THE QUARTET
Grand Prize winners of the 2025 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition and winners of the CAG Louis and Susan Meisel Prize, the Katarina String Quartet has quickly distinguished itself as one of North America’s most compelling young ensembles. Known for their personable concert presentations and community leadership, they explore all chamber music, from contemporary and canonized works to folk tunes. The tightly-knit ensemble recently served as the 2024-2026 Graduate Resident String Quartet at The Juilliard School, and is the current Quartet in Residence at the New England Conservatory.
The ensemble’s 2026/27 season features performances across Europe, Canada, and the United States, including appearances at Jordan Hall, Merkin Hall, Princeton University Summer Chamber Concerts, Middlebury College, Pepperdine University, and University of Victoria. Past seasons have brought the ensemble to Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Chamber Music Detroit, University of Notre Dame, and Dame Myra Hess Concerts. The quartet was recently selected for Music for the Future, an initiative presented by Project: Music Heals Us which brings meaningful collaborative music residencies into carceral facilities, reentry programs, addiction treatment centers, and juvenile youth facilities. The ensemble also collaborates with other community-focused organizations such as Music for Food and Reffettorio Harlem. In the competition world, recent honors include the ProQuartet Prize and Drimnin String Quartet Academy Prize at the 2025 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, and the Gold Medal and BIPOC Composer Prize at the 2024 St. Paul Chamber Music Competition.
As recipients of the 2025 Chamber Music America Ensemble Forward grant, the KSQ have recently launched their Sustainability Strategic Planning Project. This project examines the environmental impact of string quartet touring and helps the quartet mitigate this impact through measurable operational decisions, collaborative venue partnerships, and transparent communication with audiences.
The KSQ was founded in 2022 at McGill University under the tutelage of André Roy. Since then, the Katarinas have worked extensively with members of the Juilliard, Alban Berg, Danel, Dover, and Pacifica Quartets, and have participated in prestigious programs such as IMS Prussia Cove and McGill International String Quartet Academy (MISQA). Also active in the European chamber music scene, the Katarina String Quartet is generously supported by the Nederlandse Strijkkwartet Academie and regularly performs in The Netherlands.
As a largely Canadian quartet formed in Montréal, Québec, the quartet keeps their Canadian roots close to their hearts in their work together, including recent collaborations with the I Musici de Montréal and the Amici String Program in Calgary, Alberta. The Katarinas also enjoy sharing their home country through their programming by playing works by Canadian composer Vivian Fung and by composing their own arrangements of traditional Québecois fiddle tunes.
The quartet takes its name from luthier Katarina Guarneri, wife of violin-maker Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu. Scholars believe that she worked on her husband’s violins during the most productive years of his career. Inspired by Katarina, the KSQ celebrates the countless people and communities behind the canonized figureheads of classical music that contribute to the art we enjoy.
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Canadian violinist Jeanel Liang has appeared on stages across North America and Europe. She is a recent graduate of the Schulich School of Music at McGill University where she studied under the tutelage of Violaine Melancon and Axel Strauss. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra, the University of Victoria Symphony, and the McGill Baroque Orchestra. She has been a finalist at the Prix d'Europe and the Canadian Music Competition, and a semi-finalist at the Golden Violin Award. Jeanel has been a fellow at various music festivals such as Kneisel Hall, IMS Prussia Cove, MISQA, Mozarteum Summer Academy, Aspen Music Festival and School, Domaine Forget and QuartetFest West. Jeanel plays on a 1700 Carlo of Bologna Tononi violin, and a Hermann Luger bow, generously loaned by Canimex Inc.
JÉRÔME CHIASSON
Originally from Quebec City, violinist Jérôme has performed across North America and Europe, and has been awarded several prizes and distinctions, most notably at the Prix d’Europe, the Golden Violin Award, the Canadian Music Competition Stepping- Stone, as well as the Festival-Concours de Musique in Sorel-Tracy and Sherbrooke. Jérôme has attended renowned music festivals such as Kneisel Hall, IMS Prussia Cove, Mozarteum Sommerakademie, and MISQA. He has had the opportunity to work with esteemed violinists such as Midori, Gerhard Schulz, Zakhar Bron, Pierre Amoyal, Pavel Vernikov, Cho Liang Lin, Kerson Leong, Paul Kantor, and Vadim Gluzman. Jérôme holds a Bachelor’s Degree and a Graduate Diploma in Violin Performance from the Schulich School of Music at McGill University where he studied under the tutelage of Violaine Melançon. Jérôme plays on an 1858 Jean Baptiste Vuillaume violin and a François Nicolas Voirin bow, graciously loaned by Canimex Inc.
CELIA MORIN
Celia Morin recently completed an Artist Diploma in Viola Performance at McGill University under the tutelage of André Roy, where she previously earned a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance with Jinjoo Cho. Displaying a natural musical intuition from an early age, Celia showcased her talents as a soloist with the Lakeshore Chamber Orchestra and embarked on a Canadian chamber music tour at the age of 14. Subsequently, she has enriched her musical journey by participating in summer festivals including the Domaine Forget International Music Festival, ENCORE Summer Academy, Orford Music Academy, and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Celia finds inspiration in chamber music projects that foster sustainability and community building through local performances and is working with her quartet to realize such projects in the future.
MAYA ENSTAD
Hailing from Bellingham, Washington, cellist Maya Enstad is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Schulich School of Music where she studied with Amir Eldan and Elizabeth Dolin. Maya has appeared as a soloist at the Bellingham Festival of Music’s “Welcome Home” concert series, as well as with the BayShore Symphony. She has held fellowship positions at the Marrowstone Music Festival and at Bamfield’s Music by the Sea. An avid teacher, Maya has taught privately for 8 years, as well as at the Asociación Nacional de Conciertos in Panama City, Panama. Maya plays on an 1898 Carl Zach cello, generously on loan to her from the Carlsen Cello Foundation.
