CLASSICAL SERENADES: BORROMEO STRING QUARTET

Classical Serenades: Featuring premier world-class classical chamber music, the Classical Serenades series invites you to relax and enjoy an afternoon of beloved masterpieces, hidden gems, and inspiring works performed by acclaimed musicians.

Borromeo String Quartet

Nicholas Kitchen, Violin // Kristopher Tong, Violin // Melissa Reardon, Viola // Yeesun Kim, Cello

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.”

Inspiring audiences for 35 years, the Borromeo has been the ensemble-in-residence at New England Conservatory for over three decades, and at the Taos School of Music since 2005. The Borromeo also serves as quartet-in-residence at the Heifetz International Music Institute, where first violinist Nicholas Kitchen is Artistic Director. The Quartet has performed on major concert stages across the globe, including appearances at Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Suntory Hall, the Concertgebouw, Seoul Arts Center, and the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, and performed for many years with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Highlights of the 2025-2026 season include residencies at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Singapore’s Yong Siew Toh Conservatory as well as a special late Beethoven project in Chicago’s Guarneri Hall and engagements in multiple venues all around the United States, with series including Music Mondays in New York City, Ashland Chamber Music Concerts in Oregon, Bowdoin Music Festival, Feldman Chamber Music Society in Norfolk, Chamber Music Society of Troy, Shelter Island Friends of Music, the Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg, and Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, where it has enjoyed a long-term relationship since 1991. Last season, the Quartet performed at Korea’s Changwon Festival, Auburn University’s Gogue Performing Arts Center, Clemson University’s Utsey Chamber Music Series, Palm Beach’s Flagler Museum, UCLA’s Clark Library, Music at Kohl Mansion, Eureka Chamber Music Series, Dumbarton Concerts, Summit Chamber Music, Chamber Music Raleigh, and Celebrity Series of Boston’s Neighborhood Concerts. Beyond the Quartet’s standalone concerts, they perform this season with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott and in an octet program with the Verona Quartet. 

The Borromeo has collaborated with many of the most recognized names in classical music, including Joshua Bell, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Jeremy Denk, Jonathan Biss, Leon Fleisher, Menahem Pressler, Christoph Eschenbach, Anne-Marie McDermott, Gary Graffman, Josef Suk, Peter Serkin, Kim Kashkashian, Richard Stoltzman, Larry Lesser, Paul Katz, Michael Tree, Midori, Shmuel Ashkenazi, and even major figures beyond the classical sphere including Branford Marsalis, Christian McBride, and Audra McDonald.