beethoven created works in Op. 131 and 130 with the Grosse Fugue that are unparalleled in their ability to transcend every limit of what we can expect from a musical experience. They bring us the most profound emotional statements, the most riotous humor, textures that bring us into a conversations that gathers the widest possible range of what music can stimulate in us and unifies it in these phenomenal musical journeys. The level of innovation represented by these works is obvious, but what we point to in playing Beethoven’s beloved Well-Tempered Clavier along with the works from the end of his life, is that wonderfully, his re-study of older music often went hand-in-hand with his insight into totally new and glorious ways to create music.

EPSG:4326

Guest Artist: Borromeo String Quartet Residency

Arizona State University Tempe Campus

Young musicians from Boston String Academy get an amazing opportunity when the Borromeo String Quartet returns to Celebrity Series to coach and perform alongside them in this Stringfest performance.

Stringfest: Borromeo String Quartet

Salvation Army Kroc Center

Each visionary performance of the award-winning Borromeo String Quartet (BSQ) strengthens and deepens its reputation as one of the most important ensembles of our time. Admired and sought after for both its fresh interpretations of the classical music canon and its championing of works by 20th and 21st century composers, the ensemble has been hailed for its “edge-of-the- seat performances” by the Boston Globe, which called it “simply the best.”

Borromeo String Quartet

Mercy Center Burlingame

Festival faculty, fellows, and the Borromeo String Quartet join forces for music separated by time yet linked by raw emotion, startling innovation, and inspiring creativity. Festival faculty Jeff Scott’s Passion for Bach and Coltrane proceeds from the opening of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations and ventures boldly down unexpected avenues. Jeffrey Kahane plays the role of keyboard maverick in Bach’s thrilling Brandenburg Concerto No. 5.

Bach And Beyond

Sarasota Opera House

Combine these 20th-century works for two, three, and four musicians, and the result is an intriguing concert that expands horizons. Written in 1994, Jean Françaix’s lighthearted Trio for Oboe, Bassoon, and Piano is charming and witty. Folk and classical idioms intertwine in Erwin Schulhoff’s 1925 Duo for Violin and Cello, while Maurice Ravel’s revolutionary encounter with jazz reverberates throughout his electrifying second Sonata for Violin and Piano. The Borromeo String Quartet, heralded for their “edge-of-the-seat performances” (Boston Globe), takes on the intelligent intensity of the String Quartet No. 6 by Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz.

Two, Three, Four

Sarasota Orchestra

Cellist Yeesun Kim is a member of the Borromeo String Quartet, New England Conservatory's quartet-in-residence. Hailed by the New York Times for her "focused intensity" and "remarkable" performances, Kim enjoys worldwide acclaim as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher. A founding member of the Borromeo String Quartet with violinist Nicholas Kitchen, Kim has performed in over 20 countries, and in many of the world's most illustrious concert halls and festivals.

Chamber Music Masterclass with Yeesun Kim & Nicholas Kitchen (Borromeo Quartet)

Mary Duke Biddle Music Building

GatherNYC presents the Borromeo Quartet. One of the most influential quartets of our time, the Borromeo Quartet has held residencies at both New England Conservatory and the Taos School of Music for 25 years. Their vivid performances and fearless approach to music making have inspired many generations of musicians, and led them to be recognized with some of the industry’s most prestigious awards: the Cleveland Quartet Award, the Avery Fisher Career Grant, and the Martin Segal Award of Lincoln Center.

GatherNYC: Borromeo Quartet

Museum of Arts and Design

Ethereal beauty, profound majesty, and flashes of warmth… this delightful matinée is like hot cocoa by the fire after a wintry woods walk. Sibelius transports us to a world of Nordic landscapes, where a shimmering atmosphere intertwines with moments of quiet conversation. Best known for his monumental symphonies, Bruckner brings his mastery to the intimate realm of chamber music with a quintet filled with rich textures and expansive flourishes. Internationally renowned for her extraordinary lyricism, violist Kim Kashkashian joins the Borromeo String Quartet to bring PCMF’s inaugural Winter Warmer Festival to a heartwarming, radiant conclusion.

Winter Warmer II: Intimate Voices

University of Southern Maine

The Borromeo String Quartet were very popular at the chamber music series we presented for many years at The Kalliroscope Gallery here in Groton. Tonight they will join us for this concert’s centerpiece: Arnold Schoenberg’s Concerto in B-flat Major for String Quartet and Orchestra. Written in 1933, this delightfully inventive work is described as a ‘free transcription’ of G.F. Händel’s Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 7.

Vista Philharmonic Orchestra featuring Borromeo String Quartet

Groton Hill Music Center

Considered "simply the best there is" by The Boston Globe, the Borromeo String Quartet is one of the most sought-after string quartets in the world, each season performing more than one hundred concerts of classical and contemporary literature across three continents. Audiences and critics alike have championed the Borromeo Quartet's revealing explorations of the complete quartet cycles of Beethoven, Brahms, and Bartók, and its affinity for making challenging repertoire approachable.

Borromeo String Quartet: The Bartók Cycle

New England Conservatory

Inspiring audiences for more than 25 years.
"simply the best"

Borromeo Quartet

University of South Alabama

Borromeo String Quartet: Haydn and Bartók

Celebrated around the world for their “edge-of-the-seat performances” (Boston Globe), PCMF Artistic Director Melissa Reardon is the newest member of the award-winning Borromeo String Quartet. This dazzling ensemble makes its PCMF debut with a program that runs the gamut of glorious string quartet sounds: from playful, gracious Haydn to a folk-infused fantasia by Bartók, to Debussy’s inventive, shimmering sensuality.

One of the Borromeo's most-loved activities in their residency at the New England Conservatory is the audition process to select the Winners of the Guest Artist Awards. They greatly enjoy the week of collaboration in which every student who has entered the competition has a session playing and working together with the Quartet. Working with all of these students, and affording special recognition to those that are chosen as winners, is always an inspiring experience.

Borromeo String Quartet Guest Artist Award Concert

Each performance of the award-winning Borromeo String Quartet strengthens its reputation as one of the most important ensembles of our time. Admired and sought after for both its fresh interpretations of the classical music canon and its championing of works by 20th and 21st century composers, the ensemble has been hailed for its “edge-of-the- seat performances,” by the Boston Globe, which called it “simply the best.”

Borromeo String Quartet

Sep 13, 2026

BORROMEO STRING QUARTET with HENRY KRAMER, piano

Apr 9, 2025

Guest Artist: Borromeo String Quartet Residency

Mar 29, 2025

Stringfest: Borromeo String Quartet

Borromeo String Quartet