The Emerson String Quartet will mark the 100th anniversary of Shostakovich's birth by playing his final three string quartets on Sunday, April 2 at 3 p.m. at Union College's Memorial Chapel.
The program honoring Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) contains Quartet No. 13 in b-flat minor, Op. 138; Quartet No. 14 in F-sharp Major, Op. 142; and Quartet No. 15 in e-flat minor, Op. 144.
The quartet takes its name from the great American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. It was founded in 1976. Members include Philip Setzer and Eugene Drucker, violins; Lawrence Dutton, viola; and David Finckel, cello.
The Houston Chronicle said, “The Emerson owns Shostakovich; its recording of the complete quartets won the 2001 Grammy for classical album of the year.”
Throughout its 27-year history, the Emerson String Quartet has garnered an international reputation for groundbreaking chamber music projects and recordings for Deutsche Grammophon.
Since 1987 the group has received six Grammy Awards including two unprecedented honors for “Best Classical Album” and three Gramophone Magazine Awards. The quartet has performed the complete cycles of Beethoven, Bartók and Shostakovich quartets in major concert halls throughout the world.
Union College chamber concerts are made possible, in part, by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts and the Schenectady County Initiative Program. Memorial Chapel is located near the center of the Union campus. Parking is available on campus.
Tickets are $25 for the general public; $10 for students. They are sold at the door one hour before the performance or available at the College Facilities Building; 388-6098. For more information, call 372-3651 or visit the Union College Web site at http://www.union.edu/ConcertSeries/.