2026 Maple Quartet Benefit: Rising Stars + Post-Concert Wine (Oakland)

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Yujen Tsai

We warmly invite you to this benefit concert in support of the Maple Quartet. As they begin an exciting new chapter of advanced study and national recognition, we are delighted to be part of their musical journey. Based in four different cities, these remarkable young musicians are counting on your generosity to give them the opportunity to travel for their rehearsals and performances, and to participate in the competitions essential to the development of a professional string quartet.

Founded in 2022 at the Eastman School of Music, the award-winning Maple Quartet is defined by their unified passion for community engagement through music – in public performances and presentations at diverse venues.

While studying together at Eastman, members Isabel Chen, Magali Pelletey, John Crowley, and Gabriel Hennebury were two-time recipients of the Celentano String Quartet Award, an honor recognizing an undergraduate string quartet of outstanding ability. This award supported their entries to national chamber music competitions including the 2025 Frances Walton Competition, where they were awarded 2nd prize. They also received an honorable mention at the 2025 Saint Paul String Quartet Competition, and were finalists at the 2025 Coltman Chamber Music Competition.

The Quartet’s primary mentors have included members of the Ying and Verona Quartets, as well as professors Mimi Hwang, David Bowlin, and Masumi Per Rostad. They have also been incredibly fortunate to receive instruction from esteemed artists, including members of the Takács and Calidore Quartets, Misha Amory, Peter Salaff, Peter Winograd, Mathieu Herzog, Amit Even-Tov, and Catherine Cosbey. Their notable collaborations have included performances with Robin Scott, Chiao-Wen Cheng, Jonathan Swartz, and Wendy Chen.

SUMMER 2026

The Maple Quartet are spending the summer in California before returning to their graduate studies: Isabel at the New England Conservatory, Magali at Rice University, Shepherd School of Music, John at the Juilliard School, and Gabriel at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance.

As the 2026 Emerging Artist String Quartet at Music Academy of the West, they will spend four weeks in residence in Santa Barbara, coached exclusively by the Takács Quartet.  Together they will perform the Mendelssohn Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20 with the Takács on July 2, 2026, in founding cellist Andras Fejér’s final concert with the Takács! Later in the summer, they head north to Napa, where they are the 2026 Fellowship String Quartet at Music in the Vineyards.  

Music in the Vineyards: Tuesday, August 4th, 2026 @7:00 pm:  The Maple Quartet and host Michael Adams will illustrate the importance of folk sources in the world of classical music. The program features excerpts from Antonín Dvořák’s Slavonic Quartet and Gabriela Lena Frank’s Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout.

PROGRAM

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.