The illustrious Emerson String Quartet continues its Farewell Season on tour throughout Europe 12 – 30 March. For more than four decades, “America’s Greatest Quartet” (Time Magazine) have earned a multitude of admirers through thousands of concerts around the world, dozens of award-winning recordings and definitive performances of the greatest works of the repertoire. Now, violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, violist Lawrence Dutton, and cellist Paul Watkins embark on their penultimate European tour, treating audiences to, “performances representing an extraordinary fusion of experience and authority with audacity and freshness” (The Boston Globe). The Quartet returns to Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Spain and Switzerland, performing favourite works by Barber, Beethoven, Brahms, Dvořák, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Schubert and Shostakovich. They will return for final individual concerts in autumn 2023.
Emerson String Quartet is one of the world’s premier chamber music ensembles. “With musicians like this,” writes The Times (UK), “there must be some hope for humanity.” The Quartet has made more than 30 acclaimed recordings and has been honoured with nine GRAMMYs® (including two for Best Classical Album), three Gramophone Awards, the Avery Fisher Prize, and Musical America’s “Ensemble of the Year” award. The Quartet collaborates with some of today’s most esteemed composers to premiere new works, keeping the string quartet form alive and relevant. The group has partnered in performance with such stellar soloists as Renée Fleming, Barbara Hannigan, Evgeny Kissin, Emanuel Ax, and Yefim Bronfman, to name a few.
Formed in 1976 and based in New York City, the Emerson String Quartet was one of the first quartets to have its violinists alternate in the first chair position. The Quartet, which takes its name from the American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, balances busy performing careers with a commitment to teaching, and serves as Quartet-in-Residence at Stony Brook University. In 2013, cellist Paul Watkins—a distinguished soloist, award-wining conductor, and devoted chamber musician—joined the original members of the Quartet to form today’s group.
Following their Farewell concerts, the individual members will continue to perform and teach individually; as a group, they will continue to coach and mentor young ensembles through the Emerson String Quartet Institute at Stony Brook University
The Emerson String Quartet enthusiastically endorses Thomastik strings.
Emerson String Quartet European Farewell Season Tour: 12 – 30 March
March 12
Copenhagen, Denmark: Mogens Dahl Koncertsal
Haydn: String Quartet op. 33 no. 5 in G major Hob III:41
Mozart: String Quartet No. 15 in D minor, K. 421
Beethoven: String Quartet No.8, Op.59 No.2 “Razumovsky”
March 14
Linz, Austria: Brucknerhaus
Schubert: String Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D. 887
Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 15 in E-flat minor, Op. 144
March 15
Prague, Czech Republic: Rudolfinum
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 12
Brahms: String Quartet No. 3 in B-flat Major, Op. 67
Dvořák: String Quartet No. 14 in A-flat Major, Op. 105
March 18
Aalborg, Denmark: The Concert Hall
Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 12
Brahms: String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op.67
Dvořák: String Quartet n.14, op.105, A-flat Major
March 19
Flensburg, Germany: City Theater Flensburg
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 12
Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 12 in D-flat major, Op. 133
Dvořák: String Quartet No. 14 in A-flat Major, Op. 105
March 20
Alicante, Spain: Teatro Principal
Schubert: String Quartet in A minor, “Rosamunde”, D. 804
Schubert: Quartettsatz and Fragment in C minor, D. 704
Schubert: String Quartet in G Major, D. 887
March 24
Meisterkonzerte, Switzerland: St. Johann Schaffhausen
Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E flat Major op. 12
Brahms: String Quartet in B flat Major op. 67
Dvořák: String Quartet in A flat major op. 105
March 26
St Gallen, Switzerland: St Gallen Theatre
Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E flat Major op. 12
Brahms: String Quartet in B flat Major op. 67
Dvořák: String Quartet in A flat Major op. 105
March 27 2023 19:30
Fribourg, Switzerland: University of Fribourg
Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E flat Major op. 12
Brahms: String Quartet in B flat Major op. 67
Dvořák: String Quartet in A flat Major op. 105
March 28
Zug, Switzerland: Theater Casino Zug
Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E flat Major op. 12
Brahms: String Quartet in B flat Major op. 67
Dvořák: String Quartet in A flat Major op. 105
March 29
Geneva, Switzerland: Conservatoire de Musique de Geneve
Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E flat Major op. 12
Brahms: String Quartet in B flat Major op. 67
Dvořák: String Quartet in A flat Major op. 105
March 30
Eisenstadt, Austria: Haydnsaal
Barber: Adagio for Strings Op. 11
Haydn: String Quartet op. 33 no. 5 in G Major Hob III:41
Schubert: String Quartet in G Major D. 887
Photo: Jürgen Frank
