Event Calendar
Upcoming Events
HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY, CDSQ!
Carpe Diem String Quartet celebrates its 20th Anniversary during The Randolph A. Foster 2025-26 Seize the Music Series.
In addition to a week-long community celebration in September with free concerts all around Central Ohio, we are excited to relaunch our Free Family Concerts in conjunction with some of our Seize the Music Series concerts.
We look forward to seeing you in-person at these performances, and we will also be offering free livestreams of most of our concerts in Columbus, OH.
Tickets $10-$35; under 21 FREE
PICK FIVE! 2025-26 Series Concert Ticket Package:
Pick any five concerts and save up to 20%!
A note about our new ticketing platform Zeffy:
Zeffy adds a suggested tip amount of 17% to your order - this tip does NOT go to CDSQ, rather to Zeffy to help keep it free for nonprofits like us. You can select a different contribution amount by clicking "Other" in the dropdown menu, and changing the amount. Double check this before you finish your purchase. Thank you!
Free Community Concerts: Celebrating 20 Years of CDSQ
Carpe Diem String Quartet is thrilled to celebrate our 20th season!
From Monday September 8 through Sunday September 14 we kicked off our 20th season with a week of free “Thank You, Columbus” concerts held throughout central Ohio in sixteen different care centers for rehabilitation, skilled nursing, memory, and respite, as well as retirement and independent living communities.
If you would like to bring Carpe Diem String Quartet to your community this season, contact us at members@cdsq.org or call (614)205-8160.
Columbus Dance Theatre's Experiment #3
Friday, February 6 at 7:30 PM Eastern Time
Saturday, February 7 at 6 PM Eastern Time
Nick Marzella Family Theater at CDT
The conclusion of CDT’s Experiment trilogy. Directed by CDT’s artistic duo Seth Wilson and Jaime Kotrba, this work fuses contemporary ballet with multidimensional media, featuring visual artist Tod Seitz and the return of Carpe Diem String Quartet to play works by Korine Fujiwara, Gabriella Smith, Mark Lomax II, and Samuel Barber. Audiences will be immersed in movement, projection, live music, and psychological imagery.
Korine Fujiwara: Sunsets like Childhood
Gabriella Smith: Carrot Revolution
Mark Lomax II: Ubuntu
Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings
Adults $27 | Seniors $22 | Students $17
The Sound of Words
The 2025-26 Randolph A. Foster Seize The Music Series:
Celebrating 20 Years of CDSQ
Saturday, February 28 at 3 PM Eastern Time
William Henry Harrison House
570 West Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Sunday, March 1 at 3 PM Eastern Time
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus
93 W. Weisheimer Rd
Columbus, OH 43214
Program:
Grażyna Bacewicz: String Quartet No. 4
Michael Rene Torres: in the never-ending shore of your tomorrows*
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1
*world premiere, 15 for 15 commission, preceded by a poem by Jennifer Hambrick
About Michael Rene Torres
Saxophonist, composer, educator, and curator, Michael Rene Torres serves as Assistant Professor of Saxophone at The Ohio State University. He is the Artistic Director of the Columbus Ohio Discovery Ensemble (CODE); a 501(c)3 nonprofit contemporary music ensemble that is dedicated to the promotion, performance, and perception of contemporary concert music in Central Ohio. Additionally, Michael serves as Artistic Director of the ComProv Symposium, a gathering of performer-composers and improvisers, and the Program Director of the Johnstone Fund for New Music, which advances the performance of new music for the benefit of the Central Ohio community.
As a composer, Michael is a winner of the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award and the Greater Columbus Arts Council Composition Fellowship and has previously taught composition at Ohio State University and Muskingum University. Michael’s compositional interests are in music that explores the juxtaposition of consonance and dissonance and is often inspired by psychology and poetry. He describes his music as dramatic and theatrical with complex, intricate moments and calm, introspective moments. Michael's music is distributed through ADJ•ective New Music. An active performer, Michael has presented recitals, concerto performances, clinics, and masterclasses at festivals, conferences, arts spaces, and universities throughout the USA, Canada, Cuba, Brazil, and Spain. Michael is an active chamber musician as a member of the Iovi Saxophone Quartet and the contemporary flute and saxophone duet, Tower Duo.
About Jennifer Hambrick
Hailed for her “brilliant imagery,” “masterful craftsmanship,” and “uniquely musical voice,” poet Jennifer Hambrick is a seven-time Pushcart Prize nominee and the author of the poetry collections a silence or two (Red Moon Press), winner of a 2025 Merit Book Award from the Haiku Society of America; In the High Weeds (NFSPS Press), winner of the Stevens Manuscript Award from the National Federation of State Poetry Societies; Joyride (Red Moon Press), winner of the Marianne Bluger Book Award; and Unscathed (NightBallet Press). Hambrick is featured by U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser in American Life in Poetry, with Rattle editor Tim Green on Rattlecast, on Inside the Writer’s Head, in Pittsburgh Quarterly, Columbus Monthly, and elsewhere. Her poems are published in The Columbia Review, Rattle, Southeast Review, The American Journal of Poetry, Santa Clara Review, Modern Haiku, Contemporary Haibun Online, and in many other journals and invited anthologies.
The frequent recipient of poet laureateships, residencies, and commissions for interdisciplinary collaborations, Hambrick has won numerous awards for her poetry and literary criticism, including the Sheila-Na-Gig Poetry Prize, First Prize in the Haiku Society of America’s Haibun Award Competition, First Prize in the Martin Lucas Haiku Competition (U.K.), and the Best of Issue Award from Juxtapositions: The Journal of Haiku Scholarship and Research.
Circle of 5ths
The 2025-26 Randolph A. Foster Seize The Music Series:
Celebrating 20 Years of CDSQ
Saturday, March 28 at 3 PM Eastern Time
Columbus Performing Arts Center
Van Fleet Theater
549 Franklin Ave
Columbus, OH 43215
Sunday, March 29 at 3 PM
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus
93 W. Weisheimer Rd.
Columbus, OH 43214
Program:
Michi Wiancko: 5 Reasons
Erwin Schulhoff: Five Pieces for String Quartet
Sergei Taneyev: String Quartet No. 1
CSDQ with the Worthington Chamber Orchestra
America 250, Masterworks III: Upon These Shores
Antoine T. Clark, conductor
Worthington Chamber Orchestra
Carpe Diem String Quartet
CDSQ will perform the world premiere of a new work by Benjamin Shirley & will be soloists for Jessie Montgomery’s Banner.
An American Story: New Beginnings
The 2025-26 Randolph A. Foster Seize The Music Series:
Celebrating 20 Years of CDSQ
Saturday, May 23 at 3 PM Eastern Time
WOSU Public Media: Sandy and Andy Ross Community Studio
1800 N. Pearl St.
Columbus, OH 43201
Sunday, May 24 at 3 PM
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus
93 W. Weisheimer Rd.
Columbus, OH 43214
Program:
Erberk Eryilmaz: Günü Yaşa ve Dansı Hisset (Carpe Diem and Feel the Dance)*
Steven Snowden: Appalachian Polaroids
Dai Wei: Partial Men
The Members of CDSQ: American Story: New Beginnings
*world premiere, 15 for 15 commission
Pacific Lutheran University Honor Orchestra for Strings
Sunday, January 18, 2026 at 6 PM
Lagerquist Concert Hall
Mary Baker Russell Music Center
PLU Honor Orchestra for Strings
Carpe Diem String Quartet and Todd Gowers, bass
Isaac Albéniz: Asturias
S. Coleridge-Taylor: Novelletten
Mikhail Glinka: Russlan and Ludmilla
Edvard Grieg: Erotik
Vasily Kalinnikov: Andante Commodamente
Soon Hee Newbold: Blue-Fire Fiddler
Free admission; no tickets required
I’ll Be Home for Christmas
The 2025-26 Randolph A. Foster Seize The Music Series:
Celebrating 20 Years of CDSQ
Saturday, December 20 at 3 PM
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus
93 W Weisheimer Rd
Columbus, OH 43214
General Admission: Adults $35; Seniors $30; Church Members $25; Students (over 21) $10; Age 21 & under FREE
Sunday, December 21 at 3 PM
Music at Our Lady Concert Series
Our Lady of Victory
1559 Roxbury Road
Columbus, OH 43212
General Admission: $25 online; $30 at the door
Program:
Felix Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13
Selections from Handel’s Messiah
Traditional/arr. Korine Fujiwara: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
Selections from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker
Traditional/arr. Sam Weiser: Chanukah, Oh Chanukah!
Other holiday favorites
CDSQ @ SF/Arts Noontime Concerts
Dinuk Wijeratne: A letter from the After-life from Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems (2014)
Paul Wiancko: Benkei’s Standing Death (2020)
Franz Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, Death and the Maiden
Free and open to the public
CDSQ @ The 222
Dinuk Wijeratne: A letter from the After-life from Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems (2014)
Paul Wiancko: Benkei’s Standing Death (2020)
Franz Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, Death and the Maiden
Beyond the Veil
The 2025-26 Randolph A. Foster Seize The Music Series:
Celebrating 20 Years of CDSQ
Saturday, October 4 at 3 PM Eastern Time
William Henry Harrison House
570 West Broad St
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Sunday, October 5 at 3 PM Eastern Time
First Unitarian Universalist Church
93 W Weisheimer Rd
Columbus, OH 43214
Program:
Paul Wiancko: Benkei’s Standing Death
Dinuk Wijeratne: A letter from the afterlife
Franz Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810, “Death and the Maiden”
CDSQ at Snake River Music Festival
The Snake River Music Festival began in 1998, when a community of professional musicians, gathered by violinist Charles “Chas” Wetherbee, came to play the music they loved in homes of the Keystone community. As the audience grew, the Snake River Music Festival emerged, first housed at the Robert Craig Center, free to anyone who loved the music. Its support came from gifts of a private foundation and generous gifts of all sizes from those appreciating what they felt and heard. Today, Snake River continues to offer free concerts that showcase local and national musicians performing exquisite and accessible classical works.
CDSQ will perform on August 14, 17, 20, 22, 23 & 24. Concerts begin a 6 PM and are free and open to the public. Pre-concert receptions begin at 5:30 PM.
More details at snakerivermusicfestival.com
CDSQ at Concerts in the Barn
Carpe Diem String Quartet
Sam Weiser, violin | Marisa Ishikawa, violin | Korine Fujiwara, viola | Ariana Nelson, cello
with Amy Barston, cello & Ana Montes, flamenco & castanets
Reena Esmail: Varsha (Rain)
Mark Summer: Julie-O
Korine Fujiwara: String Quartet, “Mosey”
Luigi Boccherini: “Fandango” Movement from Cello Quintet No. 4 in D Major, G448
Franz Schubert: Cello Quintet in C Major, D. 956, Op. Posth 163
All Concerts in the Barn will be held in-person, in the barn, on the farm, with speakers outside for lawn listeners. The Farm opens for visitors at noon each concert day. Barn doors open at 1 PM. Concerts begin at 2 PM and have one intermission.
Free and open to the public
More info: concertsinthebarn.org
CDSQ at Concerts in the Barn
Carpe Diem String Quartet
Sam Weiser, violin | Marisa Ishikawa, violin | Korine Fujiwara, viola | Ariana Nelson, cello
with Amy Barston, cello & Ana Montes, flamenco & castanets
Reena Esmail: Varsha (Rain)
Mark Summer: Julie-O
Korine Fujiwara: String Quartet, “Mosey”
Luigi Boccherini: “Fandango” Movement from Cello Quintet No. 4 in D Major, G448
Franz Schubert: Cello Quintet in C Major, D. 956, Op. Posth 163
All Concerts in the Barn will be held in-person, in the barn, on the farm, with speakers outside for lawn listeners. The Farm opens for visitors at noon each concert day. Barn doors open at 1 PM. Concerts begin at 2 PM and have one intermission.
Free and open to the public
More info: concertsinthebarn.org
CDSQ at Concerts in the Barn
Carpe Diem String Quartet
Sam Weiser, violin | Marisa Ishikawa, violin | Korine Fujiwara, viola | Ariana Nelson, cello
Grażyna Bacewicz: String Quartet No. 4
Franz Schubert: Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D. 810, “Death and the Maiden”
All Concerts in the Barn will be held in-person, in the barn, on the farm, with speakers outside for lawn listeners. The Farm opens for visitors at noon each concert day. Barn doors open at 1 PM. Concerts begin at 2 PM and have one intermission.
Free and open to the public
More info: concertsinthebarn.org
TOWARD THE NIGHT
Carpe Diem String Quartet
KORINE FUJIWARA Mosey (OH premiere)
SOMEI SATOH toward the night
KORINE FUJIWARA May Basket
JOSEPH HAYDN String Quartet in C Major, Op. 33, No. 3, “The Bird”
Tickets for age 21 & under are FREE!
TOWARD THE NIGHT
Carpe Diem String Quartet
KORINE FUJIWARA Mosey (OH premiere)
SOMEI SATOH toward the night
KORINE FUJIWARA May Basket
JOSEPH HAYDN String Quartet in C Major, Op. 33, No. 3, “The Bird”
Tickets for age 21 & under are FREE!
Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society
JOSEPH HAYDN String Quartet in C Major, Op. 33, No. 3, “The Bird”
LAURA KAMINSKY Vanishing Point
EMILIE MAYER String Quartet in E minor
KORINE FUJIWARA Fiddle Suite Montana
Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society
EMILIE MAYER String Quartet in A Major
ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV 5 Novelettes for String Quartet, Op. 15
GIACOMO PUCCINI Crisantemi
SERGEI PROKOFIEV String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 92
VANISHING POINT
Carpe Diem String Quartet
LAURA KAMINSKY Vanishing Point (Ohio premiere)
EMILIE MAYER String Quartet in A Major
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No. 6
Tickets for age 21 & under are FREE!
VANISHING POINT
Carpe Diem String Quartet
LAURA KAMINSKY Vanishing Point (Ohio premiere)
EMILIE MAYER String Quartet in A Major
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat Major, Op. 18, No. 6
Tickets for age 21 & under are FREE!
Interconnected: CDSQ at Carnegie Hall
Join the Carpe Diem String Quartet at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on February 27! We’re excited to continue the presentation of our 15 for 15 Commissioning Project at this performance, including world premieres by Laura Kaminsky and Korine Fujiwara, a New York premiere by Mark Lomax, II, plus works by Somei Satoh and Sergei Prokofiev.
MARK LOMAX II Ubuntu (NY premiere)
LAURA KAMINSKY Vanishing Point (World premiere)
KORINE FUJIWARA Mosey (World premiere)
SOMEI SATOH Toward the Night
SERGEI PROKOFIEV String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 92
Tickets $50
Buy tickets now
Austin Chamber Music Center - Fin de siècle
CDSQ performs music composed around the turn of the centuries, inspired by their time and the promise of an inventive future: Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 6, Kevin Puts’ Dark Vigil and Anton Arensky’s Piano Quintet.
Austin Chamber Music Center - Fin de siècle
CDSQ performs music composed around the turn of the centuries, inspired by their time and the promise of an inventive future: Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 6, Kevin Puts’ Dark Vigil and Anton Arensky’s Piano Quintet.
HOLIDAY!
Carpe Diem String Quartet
ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV 5 Novelettes for String Quartet, Op. 15
JESSIE MONTGOMERY Strum
GIACOMO PUCCINI Crisantemi
inti figgis-vizueta branching patterns*
Holiday favorites
*Commissioned for Kronos' 50 for the Future
Tickets for age 21 & under are FREE!
New link!! Watch livestream
HOLIDAY!
Note our new venue at WOSU headquarters, just east of Ohio State’s campus!
Carpe Diem String Quartet
ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV 5 Novelettes for String Quartet, Op. 15
JESSIE MONTGOMERY Strum
GIACOMO PUCCINI Crisantemi
inti figgis-vizueta branching patterns*
Holiday favorites
*Commissioned for Kronos' 50 for the Future
Music from Home: American Focus Concert - Émigré Composers Find a New Home
Lakewold Gardens is pleased to present Sounds of the Homelands, its 2024 Music from Home season. Each concert program features the music of a particular cultural terroir, brought to life in the garden by renowned performers and guest musicologists for selected performances.
American Focus Concert 2 features the Carpe Diem String Quartet with David Korevaar on piano.
Your ticket includes admission to the gardens plus a complimentary beverage and dessert.
G/A tickets $35 | details & tickets
Resonance of Tradition: A Fusion of Islamic Art and Music Across the Ages
The Carpe Diem String Quartet and Persian santur master Dr. Dariush Saghafi will perform selections by celebrated composers including Shahab Pâranj, Reza Vali, and Erberk Eryilmaz, accompanied by beautiful animation of Persian calligraphy by designer Omid Nemalhabib. A pre-performance discussion will be led by WQED Artistic Director Jim Cunningham.
$35 members; $50 non-members; $15 students
Ticket price includes exhibition admission, a glass of wine (21+), and after the performance meet-and-greet with the musicians. Advance registration and pre-payment required.
UBUNTU
UBUNTU
Carpe Diem String Quartet is thrilled to celebrate our 2024-25 season with opening concerts on October 12 & 13, with Michelle Schumann, guest pianist and long-time quartet friend and collaborator.
Carpe Diem String Quartet
with Michelle Schumann, piano
SARAH GIBSON I do not want horses or diamonds for string quartet and piano
ANTON ARENSKY Piano Quintet in D Major, Op. 51
MARK LOMAX II Ubuntu (World premiere)
SERGEI PROKOFIEV String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 92
Hailed for her “sensitive, flexible, and tempestuous dexterity” (Fanfare Magazine), pianist Michelle Schumann has built a reputation for evocative and moving performances. Since 2006, Michelle has served as Artistic Director of the Austin Chamber Music Center, where she “is fearlessly expanding our definition of chamber music” (Austin-American Statesman).
Mark Lomax II, a lifelong resident of Columbus, OH, is a critically-acclaimed composer, recording artist, and drummer; an activist and educator specializing in the sociopolitical and spiritual aspects of African American art, music, and race; and a tireless advocate for the role of the arts in building community. marklomaxii.com
Tickets for age 21 & under are FREE!
UBUNTU
UBUNTU
Carpe Diem String Quartet is thrilled to celebrate our 2024-25 season with opening concerts on October 12 & 13, with Michelle Schumann, guest pianist and long-time quartet friend and collaborator.
Carpe Diem String Quartet
with Michelle Schumann, piano
SARAH GIBSON I do not want horses or diamonds for string quartet and piano
ANTON ARENSKY Piano Quintet in D Major, Op. 51
MARK LOMAX II Ubuntu (World premiere)
SERGEI PROKOFIEV String Quartet No. 2 in F Major, Op. 92
Hailed for her “sensitive, flexible, and tempestuous dexterity” (Fanfare Magazine), pianist Michelle Schumann has built a reputation for evocative and moving performances. Since 2006, Michelle has served as Artistic Director of the Austin Chamber Music Center, where she “is fearlessly expanding our definition of chamber music” (Austin-American Statesman).
Mark Lomax II, a lifelong resident of Columbus, OH, is a critically-acclaimed composer, recording artist, and drummer; an activist and educator specializing in the sociopolitical and spiritual aspects of African American art, music, and race; and a tireless advocate for the role of the arts in building community. marklomaxii.com
Tickets for age 21 & under are FREE!
CDSQ at Snake River Music Festival: Closing Concert
Carpe Diem String Quartet (Snake River Music Festival Quartet in Residence)
Sam Weiser, violin | Marisa Ishikawa, violin | Korine Fujiwara, viola | Ariana Nelson, cello
Clancy Newman, cello
Hui Shan Chin, piano
Dmitri Shostakovich - Piano Trio No. 1
Robert Schumann - Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 47
Franz Schubert - String Quintet in C Major, D. 956
All Snake River Music Festival concerts start at 6 PM, and are completely FREE! We also invite you to join us for our pre-concert reception, beginning at 5:30 PM. | more info
CDSQ at Snake River Music Festival: Perspectives
Carpe Diem String Quartet (Snake River Music Festival Quartet in Residence)
Sam Weiser, violin | Marisa Ishikawa, violin | Korine Fujiwara, viola | Ariana Nelson, cello
Korine Fujiwara - Through a 2020 Lens
Emilie Mayer - String Quartet in A Major
Jessie Montgomery - Strum
Ludwig van Beethoven - String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat Major
All Snake River Music Festival concerts start at 6 PM, and are completely FREE! We also invite you to join us for our pre-concert reception, beginning at 5:30 PM. | more info
CDSQ at Snake River Music Festival: Quintessence with Pianist David Korevaar
Carpe Diem String Quartet (Snake River Music Festival Quartet in Residence)
Sam Weiser, violin | Marisa Ishikawa, violin | Korine Fujiwara, viola | Ariana Nelson, cello
David Korevaar, piano
Rebecca Clarke - Sonata for Viola and Piano
Enrique Granados - Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 49
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco - Piano Quintet No. 1
All Snake River Music Festival concerts start at 6 PM, and are completely FREE! We also invite you to join us for our pre-concert reception, beginning at 5:30 PM. | more info