EMERSON STRING QUARTET

TUESDAY, APRIL 29
Houston Friends of Music
Emerson String Quartet
All-Brahms Program: String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 51 No. 2; String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 67; and String Quartet in C Minor, Op. 51 No. 1.
8:00 p.m., Stude Concert Hall
Admission (reserved seating): $19–$61.
For tickets call 713-348-5400.
Limited number of complimentary tickets for Rice faculty, staff, and students.

Acclaimed for its insightful performances, brilliant artistry and technical mastery, the Emerson String Quartet is one of the world's foremost chamber ensembles, and has amassed an impressive list of achievements: a brilliant series of recordings exclusively documented by Deutsche Grammophon since 1987; six Grammy Awards including two unprecedented honors for "Best Classical Album;" three Gramophone Magazine Awards and performances of the complete cycles of Beethoven, Bartók and Shostakovich quartets in major concert halls throughout the world. The ensemble is lauded globally as a string quartet that approaches both classical and contemporary repertoire with equal mastery and enthusiasm. For a quarter of a century, the group has collaborated with such artists as Emanuel Ax, Misha Dichter, Leon Fleisher, the Guarneri String Quartet, Thomas Hampson, Lynn Harrell, Barbara Bonney, Barbara Hendricks, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, Menahem Pressler, Mstislav Rostropovich, David Shifrin, Richard Stoltzman and the late Isaac Stern and Oscar Shumsky.

In the 2004-2005 season, the Quartet presents a four-concert series in Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall entitled "A Vision of Mendelssohn." The series explores the complete Mendelssohn quartets, juxtaposed with works by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann and Schubert. The Mendelssohn cycle will also be presented in London at the South Bank Festival in March 2005. Deutsche Grammophon supports these series with a release of the complete Mendelssohn quartets in February 2005. The recording also includes a performance of Mendelssohn's famous Octet, in which the Emerson is featured playing all eight voices. This was accomplished with a computer designed by the Quartet's producer specifically for this release, using a sophisticated digital format comprised of 28 recording lines.

In addition to its active performance schedule in the major concert halls of North America, the Quartet tours Europe extensively, with stops in France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium and Austria. 2004-2005 is the Quartet's 26th sold-out season at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. In the fall of 2002, the Emerson joined Stony Brook University as Quartet-in-Residence, coaching chamber music, giving master classes and providing instrumental instruction. The ensemble initiated its first International Chamber Music Festival at Stony Brook in June 2004. In addition to these duties the group performs several concerts during the year at Stony Brook's Staller Center for the Arts and continues its educational affiliation with Carnegie Hall in a workshop focusing on quintets by Brahms and Dvorák. In March 2004, the Quartet was named the 18th recipient of the 2004 Avery Fisher Prize - another first for a chamber ensemble.