The Emerson String Quartet Announces its Farewell Season

After more than four decades of performing together, the quartet will disband in October 2023

Their farewell season will include performances in major concert halls across the United States and Europe, including at New York’s  Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, London’s Southbank Centre, Vienna’s Musikverein, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Luxembourg, Cologne, and Prague. 

The individual members – 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

American’s greatest quartet

TIME MAGAZINE

With musicians like this there must be some hope for humanity.

THE TIMES (LONDON)

For immediate release - New York, NY – After more than four decades together, the members of the Emerson String Quartet have made the decision to disband in 2024. The quartet will embark upon their Farewell season, including performances throughout the United States and Europe, a recording project with Barbara Hannigan, and a documentary exploring the group's artistic impact and legacy.

In reflection of their 47-year career together, the ensemble’s season will revisit many venues that the quartet has frequented over the last four decades. Their farewell season kicked off with a performance at Boscobel House and Gardens (September 3), to be followed by a series of dates on the West Coast that include the Maestro Chamber Music Society in Santa Monica, CA (September 10), Friends of Chamber Music in Denver, CO (September 11), and Performance Santa Fe (September 12).

The ensemble will proceed to make their way through several venues throughout the East Coast and Canada, including Friends of Music in Sleepy Hollow, NY (September 17), Wisconsin Union Theater (September 24), Quebec Music Club (October 3), and Parlance Chamber Concerts in Ridgewood, NJ (October 30).  

The members will tour Europe twice in 2022-23, and will return in October 2023 for final visits to Paris and three cities in Italy. The Fall 2022 tour will include stops at the Vienna Musikverein (November 6), South Bank Centre in London (November 8), Luxembourg Philharmonie (November 16), and Auditorio y Palacio de Congresos de Castellón in Spain (November 18). The Spring tour includes performances in Copenhagen, Linz, and Prague as well as several venues in Spain and Switzerland. 

The ensemble’s schedule will bring them to Meany Center for the Performing Arts in Seattle, Washington (December 1), Scottsdale Center For The Performing Arts in Scottsdale, AZ (December 2), Stanford Live (December 3), Friends of Chamber Music in Vancouver, BC (December 4), Chamber Music Houston (December 8), San Francisco Performances (April 14, 2023), Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, CA (April 15, 2023), and La Jolla Music Society (April 16, 2023). They will then come home to New York City for their final series there with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, in a trio of programs entitled Emerson Dimensions (April 23, 30, and May 7, 2023), where they will performing the repertoire which earned the Emerson its reputation as one of history’s greatest chamber ensembles. 

The Emerson String Quartet will announce several Summer and Fall 2023 performances and special projects at a later date.

Farewell Season

Boscobel House and Gardens
September 3, 2022
Garrison, NY

Maestro Chamber Music Society
September 10, 2022
Santa Monica, CA

Friends of Chamber Music 
September 11, 2022
GATES HALL
Denver, CO

Performance Santa Fe 
September 12, 2022
LENSIC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Friends of Music
September 17, 2022
SLEEPY HOLLOW HIGH SCHOOL
Sleepy Hollow, NY

South Mountain Concerts
September 18, 2022
Pittsfield, MA

Wisconsin Union Theater
September 24, 2022
SHANNON HALL
Madison, WI

Wooster Chamber Music Series
September 25, 2022
GAULT RECITAL HALL
Wooster, OH

Stony Brook
October 18, 2022
STALLER CENTER RECITAL HALL
Stony Brook, NY
 

University of Connecticut: Lenard Chamber Music Event
September 30, 2022
JORGENSEN STAGE
Storrs, CT

University Musical Society
October 1, 2022
RACKHAM AUDITORIUM
Ann Arbor, MI

Royal Conservatory of Music 
October 2, 2022
KOERNER HALL
Toronto, Ontario

Quebec Music Club
October 3, 2022
MONTCALM PALACE, RAOUL-JOBIN ROOM
Québec, Canada
 

VCU Rennolds Chamber Concerts
October 23, 2022
SONIA VLAHCEVIC CONCERT HALL
Richmond, VA

Parlance Chamber Concerts
October 30, 2022
Ridgewood, NJ

Vienna Musikverein
November 6, 2022
BRAHMS HALL
Vienna, Austria

Musikverein Graz
November 7, 2022
CHAMBER MUSIC HALL
Graz, Austria

Southbank Centre
November 8, 2022
QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL
Belvedere Road, London

Camerata Musica
November 11, 2022
WEST ROAD CONCERT HALL
Cambridge, UK

Arhus, Denmark
November 13, 2022
 

Kölner Philharmonie
November 15, 2022
Köln, Germany

Philharmonie Luxembourg
November 16, 2022
SALLE DE MUSIQUE DE CHAMBRE
Luxembourg
 

Hamburg Kammermusikfreunde
November 17, 2022
LAEISZHALLE
Hamburg, Germany

Auditorio y Palacio de Congresos de Castellón
November 18, 2022
Castellón, Spain
SEE MORE
 

Meany Center for the Performing Arts
December 1, 2022
MEANY HALL
Seattle, WA

Scottsdale Center For The Performing Arts
December 2, 2022
VIRGINIA G. PIPER THEATER
Scottsdale, AZ

Stanford Live
December 3, 2022
BING CONCERT HALL
Stanford, CA

Friends of Chamber Music
December 4, 2022
THE VANCOUVER PLAYHOUSE
Vancouver, BC

Chamber Music Houston
December 8, 2022
Stude Concert Hall
Houston, TX

Wolf Trap
December 9, 2022
CHAMBER MUSIC AT THE BARNS
Vienna, VA
 

The Buffalo Chamber Music Society
December 13, 2022
KLEINHANS MUSIC HALL
Buffalo, NY

University of Georgia
January 10, 2023
HUGH HODGSON CONCERT HALL
Athens, GA 

Celebrity Series of Boston
January 22, 2023
NEC’S JORDAN HALL
Boston, MA
 

The Society of The Four Arts
January 29, 2023
WALTER S. GUBELMANN AUDITORIUM
Palm Beach, FL

Sarasota Concert Association
January 30, 2023
RIVERVIEW PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Sarasota, FL

Lafayette College 
February 4, 2023
WILLIAMS CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Easton, PA
 

Longwood Gardens
February 5, 2023
BALLROOM
Kennett Square, PA 

Hillsdale College, MI
February 10, 2023
 

Schubert Club
February 12, 2023
SAINT ANTHONY PARK UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
Saint Paul, MN
 

Corpus Christi Chamber Music Society
February 17, 2023
WOLFE RECITAL HALL AT DEL MAR COLLEGE
Corpus Christi
 
Friends of Chamber Music
February 18, 2023
YARDLEY HALL
Kansas City, MO

Sanibel Music Festival
March 4, 2023
SANIBEL CONGREGATIONAL U.C.C.
Sanibel Island, FL

Mogens Dahl
March 12, 2023
Mogens Dahl, Copenhagen

Linz, Austria
March 14, 2023
 

Czech Chamber Music Society
March 15, 2023
DVORÁK HALL
Prague, Czech Republic

Aalborg, Denmark
March 18, 2023

Flensburg, Germany
March 19, 2023

Alicante, Spain
March 20, 2023

Bilbao, Spain
March 22, 2023

Schaffhausen, Switzerland
March 24, 2023

St Gallen Theatre
March 26, 2023
CONCERT HALL
St Gallen, Switzerland

Fribourg, Switzerland
March 27, 2023

Zug, Switzerland
March 28, 2023

Geneva, Switzerland
March 29, 2023

Eisenstadt, Austria
March 30, 2023

San Francisco Performances
April 14, 2023
HERBST THEATRE
San Francisco, CA
 
Segerstrom Center for the Arts
April 15, 2023
SAMUELI THEATER
Costa Mesa, CA

La Jolla Music Society
April 16, 2023
THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL
La Jolla, CA

Hancher Auditorium
April 21, 2023
THE AUDITORIUM, HADLEY STAGE
Iowa City, IA

The Chamber Music Society: Dimensions I
April 23, 2023
ALICE TULLY HALL
New York, NY

Princeton University Concerts
April 27, 2023
RICHARDSON AUDITORIUM, ALEXANDER HALL
Princeton, NJ

The Chamber Music Society: Dimensions II
April 30, 2023
ALICE TULLY HALL
New York, NY

The Chamber Music Society: Dimensions III
May 7, 2023
ALICE TULLY HALL
New York, NY

George Flynn Classical Concerts
May 14, 2023
WILLIAM STANTON ANDREWS TOWN HALL
Clinton, CT

Carnegie Hall 
May 21, 2023
STERN AUDITORIUM / PERELMAN STAGE
New York, NY

Symphony Center Presents
June 4, 2023
ORCHESTRA HALL
Chicago, Illinois

Los Angeles Opera
June 10, 2023
DOROTHY CHANDLER PAVILION 
Los Angeles, CA

About The Emerson String Quartet

Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer – violins  
Lawrence Dutton – viola 
Paul Watkins – cello
 

The Emerson String Quartet will have its final season of concerts in 2022-23, disbanding after more than four decades as one of the world’s premier chamber music ensembles. “With musicians like this,” wrote a reviewer for The Times (London), “there must be some hope for humanity.” The Quartet has made more than 30 acclaimed recordings, and has been honored with nine GRAMMYs® (including two for Best Classical Album), three Gramophone Awards, the Avery Fisher Prize, and Musical America’s “Ensemble of the Year” award. As part of their larger mission to keep the string quartet form alive and relevant, they have commissioned and premiered works from some of today’s most esteemed composers, and have partnered in performance with leading soloists such as Renée Fleming, Barbara Hannigan, Evgeny Kissin, Emanuel Ax, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Yefim Bronfman, James Galway, Edgar Meyer, Menahem Pressler, Leon Fleisher, André Previn, and Isaac Stern, to name a few.