The Quartet
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, and is currently mentored by Laurie Smukler and Nina Lee. Other musical influences include Merry Peckham, Natasha Brofsky and Catherine Cho.
This summer, they were invited to study with the Pacifica Quartet and Atar Arad as part of Indiana University’s Professional String Quartet Studies program (Bloomington, IN), and to attend the Perlman Music Program Chamber Music Workshop.
The Karuna Quartet is passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration. In 2025, they were invited to collaborate with Juilliard Dance during "Opening Night" at Juilliard's Fall Festival. They performed Caroline Shaw's third “Essay” alongside the world premiere of Jamar Roberts' choreography “From Root to Sky.” As part of this opportunity, they had the privilege to work with Caroline Shaw herself.
In Fall of 2025, the Karuna Quartet was honored to present a program of Haydn and Brahms as part of Juilliard's “Rush Hour Performance” concert series. In 2026, the Karunas made their Alice Tully Hall debut performing Bartok’s first string quartet for Lincoln Center’s “Wednesdays at One” series, and were featured on the American Young Artists’ and the Westside Chamber Players series.
Passionate about music education and community engagement, the Karunas hold a bi-weekly music and visual art appreciation course for the students of the Red Hook Art Project (Brooklyn, NY), and have presented additional educational programs to school-aged children.
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.
Individual Bios
Sophia Werner
Sophia Werner studies at The Juilliard School with Laurie Smukler and Donald Weilerstein as a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship. Sophia won the 2024 Juilliard Concerto Competition, appearing as a soloist with the Juilliard Orchestra in Alice Tully Hall. She has also soloed with Juilliard's AXIOM ensemble, Mid-Atlantic Symphony, Adelphi Orchestra, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes among others. In 2026-27, she will appear as a guest soloist with the Binghamton Philharmonic and Adelphi Orchestra.
She was awarded First Place and Audience Prize at the 2026 Elizabeth Loker International Competition, Second Place in the 2025 Hellam Competition, the Bach Prize from the 2023 Stulberg International String Competition and won the 2022 Adelphi Young Artist Competition.
An avid chamber musician, Sophia has attended The Perlman Music Program, Verbier Academy as a Soloist and Kneisel Hall. Her string quartet, the Karuna Quartet, made their Lincoln Center debut in Alice Tully Hall in Winter 2026, and will attend PMP and Indiana University’s Professional String Quartet studies program this summer. She will also appear at the Olympic Chamber Music Festival (WA) as a Fellow. She has collaborated with members of the Brentano, Cavani and Mendelssohn quartets, and participated in masterclasses with members of the Juilliard, Shanghai and Brentano quartets; Hilary Hahn; and Donald Weilerstein.
Sophia performs on an 1864 J.B. Vuillaume violin and James Tubbs bow, on loan to her from Juilliard.
Violin
Nicole Yun has performed internationally as a soloist and passionate chamber and orchestra musician. She has made her presence performing at notable venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Elbphilharmonie, Berlin Philharmonie, and the Musikverein, and has been awarded numerous prizes including the Overall Prize and DVC Philharmonic Award at the DVC Young Artist String Competition and the American Protégé International Concerto Competition in Carnegie Hall.
Yun is a member of the Karuna Quartet based at the Juilliard School, with whom she made her debut at Alice Tully Hall as part of the “Wednesday’s at One” concert series in 2026. She has attended the Perlman Music Program Chamber Workshop, and will return this coming summer with the Karuna Quartet. She previously attended the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and has collaborated with acclaimed ensembles including the Brentano Quartet, Dover Quartet, Juilliard Quartet, and Parker Quartet.
Yun earned her Bachelor’s Degree at the Juilliard School, and is currently pursuing her Master’s Degree under Catherine Cho. Her former teachers include Donald Weilerstein, Wei He, Ian Swensen, Eric Chin, and Li Lin.
ViolinNicole Yun
Erin Emi Nishi is a violinist and violist from Honolulu, Hawaii, and the violist of the Juilliard-based Karuna Quartet. She is currently pursuing her Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School under Masao Kawasaki. Previously, Erin obtained her B.A. in Psychology with a concentration in Neuroscience at Yale University, where she began playing viola through its chamber music class. While studying psychology, she developed a particular interest in the effect of music on cognition and mirror neurons, which play a special role in empathy and social connection.
Erin has performed as a soloist on both violin and viola with the Yale Symphony Orchestra, Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, Maui Chamber Orchestra, and Kamuela Philharmonic, and has received first prizes in the Osaka International Competition and Nā Hōkū Ōpio Young Stars Competition. In 2025, she made her international concerto debut in North Macedonia and Greece, and performed in Yale’s Woolsey Hall as a winner of the 2024 William Waite Concerto Competition. A passionate chamber musician, Erin has performed alongside celebrated artists such as Stefan Jackiw, Nobuyuki Tsujii, Michael Nicholas, Jordan Bak, and Chee-Yun Kim, and has enjoyed attending festivals such as the Hawaii Chamber Music Festival, Kneisel Hall, Yellow Barn Young Artist Program, and Kinhaven Young Artist Seminar.
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ViolaErin Emi Nishi
Cellist Isabelle Nichols, a co-founding member of the Karuna Quartet, has built a rich artistic career grounded in chamber music and collaboration. Previously the cellist of the Meraki Quartet (2016-2022), Isabelle was a medalist at the Fischoff Competition and appeared on NPR’s From the Top. She has had the pleasure of performing with esteemed artists including: Nicola Benedetti, Karen Gomyo, Andres Diaz, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, Bella Hristova, the St. Lawrence Quartet, and the Alexander String Quartet. As an advocate for contemporary music, Isabelle received a Juilliard School grant to lead a residency on the music of Thomas Sleeper at the University of Miami. She has also collaborated with Matthew Aucoin, Nicholas Britell, and Karim Al-Zand.
As a recipient of the Juilliard Scholarship and the Kenneth Bohn Memorial Scholarship, Isabelle is pursuing her masters degree at the Juilliard School under the mentorship of Astrid Schween and Nina Lee. She had the privilege of spending her prior years of study under the tutelage of Norman Fischer, Bonnie Hampton, and Tanya Tomkins. Isabelle has participated in the New York String Orchestra Seminar, Valley of the Moon Music Festival, the Perlman Music Program, and Indiana University’s Professional String Quartet Studies program.
Cello