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Penn State College of Arts and Architecture
Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State

Event Slides Per Node 1415

Emerson String Quartet

7:30 pm Thursday, October 15, 2015

Emerson String Quartet, an ensemble with an unparalleled list of achievements, makes its first appearance at Penn State in six years with a program featuring works by Joseph Haydn and Franz Schubert—plus a piece by Lowell Liebermann co-commissioned by the Center for the Performing Arts through its membership in Music Accord. Founded in 1976 and based in New York City, the quartet has recorded more than thirty albums, earned nine Grammy (including two for best classical album) and three Gramophone awards, won the Avery Fisher Prize, been named Musical America’s ensemble of the year, and collaborated with many of the great artists of our time. The Emerson was one of the first quartets formed with its violinists alternating in the first chair position. In 2002, the ensemble began to perform while standing, with the cellist seated on a riser, for most of its concerts. Cellist Paul Watkins, who joined the quartet in 2013, has infused the ensemble with a warm, rich tone and a palpable joy in the collaborative process. “One of the characteristics of the Emerson Quartet is that its players (the violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer and the violist Lawrence Dutton in addition, now, to Mr. Watkins) all have the ability and the instruments to produce a sweet and glossy sound—but do so sparingly,” writes a New York Times reviewer. “Instead, they establish a chromatic scale of timbres that range from dry and tart over clean and zesty all the way to lustrous and singing.” The Penn State program includes Haydn’s String Quartet in B-flat Major, Op. 76, No. 4, Sunrise; Schubert’s String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, Op. 29, Rosamunde; and Liebermann’s String Quartet No. 5, Op. 126.

The concert is part of an Emerson residency at Penn State that also features Liebermann.

Adult $42
University Park Student $19
18 and Younger $32

Create your own Choice series, and save 10 percent, by purchasing tickets to four or more eligible events in one transaction. JERSEY BOYS does not qualify for a Choice series.

sponsor
Designer’s Studio

support provided by
Norma and Ralph Condee Chamber Music Endowment

media sponsor
WPSU

Secondary Events on Each Event

Composer Master Class

10:00 am Thursday, October 15, 2015

Music Seminar Room
325 W. Pattee Library

Free and open to the public

The public is invited to observe a master class featuring composer Lowell Liebermann working with Penn State music composition students. Paul Barsom, associate professor of composition, leads the 90-minute master class.

String Quartet Master Class

10:00 am Thursday, October 15, 2015

Music Building I’s Esber Recital Hall

Free and open to the public

The public is welcome to observe a master class featuring Emerson String Quartet violinist Philip Setzer working with Penn State string quartet students. Rob Nairn, professor and double bassist, facilitates the 90-minute session.

Contemporary Literature Class Visit

11:15 am Thursday, October 15, 2015

214 Thomas Building

Free and open to the public

Penn State’s English 140 course includes a wide-ranging study of literature—including novels, short stories, poems, plays, and prose—written in English roughly between the end of World War II and today. The public is welcome to listen as Emerson String Quartet violinist Eugene Drucker discusses the era with students in the class. Associate Professor Jonathan P. Eburne moderates the 75-minute conversation.

Violin Master Class

11:30 am Thursday, October 15, 2015

Music Building I’s Esber Recital Hall

Free and open to the public

The public is invited to observe a master class featuring Emerson String Quartet violinist Philip Setzer working with Penn State violin students. James Lyon, professor and violinist, leads the 90-minute session.

Lowell Liebermann Presentation

1:00 pm Thursday, October 15, 2015

115 Music Building I

Free and open to the public

The public is welcome to attend a one-hour presentation in which American composer Lowell Liebermann discusses his work.

Artistic Viewpoints

6:30 pm Thursday, October 15, 2015

Schwab Auditorium

Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion featuring Emerson String Quartet musicians Lawrence Dutton and Paul Watkins plus composer Lowell Liebermann, is offered in Schwab Auditorium one hour before the performance and is free for ticket holders. Speakers are subject to change.

Coffee and Donuts with Lowell Liebermann

10:00 am Friday, October 16, 2015

110 Music Building I

Free and open to the public

The public is invited to attend when Classical Music Student Ambassador Leaders have a casual conversation with world-renowned composer Lowell Liebermann. They’ll discuss Liebermann’s works, the world of composing, and navigating life as a musician.