About

The Karuna Quartet, Gold Medalists and Composer Prize winners of the 2026 St. Paul String Quartet Competition, was founded in 2025 at The Juilliard School. It consists of violinists Sophia Werner and Nicole Yun, violist Erin Emi Nishi and cellist Isabelle Nichols. Upcoming performances include the Perlman Music Program’s Suncoast residency (FL), a residency at Emerald City Music (WA), and an appearance in Alice Tully Hall.

During the Summer of 2026, the KQ was the resident string quartet for Indiana University’s Professional String Quartet Studies program and the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop.

The Karuna Quartet derives their name from the concept of “karuna,” which, in the Sanskrit tradition, translates to "compassion." In Mahayana Buddhism, “karuna” is not simply an emotion, but a practice—an intentional cultivation of empathy, understanding, and care for others. Guided by this principle, the Karuna Quartet embraces chamber music as a living practice of compassion.

Music

We typically program music from the Western Classical canon and pair it with contemporary works that represent a more diverse community of artists. For example, this year we have featured works from Haydn and Mendelssohn to Bartok and Britten to Jared Tate and Caroline Shaw.

Videos