Calidore String Quartet: American Tapestry
New album of works by Samuel Barber, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Wynton Marsalis & John Williams out on February 13, 2026 on Signum Classics
The program offers a panoramic portrait of American musical expression across the 20th and 21st centuries, spanning Samuel Barber’s lyrical String Quartet No. 1, featuring the iconic “Adagio,” Wynton Marsalis’s jazz-inflected At the Octoroon Balls, and John Williams’s With Malice Toward None — here in its world premiere string quartet version. The album concludes with Erich Korngold’s String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, written in postwar Los Angeles.
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NEW YORK, NY – January 5, 2026 – On February 13, the “always exhilarating” ( BBC Music Magazine) Calidore String Quartet will release their new album American Tapestry on Signum Classics, featuring music by composers Samuel Barber, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Wynton Marsalis and the world premiere recording of John Williams’ With Malice Toward None from the movie Lincoln as arranged for the Calidore by the composer. The program of American music – created by Calidore violinists Jeffrey Myers and Ryan Meehan, violist Jeremy Berry, and cellist Estelle Choi – tells a story of “human interconnectedness that resonates beyond any national borders.” The album opens with Samuel Barber’s String Quartet Op. 11, originally composed between 1935 and 1936 while the composer was in Europe after receiving the Rome prize. At the heart of the quartet is its inner movement, marked “Molto adagio,” which Barber later orchestrated as his popular Adagio for Strings. This is followed by Wynton Marsalis’ At the Octoroon Balls, an epic suite in seven movements drawn from the musical heritage of his native New Orleans, where in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, white Creole men attended formal gatherings where they sought relationships with Octoroon (free, one-eighth black) women. John Williams’ With Malice Toward None was originally composed for Steven Spielberg’s 2012 biopic, Lincoln, as Abraham Lincoln’s theme. Calidore violinist Ryan Meehan reached out to Williams when they were planning the program for this album. “He graciously provided us with this poignant arrangement of With Malice Toward None. A musical heir to Korngold, Williams channels the language of Hollywood into something profoundly human. His score captures the dignity and moral gravity of American ideals as embodied in the tireless leadership of President Abraham Lincoln.” The album closes with Erich Korngold’s String Quartet N.3 in D Major, dedicated to Bruno Walter, a fellow Jewish émigré to Los Angeles, which he wrote in 1945 after vowing not to compose concert music again until after Hitler was defeated. About the program, the Calidore says, “American Tapestry reflects our belief that American classical music is not a single style but a dialogue among many voices—lyrical and rhythmic, traditional and modern, intimate and cinematic. Each work on this album reveals a facet of our shared identity, and together they remind us that America’s story, like its music, is one of constant reinvention.” |
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Tracklist
String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11 - Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
I. Molto allegro e appassionato
II. Molto adagio
III. Molto allegro (come prima)
String Quartet No. 1 “At the Octoroon Balls” - Wynton Marsalis (b. 1961)
III. Creole Contradanzas
IV. Many Gone
V. Hellbound Highball
With Malice Toward None - John Williams (b. 1932)
String Quartet No. 3 in D Major, Op. 34: - Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957)
I. Allegro moderato
II. Scherzo. Allegro molto
III. Sostenuto. Like a Folk Tune
IV. Finale. Allegro - Allegro con fuoco
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The Calidore String Quartet has been recognized for achieving an extraordinary cohesion of individual artistry and collective expression—what The Washington Post described as “four more individual musicians are unimaginable, yet these speak, breathe, think and feel as one.” Lauded by The Los Angeles Times for performances that are “astonishing…the kind of sublimity other quartets spend a lifetime searching for,” the Quartet is distinguished by its expressive depth, commanding precision and interpretive clarity. With repertoire spanning the complete quartet cycles of Beethoven and Mendelssohn to works by visionary contemporary voices such as György Kurtág, Jörg Widmann, and Caroline Shaw, the Calidore brings what The New York Times called “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct” to each performance. Their artistry reflects a profound engagement with both the classical canon and the evolving language of 21st-century chamber music.
The Calidore has performed at many of the world’s greatest concert halls and festivals, including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, the Berlin Konzerthaus, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Brussels’ BOZAR, and festivals such as the BBC Proms, Verbier, Ravinia, Caramoor, Music@Menlo, and annually at The Bellingham Festival of Music. Collaborators have included Anne-Sophie Mutter, Joshua Bell, Anthony McGill, Marc-André Hamelin, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, David Finckel and Wu Han, the Emerson String Quartet and the Ebene Quartet among others.
Dedicated advocates for today’s music, the Calidore has premiered works by Caroline Shaw, John Williams, Anna Clyne, Gabriela Montero, Sebastian Currier, Han Lash, Mark-Anthony Turnage, and Huw Watkins. In the 2025–26 season, they give the world premiere of a new quartet “Arietta” by Turnage at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts and reunite with Gabriela Montero at the Barbican Centre for a performance of her piano quintet. Additional highlights include a European tour with performances in Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Croatia, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland, returns to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Denver Friends of Chamber Music, South Mountain Concerts in Pittsfield, MA, Sanibel Music Festival, the Bellingham Festival of Music as well as a tour of the West Coast. The Quartet will enjoy numerous collaborations this season, including with guitarist Sharon Isbin, pianists Gabriela Montero and Orion Weiss, violists Lawrence Dutton and Matt Lipman, and clarinetist Ricardo Morales.
In 2026, the Calidore releases an all-American album on Signum Records featuring music by Barber, Marsalis, Korngold, and John Williams. In 2025, they unveil a landmark box set of the complete Beethoven string quartets, recorded for Signum following their live cycle at Lincoln Center during the 2024–25 season. The first volume—featuring the late quartets—was released in 2023 to widespread acclaim and earned the Quartet the 2024 BBC Music Magazine Chamber Award. The second volume, released in 2024, was named Editor’s Choice by Gramophone Magazine. Earlier recordings for Signum include Babel, featuring works by Schumann, Shaw, and Shostakovich, and Resilience, with music by Prokofiev, Janácek, Golijov, and Mendelssohn.
Formed in 2010 at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, the Calidore rose to prominence with top prizes at the ARD Munich, Hamburg, Fischoff, Coleman, Chesapeake, and Yellow Springs competitions. In 2016, they won the Grand Prize of the inaugural M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition and became recipients of the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship. Additional honors include the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, and selection as BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists.
Currently the Distinguished String Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Delaware, the Calidore has also held residencies at the University of Toronto, University of Michigan, and Stony Brook University. The Quartet’s mentors have included the Emerson String Quartet, Quatuor Ébène, Andre Roy, Arnold Steinhardt, David Finckel, Günter Pichler, Guillaume Sutre, Paul Coletti, and Ronald Leonard.
The Calidore String Quartet plays the following instruments:Jeffrey Myers plays on a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini c.1775 “Eisenberg,” owned by a private benefactor and bows by Dominique Peccatte and Francois Tourte. Ryan Meehan plays a violin by Vincenzo Panormo c.1775 and a bow by Joseph Henry. Jeremy Berry plays a viola by Umberto Muschietti c.1903 and a bow by Pierre Simon. Estelle Choi plays a cello by Charles Jacquot c.1830 About Signum Records
Signum Records is a leading British independent label, specialising in classical music. Founded in 1997, Signum boasts a catalogue of over 900 titles collectively streamed over 850 million times and continues to release 40 new recordings each year by internationally acclaimed artists. Signum works closely with its sister company, Floating Earth, the leading production and engineering specialist service provider in Europe.
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