The Portland String Quartet has been leading the way for chamber music performance and education in Maine since it's inception in 1969.
"We are indeed fortunate that this venerable group widely respected for its technique, versatility and musicality, continues to thrive and calls Maine its home base."
- Morton Gold, Portland Press Herald
Your Portland String Quartet
Dean Stein | Violin I
Violinist Dean Stein has performed throughout the world in recitals, with orchestras, chamber music ensembles, and as a soloist. His performances frequently garner critical acclaim, as in a recording of which The Strad magazine wrote, “Dean Arthur Stein excels in the first violin’s improvisatory cadenza, his fierce yet luxuriant tone setting the mood...” A passionate performer and advocate for chamber music, Mr. Stein joined the Portland String Quartet as first violinist in 2013. In collaboration with oboist Kathleen McNerney, he founded VentiCordi Chamber Music, programming and performing creative, dynamic chamber music combining wind and string instruments. Since 2009 they have performed in Maine to great acclaim.
A highly sought-after teacher and clinician, Mr. Stein is on the faculty of Bowdoin and Bates Colleges, coaches chamber music workshops with the PSQ at Sebasco Harbor Resort, St. Joseph’s College and Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, and has taught at New England Conservatory’s Preparatory Division, and University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He studied first with Margaret Berend at the Henry Street Settlement, then at The Juilliard School with Lewis Kaplan and Ivan Galamian, and at University of Maryland, College Park, with Gerald Fischbach and members of the Guarneri String Quartet.
Brianna Fischler | Viola
BRIANNA is a violist/ violinist and teacher based in Portland, Maine. She holds a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from Boston University’s College of Fine Arts, where she studied with Bayla Keyes. She also studied with Krzysztof Kuznik at Manhattan School of Music Pre-College. Brianna, an alum of Kinhaven Music School, has attended the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Aspen Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute, Garth Newel Music Center, and Three Bridges International Chamber Festival. She has performed in venues such as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Woolsey Hall. Brianna has performed in master classes for Ani Kavafian and Pinchas Zukerman, and placed first in the University of Connecticut Chamber Music Competition with the Annellie String Trio. She is a founding member, as well as the Education Coordinator, in Palaver Strings, a non-profit musician led chamber ensemble based in Boston, MA. Brianna is also certified in Early Childhood Music Learning Theory and the Suzuki Method.
In March of 2022, Brianna accepted the position as Violist with the Portland String Quartet. “I am honored and humbled to join the Portland String Quartet as their new violist”, she said. “The ensemble’s rich history in Maine is inspiring, and I am thrilled to help continue the legacy. I cannot wait to be a part of this new and exciting chapter.”