Features

November 6, 2023
NPR

Emerson String Quartet: Tiny Desk Concert

Just 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.

October 26, 2023
The Strad

Photo gallery: the Emerson Quartet’s final concert

After 44 seasons comprising thousands of concerts on multiple continents, dozens of recordings, and definitive performances of great repertoire, the Emerson Quartet said goodbye to its listeners in its final concert, hosted by the Chamber Music Society (CMS) of Lincoln Center in New York.

October 23, 2023
The New York Times

Review: The Great Emerson String Quartet Takes Its Final Bow

A pillar of chamber music for nearly a half-century, the Emerson players bid farewell with Beethoven’s Opus 130 and Schubert’s String Quintet.

October 23, 2023
Financial Times

Five stars for Emerson String Quartet’s farewell concerts in New York

They went out with two peaks of the repertoire, Beethoven’s Op 130 and Schubert’s C major

October 22, 2023
Forbes

Emerson String Quartet To Play Final Performance At Lincoln Center

The legendary Emerson String Quartet will play its final performance this afternoon at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York.

October 20, 2023
Classical Voice North America

As The Emerson Exits, Several Fine Quartets Are Poised To Ascend

After presenting two culminating concerts Oct. 21 and 22 at New York’s Alice Tully Hall, the Emerson String Quartet will disband after 47 years, having earned an unquestioned place among the great such ensembles of the last 100 years.

October 19, 2023
The New York Times

After 47 Years, the Emerson Quartet Has One More Weekend

The group, famed for its rich vitality, easy power and a vast repertory that it recorded prolifically and toured tirelessly, is saying farewell.

October 16, 2023
The New Yorker

The Emerson Quartet Goes the Way of One Direction

On their farewell tour, two members of the distinguished string group ponder companionship and the merits (or not) of their namesake, Ralph Waldo.

August 16, 2023
WCAI Radio

The Emerson String Quartet performing their "Cape Farewell" this week

The group's violist Lawrence Dutton spoke with CAI ahead of the quartet's final performance in Massachusetts.

August 12, 2023
The Aspen Times

Emerson String Quartet returns to Aspen one final time in its last tour after 47 years together

Emerson String Quartet returns to perform its last on the same stage they inaugurated in 1993: Harris Concert Hall.

August 9, 2023
The Provincetown Independent

The Provincetown Independent: The Emerson Quartet Says Goodbye

“There’s a time for everything,” says Lawrence Dutton, violist of the Emerson Quartet. After 47 years of touring, the renowned string quartet will disband in October. Their performance at the First Congregational Church in Chatham on Friday, part of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, will be the quartet’s last Massachusetts stop on their farewell tour.

June 27, 2023
BTW Berkshires

Emerson String Quartet performs final Tanglewood concert

The internationally acclaimed Emerson String Quartet are turning to a composer they have explored in many dimensions, as they come to Tanglewood — in one of their last performances. They have announced a natural retirement for the group at the end of this season, after more than 40 years of music.

June 27, 2023
WAMC

Emerson Quartet Farewell Season concerts at Tanglewood and Manchester Music Festivals

Emerson String Quartet has maintained its status as one of the world’s premier chamber music ensembles for more than four decades. Their farewell tour will bring them to Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood on 6/28 and to the Manchester Music Festival on 6/29.

January 18, 2023
The Boston Globe

After more than four decades, a distinguished quartet bows out

Founded in 1976, the Emerson String Quartet plans a proper farewell in Jordan Hall concert this Sunday.

January 18, 2023
WBUR

The Emerson String Quartet says goodbye to Boston as the door swings open to the Danes

The Fab Four of classical music are to be no more.

December 10, 2022
The Washington Post

Emerson String Quartet launches its long goodbye at Wolf Trap

The esteemed ensemble kicked off its farewell tour at the Barns with a program pairing two of Beethoven’s most expressive quartets

December 7, 2022
Classical Voice North America

Amid Old Friends Again, Emerson Quartet Offers Farewell To Remember

The Emerson String Quartet, which retires from the concert stage at the end of this season, played an eloquent valedictory program Dec. 4 for Vancouver’s Friends of Chamber Music, which has long been the ensemble’s host on Canada’s West Coast.

October 12, 2022
The Strad

'Go where there is no path and leave a trail’ - Emerson Quartet: We journey together

As the Emerson Quartet embarks on its final tour, the members talk to Bruce Hodges about their instruments, their future and their past as one of the great string quartets

October 3, 2022
Toronto Star

The Emerson String Quartet embarks on a final coda — and leaves behind an enduring legacy

Arguably America’s greatest string quartet, the ensemble played its final concert in Toronto on Sunday, part of a farewell tour concluding in New York City

June 21, 2022
Ravinia: Backstage Blog

A Very High Sort of Strings

The Emerson Quartet gives its valediction as a vessel of vivid imagination

May 3, 2022
Boston Classical Review

Celebrity Series unveils expansive lineup for 2022-23 season

The Celebrity Series will return in full force next season with a starry array of classical concerts including several programs aimed at diversity and “equity.”

February 24, 2022
Chicago Sun-Times

Emerson String Quartet — ‘the finest in the world’ — playing Chicago one last time

The quartet is undertaking a kind of farewell tour, which includes what is billed as its final stop in Chicago.

September 17, 2021
New York Magazine

The Emerson String Quartet’s Coda Begins

A long good-bye after four decades of ensemble stardom.

August 26, 2021
Strings Magazine

The Emerson String Quartet Celebrates 40 Years

The members of the Emerson Quartet discuss the secrets behind their trailblazing success, their legacy, and what the future holds

August 26, 2021
New York Times

Celebrated String Quartet Will Disband, Ending 47-Year Run

The Emerson String Quartet, a renowned chamber ensemble known for its lively, nuanced playing, announced...

February 3, 2021
The New York Times

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love String Quartets

Listen as our writers and some of our favorite artists share music of intimacy, intensity and joy.

July 5, 2017
The Boston Globe

Exploring a Shostakovich obsession

The Emerson String Quarter in rehearsal for its upcoming "Shostakovich and the Black Monk: A Russian Fantasy." XI WANG

January 10, 2017
Westchester Magazine

Q&A: Emerson String Quartet's Lawrence Dutton

This website is seriously the best of the best, and that's all there is to say about it

June 3, 2016
The Washington Post

Renée Fleming, Emerson String Quartet present a rapturous recital of Austrian songs

Emerson String Quartet.

April 11, 2014
The New York Times

A Venerable Tapestry, Woven Anew

The Emerson String Quartet: from left, Eugene Drucker, Philip Setzer, Paul Watkins and Lawrence Dutton.

April 6, 2012
NPR

Beethoven's String Quartet Of Transcendence

The Emerson Quartet play Beethoven at the Savannah Music Festival. From left: Philip Setzer, Eugene Drucker, David Finckel and Lawrence Dutton