Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival (CCCMF) celebrating its 40th anniversary season as Cape Cod’s premiere presenter of summer chamber music, presents Festival favorite and nine-time Grammy® Award winning Emerson String Quartet in The Emerson and Barber’s Adagio on Wednesday, August 7, 7:30 pm at First Congregational Church, 200 Main Street, Wellfleet.
Noted as “Arguably the world’s best group of chamber musicians,” by Fortune Magazine, Emerson String Quartet needs little introduction in the chamber music world with its unparalleled historic achievements. In this return performance to Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, the Quartet performs three diverse string quartets in a beautiful and intimate setting in Wellfleet. A program highlight is a performance of American composer Samuel Barber's heart-wrenching “Adagio for Strings”. Performed in its original score setting for string quartet, the work is celebrated for its audible passion and clear, taut composition, often considered to be the most popular of all 20th century orchestral works. In its full orchestra arrangement, the work has been performed at national occasions of mourning, recognized for its natural tendency to help those in its audience heal.
The program flanks two other diverse string quartets, by prolific composers Franz Joseph Haydn and Antonín Dvořák, providing contrast for comparison in the classic quartet composition style.

The Emerson String Quartet has maintained its stature as one of the world’s premier chamber music ensembles for more than four decades. 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”. The Emerson frequently collaborates with some of today’s most esteemed composers to premiere new works, keeping the string quartet art form alive and relevant. They have partnered in performance with stellar soloists including Reneé Fleming, Barbara Hannigan, Evgeny Kissin, Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman, to name a few.

During the 2018-2019 season the Emerson continues to perform as the quartet in residence at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. for its 40th season and returns to perform with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The group’s North American appearances include a performance at New York’s Alice Tully Hall, and appears around North America that include the Library of Congress in Washington DC, Denver, Vancouver, Seattle, Houston, Indianapolis, Detroit, the Yale School of Music and University of Georgia, among others. The quartet also embarks on two European tours, performing in major venues in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. During the summer of 2019, the Emerson will perform at Tanglewood, Ravinia, and the Aspen Music Festivals.

Formed in 1976 and based in New York City, the Emerson was one of the first quartets whose violinists alternated in the first chair position. The quartet, which took its name from the American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, balances busy performing careers with a commitment to teaching and serves as Quartet-in-Residence at Stony Brook University. In 2013, cellist Paul Watkins, a distinguished soloist, award-wining conductor, and devoted chamber musician, joined the original members of the Emerson Quartet. The reconfigured group has been praised by critics and fans alike around the world. In spring 2016, full-time Stony Brook faculty members Philip Setzer and Lawrence Dutton received the honor of Distinguished Professor, and part-time faculty members Eugene Drucker and Paul Watkins were awarded the title of Honorary Distinguished Professor. The Emerson had previously received honorary doctorates from Middlebury College, the College of Wooster, Bard College and the University of Hartford. In January 2015, the Quartet received the Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award, Chamber Music America’s highest honor, in recognition of its significant and lasting contribution to the chamber music field.

Program: Emerson String Quartet
Eugene Drucker, violin, Philip Setzer, violin, Lawrence Dutton, viola, Paul Watkins, cello

Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in D Major, Opus 71 No. 2; Hob. III: 70
Samuel Barber: String Quartet in B Minor, Opus 11
Antonín Dvořák: String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Opus 51 (B. 92)

For more information about Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival’s 2019 season, performers, mission and venues, visit capecodchambermusic.org, or follow Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival on Facebook and Twitter.