The Emerson String Quartet, one of the world’s foremost chamber ensembles, will perform as part of Milton’s Annual Gratwick Concert Series in Straus Library on April 12.
Formed in 1976, the Emerson String Quartet took its name from the great American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer alternate in the first chair position, and are joined by violist Lawrence Dutton and cellist David Finckel.
The Emerson Quartet has amassed an impressive list of achievements including an exclusive Universal Classics/Deutsche Grammophon recording contract, six Grammy Awards, and regular appearances with virtually every chamber music series and festival worldwide.
In 2001, the members of the Emerson String Quartet celebrated their 21st year as faculty at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music, where they have inaugurated a special training program for young quartets.
The Emerson String Quartet has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, USA Today, Elle,Bon Appetit, The Strad, and Strings. Television appearances include PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, WNET’s City Arts and A&E’s Biography of Beethoven. The ensemble has been the subject of two award-winning films: the nationally televised WETA-TV Production In Residence at the Renwick (Emmy Award for Excellence, 1983), and Making Music: The Emerson String Quartet(First Place for Music, National Education Film Festival, 1985).
The Gratwick Concert series was established more than 70 years ago by Dr. Mitchell Gratwick, a former Milton Academy faculty member, in honor of his wife, Katharine Perkins Gratwick, a cellist and 1924 graduate of Milton Academy. The Concert series provides students with the rare opportunity to hear and meet world class artists in an intimate, beautiful and accoustically rewarding setting. Recent Gratwick artists have included Garrick Ohlsson, Eduardo Fernandez and Lorraine Hunt.
Tickets are reserved for the students and faculty of Milton Academy.
