String quartet stands up for itself
What has eight legs, six Grammys, four musical instruments and is coming to Logan?
Called “America’s greatest quartet” by Time magazine, the Emerson String Quartet will be giving the second concert in Utah State University’s new performance hall during its first week in operation.
Borrowing their name from poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, the New York City-based quartet’s 2005-06 season will not only include a trip to the USU, but also numerous stops in top concert halls in Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Austria and other major concert halls in North America including the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.
“[They are] the most sought after chamber music group in the world,” Chamber Music Society of Logan’s publicist Bonnie Slade said.
The group has been featured in articles in the New York Times and USA Today as well as Elle, Bon Appetit, Gramophone, Strings and The Strad. The group’s six Grammy awards include “Best Chamber Music Performance” and “Best Chamber Music Album.” They have also been awarded “Best Classical Album” twice. Other accolades include three awards from Gramaphone magazine as well as the eighteenth Avery Fisher prize in 2004.
The musicians have also been the subject of the Emmy-award winning documentary, “In Residence at the Renwick” (1983) and another documentary, “Making Music: The Emerson String Quartet,” which was awarded first place in the National Education Film Festival.
The Chamber Music Society of Logan is sponsoring the group for two reasons:
“First because it’s the Society’s twenty-fifth anniversary season,” Slade said. “Second, I think they wanted something special for the opening of the new performance hall.”
USU’s new recital hall held an open house on Thursday and a performance by internationally acclaimed pianist Jean-Efflam Bovouzet will take place on Saturday.
The quartet includes Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer playing the violin, Lawrence Dutton on the viola and David Finckel on the cello. Drucker and Setzer trade off for first chair violinist depending on the piece. Though most string quartets perform sitting down, the group became interested in the idea of standing during performances after their concerts in Cleveland’s Severance Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, and New York’s Carnegie Hall. They now stand during all their chamber music concerts (the cellist uses a platform).
Their Wednesday night program will feature a Mozart Quartet in D minor, Shostakozich No. 12, and a Grieg Quartet in G minor.
-limarc@cc.usu.edu