March 2, 2011
UWs Craig Sheppard to join Emerson String Quartet at Meany March 8
The Emerson String Quartet will perform at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 8, at Meany Hall — and the UWs own Craig Sheppard, professor of piano, will join them in the shows second half.
The Emerson String Quartet. Photo by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco
The quartet has an unparalleled list of achievements over three decades: more than 30 acclaimed recordings, nine Grammy awards, three Gramophone Awards, the coveted Avery Fisher Prize and cycles of the complete Beethoven, Bartók, Mendelssohn and Shostakovich string quartets in the world’s musical capitals, from New York to London and Vienna.
The quartet has collaborated in concerts and on recordings with some of the greatest artists of our time. After more than 33 years of extensive touring and recording, the group continues to perform with the same benchmark integrity, energy and commitment that it has demonstrated since it was formed in 1976.
The group has anchored the International Chamber Music Series since its 1988 Seattle debut on the Meany Hall stage. With more than 90 worldwide engagements this past season alone, the quartet shows no signs of slowing down. The critics admiration for the group is nearly universal and sometimes exceptional, as when a reviewer for the The Times (London) remarked: “with musicians like this there must be some hope for humanity.”
The quartet will play Andante and Menuet, Op. 103 by Haydn, String Quartet No. 6 by Bartok and Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34 by Brahms. Pianist Sheppard will join the quartet for the Brahms work.
Craig Sheppard
Sheppard has maintained an enduring presence in the classical music world for more than 40 years. He is frequently invited to perform at summer venues such as the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, and has taught and performed for a number of summers at the Heifetz International Music Institute in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. He has made eight trips to the Far East since June 2002, giving lectures, master classes and concerts in major venues and universities.
Sheppard has performed with all the major orchestras in Great Britain, as well as those of Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle, Buffalo and Rochester, among others in the United States, and with such conductors as Sir Georg Solti, Sir Chares Mackerras, James Levine, Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Andrew Davis, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Erich Leinsdorf, Kurt Sanderling, Neeme Järvi, Hans Vonk, Aaron Copland, David Zinman, Gerard Schwarz, and Peter Erös.
Tickets are $36 ($20 for students) and may be purchased by phone at 206-543-4880, through the World Series online or in person at the UW Arts Ticket Office. Half-price, cash-only rush tickets are available to students and seniors (age 60 and up) 30 minutes before curtain at the Meany Hall Box Office, also subject to availability.
