Posted on Jan 21, 2011

As part of a tour schedule that spans three continents, the renowned Emerson String Quartet will appear at Memorial Chapel on Sunday, Jan. 30 at 3 p.m., 28th Chamber Concert Series performance.

Called “America’s greatest quartet” by Time magazine, the ensemble features violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, who alternate first chair responsibilities, along with cellist David Finckel and violist Lawrence Dutton.

At Union, the group will perform Beethoven’s Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131 and Schubert’s Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D.887.

Formed at the Juilliard School in 1976, Emerson has been touring, recording and performing for more than three decades. The artists have achieved unparalleled recognition with 30 acclaimed recordings produced with Deutsche Grammophon and nine Grammy awards, the most recent in 2010 for Best Chamber Music Performance. Emerson also has captured three Gramophone awards and the coveted Avery Fisher Prize.

Named after American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, the New York City-based quartet will appear this season in London’s Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Hall, and make its second tour through South America. It continues its residency at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., now in its 31st sold-out season.

In April 2010, Deutsche Grammophon released the Emerson String Quartet’s latest recording, the 3-CD set “Old World, New World.”

Tickets for Emerson String Quartet are free to the Union community, $25 for general admission and $10 for area students. For more information, visit http://www.union.edu/ConcertSeries