MacPhail Presents: Koa String Quartet
Koa Sting Quartet | Madeline Island Chamber Music Emerging Artists Quartet-in-Residence
Join us for an inspiring evening with the Koa String Quartet, the 2025 Madeline Island Chamber Music Emerging Artists Quartet-in-Residence. Performing works that bridge classical mastery and contemporary creativity, Koa brings warmth, precision, and a spirit of connection to every note.
As part of the MacPhail Presents: Spotlight Series, this concert highlights MacPhail and Madeline Island Chamber Music’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of world-class artists.
About the Performers:
Koa String Quartet
Formed in 2023, the Koa String Quartet is made up of violinists Kisa Uradomo (Maui, Hawai’i) and Leah Pernick (Metro Detroit, Michigan), violist Devin Cowan (Stony Brook, New York), and cellist Heewon Lee (O’ahu, Hawai’i). Koa is the Graduate String Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Colorado Boulder where they study with the Takács Quartet and were the first prize winners of the 2024 Ekstrand Competition. Koa is invested in presenting high quality classical music and fostering musical engagement with communities. In addition to performing classical string quartet repertoire together, Koa also performs non-traditional selections such as film scores, pop covers, and folk music.
In 2025, Koa studied with the Dalí Quartet during the Off the Hook Music Spoke Festival; they were also the Emerging Quartet-in-Residence at the Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival where they worked with the Arianna Quartet, Calidore Quartet and Brooklyn Rider, and collaborated with Wendy Chen and Christopher Constanza. During their time as a quartet, they have prioritized their education goals through their work with El Sistema Denver, their involvement with public school music programs in Boulder, their weeklong residency at Bravo! Vail, and their work as the Quartet-in-Residence at the Hana Hou Music Program, an educational nonprofit in Maui founded by first violinist Kisa Uradomo.
The name “Koa” comes from the tree in the Hawaiian Islands, and the wood symbolizes strength and courage.