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Cassatt String Quartet announces spring 2023 concerts and residencies

Performances across the United States, residencies at Columbia University, Amherst College, Bennington College, and West Texas

"an extraordinary quartet" – New York Times

The Cassatt String Quartet, formed in 1985, announces its spring 2023 season. Through concerts and residencies, violinists Muneko Otani and Jennifer Leshnower, violist Rosemary Nelis, and cellist Gwen Krosnick perform throughout the year in New England, New York, and Texas. Season details are below.

Violinist Muneko Otani says, “We are thrilled to continue to have opportunities to tour the country, bringing concerts, masterclasses, workshops, and community events to audiences across the United States. Also, two recording projects will be released in 2023: an album of works by Gerald Cohen, and another of music by Daniel S. Godfrey." These new recordings add to the quartet's discography of 40 titles, which includes the 2022 releases Andy Teirstein's Restless Nation, Victoria Bond's Blue and Green Music.

Performance highlights include the world premiere of Passion's Continuum by Anthony De Ritis in Boston (NOW POSTPONED) on February 19, in a program that includes Daniel S. Godfrey’s Toward Light for Guitar and String Quartet with guest artist Eliot Fisk. The following week, the CSQ and Eliot Fisk head to Mechanics Hall in Worcester, MA to record Godfrey’s Toward Light, produced by multi-GRAMMY award-winning producer Judith Sherman.

Also this spring, the quartet is in residence at Columbia University in New York City, culminating in a concert on March 31 at The Italian Academy on Columbia's campus. The spring residency at Amherst College includes a concert on May 7 of works by Amherst professor Dylan Schneider.

The quartet visits West Texas twice in 2023 for its bi-annual residency Cassatt in the Basin. The January visit included programs in Midland and Odessa, and a concert at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Since 2005, Cassatt in the Basin has reached over 20,000 people, enriching the lives of adults and students in the community through concerts, workshops and other music events across the region.

This summer, the quartet returns to the Seal Bay Festival in Maine, where it is in its 20th season as ensemble-in-residence. The festival brings unique exposure to contemporary American chamber music to audiences in coastal Maine.

Hailed for its “mighty rapport and relentless commitment,” the Cassatt String Quartet has performed to critical acclaim across the world since its founding in 1985, with appearances at Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Tanglewood Music Center, the Kennedy Center, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Centro National de las Artes, Maeda Hall, and Beijing’s Central Conservatory. The group’s discography includes over forty recordings, spanning the Koch, Naxos, New World, Point, CRI, Tzadik, and Albany labels – including three discs that have been named by Alex Ross to his “10 Best Classical Recordings” feature in The New Yorker. 

The Cassatt Quartet’s upcoming projects include major performances and recordings of works by Tania León, Dylan Schneider, Shirish Korde, and Daniel S. Godfrey; its annual residencies at the Seal Bay Festival of American Chamber Music and Cassatt in the Basin!; hometown concerts in the New York area; and appearances at Treetops Chamber Music Society, Maverick Concerts, and Music Mountain. 

The CSQ is named for the American Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt. 

Upcoming Concerts

January 29 at 2 pm: Lubbock, TX
Texas Tech University at Kent R. Hance Chapel (2511 17th St)
Program:
W.A. Mozart: String Quartet in F major, K. 590
Dorothy Rudd Moore: Modes
Giovanni Bottesini: Gran Quintetto with Mark Morton, bass

Part of Cassatt in the Basin Residency (January 24-30)

FEBRUARY 19 CONCERT POSTPONED:

February 19 at 4 pm: Boston, MA
Northeastern University's Fenway Center (77 St Stephen St)
Program:
Florence Price: String Quartet No. 1
Dorothy Rudd Moore: Modes
Anthony De Ritis: Passion's Continuum (World premiere)
Zhou Long: Song of the Ch’in
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Cadenza for solo guitar (Eliot Fisk)
Daniel Strong Godfrey: Toward Light for guitar and string quartet (with Eliot Fisk)

March 30 at 7:30 pm: New York City
Italian Academy at Columbia University (1161 Amsterdam Ave)
Program:
Florence Price: String Quartet No. 1
Amy Beach: Piano Quintet in F-sharp Minor, Op. 67 (with Magdalena Baczewska)

Part of Columbia University Residency (March 29-31)

May 7: Amherst, MA
Amherst College's Buckley Recital Hall (53 College St)
Music by Dylan Schneider:
PANDEMIC (world premiere)
with saxophonist Jonathan Hulting-Cohen
GOES A-H-H-H: Quartet Bossa Nova
Dancer at an Exhibition (Written for the Cassatt String Quartet)

Part of Amherst College Residency (May 5-8)

May 9 at 8 pm: Bennington, VT
Dean Carriage Barn at Bennington College (1 College Dr)
Program: 
W.A. Mozart: String Quartet in F major, K. 590
Florence Price: String Quartet No. 1
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel: String Quartet

Part of Bennington College Residency (May 9 & 10)

May 13 at 5 pm: Ossining, NY
Opening Night Concert at Bethany Arts Community (40 Somerstown Rd)
Program:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel: String Quartet
Dorothy Rudd Moore: Modes
W.A. Mozart: String Quartet in F major, K. 590
Florence Price: String Quartet No. 1

May 14 at 4 pm: New Canaan, CT
Treetops Chamber Music Concert at Carriage Barn Arts Center (681 South Ave)
Program:
W.A. Mozart: String Quartet in F major, K. 590
Dorothy Rudd Moore: Modes
Amy Beach: Piano Quintet in F-sharp Minor, Op. 67 (with Magdalena Baczewska)

July 25 - August 5: Seal Bay Festival in Maine
Programs include:
Anthony DeRitis: Passion's Continuum (ME premiere)
Zhou Long: Song of the Ch’in
Chen Yi: Fiddle Suite

Cassatt String Quartet concerts in New York State are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of Governor and the New York State Legislature

Amherst concert sponsored by: Amherst College Music Department, Provost Lecture Fund, Arts at Amherst Initiative, Office of Provost: Faculty Development Fund

Additional funding for all programs that include contemporary music are made possible in part by: The Aaron Copland Music Fund, Alice M. Ditson Fund, and Amphion Foundation

Seal Bay Festival is also supported The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation