Distinguished chamber ensemble takes the stage

EMERSON STRING QUARTET Eugene Drucker – violin, Philip Setzer – violin, Larry Dutton – viola, Paul Watkins – cello

“With musicians like this there must be some hope for humanity,” hails the London Times of the distinguished Emerson String Quartet. Recipients of nine Grammy Awards, the Emerson, who formed at Juilliard in 1976, will retire at the end of summer 2023 after 47 remarkable years.

To mark this special occasion, they will perform 8 p.m. Sat., Feb. 4 at the Williams Center with the inspiring and gifted Escher String Quartet for a program of infrequently performed chamber works, including Mendelssohn’s pioneering String Octet, the Shostakovich String Octet, the adagio from Bruckner’s Quintet in F major, and the Sextet for Strings from Strauss’s Capriccio. Professor Ilan Peleg, the Charles A. Dana Professor of Government and Law, will give a pre-concert talk at 7 p.m.