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For Immediate Release/March 17, 2008 Media Contact: Marla Carpenter, 336-770-3337, carpem@ncarts.edu Internationally Acclaimed Emerson String Quartet to Perform at NCSA
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Emerson String Quartet, one of the most renowned chamber ensembles of all time, will be in residence at the North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA) March 28 - 29, 2008. Two concerts at NCSA will highlight the extraordinary musical ability of this group. The first will be held Friday, March 28, at 8 p.m. and the second, Saturday, March 29, at 2 p.m. Both concerts will be in Watson Chamber Music Hall. Special Event ticket prices are $25 for adults and $20 for seniors and students and are available through the NCSA Web site, www.ncarts.edu, or through the NCSA Box Office, (336) 721-1945. Please note that ARTSCARDs can not be used for special events. On March 28, the quartet will play String Quartet in A Minor, by Franz Schubert; String Quartet No. 5: The Miraculous, by Bright Sheng; and String Quartet in B flat Major, Op. 67, by Johannes Brahms. On the 29^th, they will perform String Quartet No. 7, by Dmitri Shostakovich; Terra Memoria, by Kaija Saariaho; String Quartet No. 3, by Bela Bartok; and Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3. The Sheng and Saariaho quartets were commissioned and premiered this season by the Emerson String Quartet.	Photo Credit: Mitch Jenkins Emerson String Quartet
The Emerson String Quartet is acclaimed for its dynamic and insightful performances as well as its brilliant technical mastery. Time Magazine has proclaimed them “America’s greatest quartet.” Based in New York City, the Emerson String Quartet was formed during the United States’ bicentennial year (1976) and took its name from Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great American poet and philosopher. Violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer alternate in the first chair position and are joined by violist Lawrence Dutton and cellist David Finckel. The quartet has maintained the same four musicians for more than 30 years, which has allowed them to refine their performances into what The New Yorker magazine has called, “…perfect harmony; the players are in tune in all senses of the phrase.” In addition to their concerts, on Friday, March 28, Philip Setzer will teach a violin master class in Watson Hall, Lawrence Dutton will teach a viola master class in Crawford Hall and David Finckel will teach a cello master class in Hood Hall. All three classes will run from 2 to 4 p.m. On Saturday, March 29, violinist Eugene Drucker will coach student chamber ensembles in Watson Hall from 10 a.m. to noon. These events are free and open to the public. The guest residency by the Emerson String Quartet has been made possible by support from the Anne Cannon Forsyth Visiting Artist Fund. The quartet has produced numerous, highly lauded recordings with Deutsche Grammophone and has received eight Grammy Awards including two for “Best Classical Album” as well as three Gramophone magazine awards. It has performed extensively throughout the world and has performed the complete cycles of Beethoven, Bartok and Shostakovich quartets in numerous major concert halls. The quartet has performed numerous benefit concerts for causes ranging from nuclear disarmament to campaigns against AIDS, world hunger and children’s diseases. In 1995, each member received an honorary doctoral degree by Middlebury College in Vermont. They also received a Smithson Award from the Smithsonian Institution. In 2006, the quartet received an honorary doctorate from Wooster College, where it has performed frequently. The Emerson String Quartet has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, USA Today, Elle, Bon Appetit, Gramophone, The Strad, and Strings. Television appearances include PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, WNET’s City Arts, WLIW’s Metroguide, and A&E’s Biography of Beethoven and Breakfast with the Arts. The ensemble has been the subject of two award-winning films: the nationally televised WETA-TV production In Residence at the Renwick (Emmy Award for Excellence, 1983) and Making Music: The Emerson String Quartet (First Place for Music, National Education Film Festival, 1985). For more information, please visit www.emersonquartet.com. The North Carolina School of the Arts, located in Winston-Salem (“The City of the Arts”), was the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. Established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, NCSA opened in Winston-Salem in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972. More than 1,100 students from middle school through graduate school train for careers in the arts in five professional schools: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. The North Carolina School of the Arts is the state’s only public arts conservatory, dedicated entirely to the professional training of talented students in the performing, visual and moving image arts. The chancellor, deans, and faculty work with students in a residential setting to create an educational community that is intimate, demanding, and performance-centered. Learning is enriched by access to an academic program responsive to a conservatory curriculum. Founded to be both an educational institution and a resource enhancing the cultural life of the state of North Carolina and the Southeast, NCSA offers numerous public performances, on- and off-campus, as well as community education in the arts. School of the Arts alumni have performed in or behind the scenes of Broadway shows, film, television and regional theatre, and are members of the world’s finest symphony orchestras and opera and dance companies. They have won or been nominated for all of the major awards in the entertainment industry, including Tony, Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and others. # # #
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For Immediate Release/March 17, 2008
Media Contact: Marla Carpenter, 336-770-3337, carpem@ncarts.edu

Internationally Acclaimed Emerson String Quartet to Perform at NCSA

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Emerson String Quartet, one of the most renowned chamber ensembles of all time, will be in residence at the North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA) March 28 - 29, 2008.

Two concerts at NCSA will highlight the extraordinary musical ability of this group. The first will be held Friday, March 28, at 8 p.m. and the second, Saturday, March 29, at 2 p.m. Both concerts will be in Watson Chamber Music Hall. Special Event ticket prices are $25 for adults and $20 for seniors and students and are available through the NCSA Web site, www.ncarts.edu, or through the NCSA Box Office, (336) 721-1945. Please note that ARTSCARDs can not be used for special events.

On March 28, the quartet will play String Quartet in A Minor, by Franz Schubert; String Quartet No. 5: The Miraculous, by Bright Sheng; and String Quartet in B flat Major, Op. 67, by Johannes Brahms. On the 29^th, they will perform String Quartet No. 7, by Dmitri Shostakovich; Terra Memoria, by Kaija Saariaho; String Quartet No. 3, by Bela Bartok; and Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3. The Sheng and Saariaho quartets were commissioned and premiered this season by the Emerson String Quartet.

Photo Credit: Mitch Jenkins

Emerson String Quartet

The Emerson String Quartet is acclaimed for its dynamic and insightful performances as well as its brilliant technical mastery. Time Magazine has proclaimed them “America’s greatest quartet.”

Based in New York City, the Emerson String Quartet was formed during the United States’ bicentennial year (1976) and took its name from Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great American poet and philosopher. Violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer alternate in the first chair position and are joined by violist Lawrence Dutton and cellist David Finckel. The quartet has maintained the same four musicians for more than 30 years, which has allowed them to refine their performances into what The New Yorker magazine has called, “…perfect harmony; the players are in tune in all senses of the phrase.”

In addition to their concerts, on Friday, March 28, Philip Setzer will teach a violin master class in Watson Hall, Lawrence Dutton will teach a viola master class in Crawford Hall and David Finckel will teach a cello master class in Hood Hall. All three classes will run from 2 to 4 p.m. On Saturday, March 29, violinist Eugene Drucker will coach student chamber ensembles in Watson Hall from 10 a.m. to noon. These events are free and open to the public.

The guest residency by the Emerson String Quartet has been made possible by support from the Anne Cannon Forsyth Visiting Artist Fund.

The quartet has produced numerous, highly lauded recordings with Deutsche Grammophone and has received eight Grammy Awards including two for “Best Classical Album” as well as three Gramophone magazine awards. It has performed extensively throughout the world and has performed the complete cycles of Beethoven, Bartok and Shostakovich quartets in numerous major concert halls.

The quartet has performed numerous benefit concerts for causes ranging from nuclear disarmament to campaigns against AIDS, world hunger and children’s diseases.

In 1995, each member received an honorary doctoral degree by Middlebury College in Vermont. They also received a Smithson Award from the Smithsonian Institution. In 2006, the quartet received an honorary doctorate from Wooster College, where it has performed frequently.

The Emerson String Quartet has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, USA Today, Elle, Bon Appetit, Gramophone, The Strad, and Strings. Television appearances include PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, WNET’s City Arts, WLIW’s Metroguide, and A&E’s Biography of Beethoven and Breakfast with the Arts. The ensemble has been the subject of two award-winning films: the nationally televised WETA-TV production In Residence at the Renwick (Emmy Award for Excellence, 1983) and Making Music: The Emerson String Quartet (First Place for Music, National Education Film Festival, 1985). For more information, please visit www.emersonquartet.com.

The North Carolina School of the Arts, located in Winston-Salem (“The City of the Arts”), was the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. Established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, NCSA opened in Winston-Salem in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972. More than 1,100 students from middle school through graduate school train for careers in the arts in five professional schools: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. The North Carolina School of the Arts is the state’s only public arts conservatory, dedicated entirely to the professional training of talented students in the performing, visual and moving image arts. The chancellor, deans, and faculty work with students in a residential setting to create an educational community that is intimate, demanding, and performance-centered. Learning is enriched by access to an academic program responsive to a conservatory curriculum. Founded to be both an educational institution and a resource enhancing the cultural life of the state of North Carolina and the Southeast, NCSA offers numerous public performances, on- and off-campus, as well as community education in the arts.

School of the Arts alumni have performed in or behind the scenes of Broadway shows, film, television and regional theatre, and are members of the world’s finest symphony orchestras and opera and dance companies. They have won or been nominated for all of the major awards in the entertainment industry, including Tony, Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and others.

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