Emerson String Quartet Performs Final Concert
The group brought its half a century career to a close this weekend
The Emerson String Quartet performed its last concert as an ensemble at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York on October 22, 2023.
They performed Beethoven’s Quartet in B-flat major for Strings, Op. 130, the “Grosse Fuge,” Op. 133, and Schubert’s Quintet in C major for Two Violins, Viola and Two Cellos, D. 956, Op. 163. The latter was performed with David Finckel, co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society and the quartet’s cellist from 1979 to 2013.
This year, while on tour, they have been filming a feature-length documentary about the group and its history. The documentary will feature this last concert and is currently slated to be released next year.
Comprising violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, violist Lawrence Dutton, and cellist Paul Watkins, the group toured both the United States and Europe, as well as recorded a project with soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan in its farewell season.
"Looking back on more than four decades of life in the Emerson String Quartet, it is with a mixture of pride and nostalgia that we anticipate our retirement in late October 2023," the quartet told The Violin Channel.
"Presenters, managers, colleagues and audience members have all played important roles in our experience," they continued. "Now, as we contemplate our future careers, which will afford us the opportunity to continue performing as individuals and to pass the fruits of our experience on to younger generations of chamber players, we also wish to express our gratitude to all the instrumentalists, singers, composers, actors and directors with whom we have been honored to collaborate."
After their retirement, all members of the quartet plan to continue to perform and teach individually. As a group, they will coach and mentor young ensembles through the Emerson String Quartet Institute at Stony Brook University, alongside former cellist David Finckel, who played with the quartet for 34 years.
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