Around the Music Festival

The Emerson String Quartet has announced that it will be retire in the summer of 2023. Based in New York, they have long led the world of chamber music as the world’s premier string quartet.

It was formed in 1976, the 200th anniversary of the founding of the United States. The violin Eugene Drucker, Philip Setzer, the viola Guillermo Figueroa, and the cello Eric Wilson, who I met at the Juilliard School, participated. Their name comes from the American philosopher and poet Ralph Wald Emerson.

The following year, in 1977, Viola was replaced by Lawrence Dutton, and in 1979, Cello was replaced by David Finckel. After that, it is also known that there are few member changes until the cello changed to Paul Watkins in 2013.

Boasting a wide repertoire from classical to contemporary, it attracts a large audience with its shadowy expressions. Depending on the song, the first violin and the second violin are replaced, and a unique style played by three people other than the cello is developed for a long time.

They performed vigorous activities such as playing all the string quartet works of Beethoven, Bartok, and Shostakovich, which connected New York, London, and Vienna, and established many monuments.

They are also active in recording, with over 30 recordings left for Deutsche Grammophon and Sony Classical. Received 9 Grammy Awards and 3 Gramophone Awards including “Best Classical Album”. It is also the first chamber music organization to receive the Avery Fisher Award.

They are also enthusiastic about raising young musicians and are active in educational music festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival.

They were resident quartets at tthe Stony Brook University, sending many students to the music world and taught the educational program “Wile Music Institute” at Carnegie Hall.

Photo：Emerson String Quartet　/　Strijkkwartet Biënnale　/　Ben Bonouvrier


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