Charleston Gaillard Center Presents Emerson String Quartet Before Retirement in 2023

FOR RELEASE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 MEDIA CONTACTS: Kellie Lawson Director of Marketing klawson@gaillardcenter.org GAILLARD CENTER SOCIAL MEDIA: @gaillardcenter @gaillardcenter facebook.com/thegaillardcenter

Charleston Gaillard Center Presents

The Emerson String Quartet Before Retirement in 2023 Sunday, October 10, 2021 September 16, 2021 – Charleston, SC – The Emerson String Quartet, the incomparable American ensemble, will retire at the end of summer 2023, forty-seven remarkable years after it was initially formed at Juilliard in 1976.

The Charleston Gaillard Center will present this incredible quartet on Sunday, October 10, 2021 at 2pm.

Lissa Frenkel, President & CEO of the Charleston Gaillard Center, stated, “We are honored to be one of the final performance halls to present the Emerson String Quartet before their retirement. This will truly be an unforgettable experience for the Lowcountry!”

The program* on October 10 will include: Haydn Seven Last Words ————————– Beethoven String Quartet in A Minor, op. 132 Philip Setzer 1st Violin for Beethoven op. 132 and Haydn Seven Last Words (#s 2, 4, 6) Eugene Drucker 1st Violin for Haydn Seven Last Words (Introduction, #s 1, 3, 5, 7, Earthquake) (*Program subject to change)

Tickets start at $35 (plus applicable fees) and are available now at gaillardcenter.org or the Gaillard Center’s Ticket Office.

Download hi-resolution images here.

The Emerson Quartet, named “America’s greatest quartet” by Time Magazine, is one of the most celebrated classical music quartets of all time. The ensemble is the recipient of not only the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize and Musical America’s coveted “Ensemble of the Year” Award, but also nine GRAMMYs® (including two for Best Classical Album) and three Gramophone Awards.

In the words of Eugene Drucker, one of the group’s founding members: “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 announce our retirement at the end of the summer of 2023. In addition to the great music we’ve been privileged to share with audiences and with each other, it is the opportunity to connect with close friends that has meant the most to us over the years. Each city on our itineraries has had its own unique associations for us, giving atmosphere, texture and the all-important personal dimension to our recollections of the passing seasons. Presenters, managers, record label executives, colleagues and audience members have all played important roles in our experience. 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.”

Seeking out new works and experimental projects has been central to the Quartet’s music-making, as evidenced by groundbreaking music and theater collaborations like The Noise of Time (Simon McBurney) and Shostakovich and The Black Monk (James Glossman). The Emerson’s penultimate season includes the New York premiere of André Previn’s last work, Penelope, with a libretto by Tom Stoppard, to be performed at Carnegie Hall in January 2022. This project, which premiered at Tanglewood in 2019, features a collaboration with soprano Renée Fleming, actress Uma Thurman, and pianist Simone Dinnerstein. A further performance of Penelope will take place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in February (with works

by George Walker and Samuel Barber). Penelope was co-commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Ravinia Festival, the Aspen Music Festival and School, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Also this season, the Quartet members will return to the Chamber Music Society of Louisville in October, where they will perform the second half of a Beethoven cycle they began in early 2020. Additional stops on their itinerary include Pittsfield, MA; Charleston, SC; Wooster, OH; Houston, TX; Sandy Springs, GA; Chicago, IL; Sanibel, FL; Seattle, WA; San Francisco, CA; and Stony Brook University in New York.

A six-city tour of Europe in March 2022, with stops in Athens, Madrid, Pisa, Florence and Milan, will culminate with the first three concerts of a Shostakovich cycle at London’s Southbank Centre, to be completed the following November.

Additional details of the Emerson Quartet’s final season will be announced at a later date.

All four members of the Quartet – Eugene Drucker, Philip Setzer, Lawrence Dutton and Paul Watkins – 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, along with cellist David Finckel, who was a member of the quartet for 34 years. The Quartet’s original members were Drucker, Setzer, violist Guillermo Figueroa, Jr. and cellist Eric Wilson. Lawrence Dutton joined the group in 1977; cellist David Finckel became a member in 1979 and was succeeded by Paul Watkins in 2013.

ABOUT THE CHARLESTON GAILLARD CENTER: The Charleston Gaillard Center is a 501c3 nonprofit performing arts organization in Charleston, South Carolina, committed to enriching lives through unforgettable experiences. Throughout the year, we provide exceptional programming and vibrant educational opportunities for the community.

Please consider a contribution as we continue to find innovative ways to connect, inspire and entertain. Donate to support the arts in your community. You can learn more about our educational resources and programming at gaillardcenter.org. ###