Emerson String Quartet returns to Union with new member

Publication Date

The inimitable Emerson String Quartet returns to Memorial Chapel with new cellist Paul Watkins on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. as part of the Union College Concert Series.

The Quartet will begin the program with Mendelssohn’s fiery Quartet in F Minor, Op. 80 followed by Shostakovich’s heart-wrenching Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Minor, Op. 138. They close the program with Beethoven’s monumental Quartet in F Major, Op. 59, No.1 “Razumovsky.”

The Emerson String Quartet stands alone among string quartets with a long list of achievements over three decades: more than thirty recordings since 1987, nine Grammy Awards (including an unprecedented two for Best Classical Album), three Gramophone Awards, and the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize—a first for a chamber ensemble. The Quartet has performed cycles of the complete Beethoven, Bartók, Mendelssohn and Shostakovich string quartets in the world’s musical capitals, from New York to London and Vienna. Formed in 1976, the Quartet took its name from the poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The Emerson String Quartet is comprised of violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer who alternate in the first chair position, with Lawrence Dutton on viola and Paul Watkins on cello. Appearing on the Series annually for over twenty-five years, the quartet is making its first Union performance of the quartet with Watkins, who replaced David Finckel in May, 2013.

Individual tickets are $25 or $10 for students. Subscription packages offer significant savings. For information, call (518) 388-6080 or click here.