Formed in 1999, it released three CDs on the Naxos Records label, one of which was nominated for a "Best Chamber Music Performance" Grammy award.
In the 2009/10 season the Ensō won a Chamber Music America Commissioning Grant with composer Kurt Stallmann for a new piece for string quartet and electronics.
[citation needed][1] Since the quartet's inception in 1999, new music featured prominently – from winning the Piece-de-Concert prize at the Banff Competition for the best performance of the commissioned piece to premiering Joan Tower's Piano Quintet to making premiere recordings released on Albany Records of works by composers Anthony Brandt and Karim al-Zand.
Institutions where they held substantial teaching or performing residencies include the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (2008/09), the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (2006-08), Interlochen Adult Amateur Chamber Music Camp (2007–present), and Rice University (04-06), where the quartet's members served as Guest Lecturers in String Quartet.
It was chosen as the graduate quartet-in-residence at Northern Illinois University where it was mentored by the Vermeer String Quartet.