Grammy Winners Emerson String Quartet Will Perform at UA as First Celebrity Music Series Concert

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Emerson String Quartet will perform in the Moody Music Building Concert Hall at The University of Alabama Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the UA’s School of Music Celebrity Series sponsored by the Gloria Narramore Moody Foundation.

Although formed during the American bicentennial, the Emerson String Quartet’s four members have been playing together since 1979. To keep their sound fresh and vibrant, Eugene Drucker and Phillip Setzer alternate as first violin. Another innovation by the group has the two violinists and violist Lawrence Dutton stand while playing; cellist David Finckel performs from a podium. Using this radical stance and positioning themselves farther apart on stage gives the musicians greater projection while providing greater clarity to the music.

Last year the Emerson String Quartet was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize. Their selection underscores their strengths as individual instrumentalists, as previously only soloists were eligible, and highlights their collective achievements as recognized by six Grammy awards. The quartet is the only chamber ensemble to win the Avery Fisher Prize for best classical recording and they have received it twice in 28 years.

Celebrity Series subscriptions are $72 and $55. Single ticket prices for the concerts are $22 and $15 for general admission and $7 for students. They are available for purchase at the box office at 205/348-7111.

About the Gloria Narramore Moody Foundation: The Moody Foundation was founded in 1990 by Gloria Moody and her husband, the late Tuscaloosa businessman Frank McCorkle Moody, to support the arts and music.

In addition to bringing world-class performers to Alabama, the Moody Foundation has endowed scholarships at UA and has supported arts organizations elsewhere in the United States.

This is the 17th year the Moody Foundation has brought internationally acclaimed talent to Alabama and underwritten the performances of world-class performers such as the Guarneri String Quartet, pianist Awadagin Pratt, soprano Benita Valente of the New York Metropolitan Opera, violinist Itzhak Perlman and cellist Yo-Yo Ma with pianist Emanuel Ax in a joint recital at The University of Alabama.

The UA School of Music is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest public liberal arts college in the state with 6,600 students and 360 faculty. Students from the college have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the “USA Today” Academic All American Team.