The Emerson String Quartet has maintained its status 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” award. They have worked with some of today’s most esteemed composers to premiere new works, and have partnered with soloists such as Renée Fleming, Barbara Hannigan, Evgeny Kissin, Emanuel Ax, and Yefim Bronfman, to name a few.
From their farewell tour, watch "America's quartet" in their final concert at Paris's Fondation LV
After 47 years of award-winning music-making, the Emerson String Quartet will disband in October 2023 and will release their final album Infinite Voyage on September 8 with soprano, Barbara Hannigan. The album evokes the lifelong journey for the four musicians and their lasting friendship with Hannigan. Joined by Bertrand Chamayou, the record features Schoenberg's Quartet No. 2 for soprano and string quartet alongside works by Hindemith, Berg, and Chausson's Chanson perpétuelle.
SEE album detailsJust two days after we [NPR] captured this performance, the band played its final concert together in New York, where it all began in 1976 when a couple Juilliard students thought putting together a string quartet might be a fun idea. Forty-some albums, nine Grammys and countless concerts later, we were honored to document one of the band's last performances.