MUSIC 2023 | 2024
Welcome to the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts.
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Audience Information
The Schwartz Center welcomes members of Mu Phi Epsilon and a volunteer usher corps of about 40 members each year. Visit schwartz.emory.edu/volunteer or call 404.727.6640 for ushering opportunities.
The Schwartz Center is committed to providing performances and facilities accessible to all. Please direct accommodation requests to the Schwartz Center Box Office at 404.727.5050, or by email at boxoffice@emory.edu.
The Schwartz Center wishes to gratefully acknowledge the generous ongoing support of Donna and Marvin Schwartz.
Cover Design: Lisa Baron | Cover Photo: Mark Teague
2023 | 2024
MUSIC
ECMSA Emerson Series
Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta William Ransom, artistic director
The Vega Quartet
Saturday, March 30, 2024, 8:00 p.m.
Emerson Concert Hall Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
Fernando Decillis
Program
String Quartet in B-flat Major, K. 458, “The Hunt” Wolfgang A. Mozart
Allegro vivace assai (1756–1791)
Menuetto and Trio: Moderato
Adagio
Allegro assai
String Quartet in E Minor, “From My Life”
Bedřich Smetana
Allegro vivo appassionato (1824–1884)
Allegro moderato a la Polka
Largo sostenuto
Vivace
Intermission
String Quartet in D Major, op. 44, No. 1
Felix Mendelssohn
Molto allegro vivace (1809–1897)
Menuetto: Un poco allegretto
Andante espressivo con moto
Presto con brio
The Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta is supported by the Cherry L. Emerson Endowment, the Rebecca Katz-Doft Chamber Music Endowment, the Crescendo Fund, the Ethel Orentlicher Gershon Fund, a generous gift from Dr. John and Linda Cooke, and by contributions from music lovers like you.
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The Vega Quartet
Emily Daggett Smith and Jessica Shuang Wu, violins; Joseph Skerik, viola; Guang Wang, cello
The Vega Quartet, Quartet-in-Residence at Emory University, is cultivating a new generation of chamber music lovers through dynamic performances and innovative community engagement. The New York Times raved that “[the Quartet’s] playing had a kind of clean intoxication to it, pulling the listener along . . . the musicians took real risks in their music making” and the Los Angeles Times praised their “triumphant L.A. debut.” They concertize both nationally and internationally, most recently at the National Gallery in Washington, in Baltimore, Chicago, Berlin, San Miguel Mexico, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Brahmssaal in Vienna’s Musikverein. The Quartet’s major performing projects at Emory have included performing the complete cycle of Beethoven quartets, as well as pairing Bach’s complete works for solo violin, viola and cello with the six Bartók quartets. Recent highlights include debuting at the 2023 Kneisel Hall Chamber Festival and opening the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta’s 2023–2024 season alongside Mark and Maggie O’Connor. The Vega’s 2023–2024 season features collaborations with flutist Ransom Wilson, cellist Zuill Bailey, and the Juilliard Quartet. Regular commissioners of new music, the quartet will be premiering Joel Thompson’s newest string quartet written for it.
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Fernando Decillis
A unique aspect of the Quartet’s residency at Emory is bringing performance into the classroom, collaborating with academic professors to create interdisciplinary parallels and conversations. Quartet members also enrich the cultural life of their community, having founded the Emory Youth Chamber Music Program, which gives intensive training in small ensemble playing to advanced pre-college students. The Quartet was also appointed to the roster of the Woodruff Arts Center’s Young Audiences program, engaging thousands of students throughout the greater Atlanta school system. It has held residencies in Augusta, Jacksonville, and Juneau that combined traditional concerts with educational outreach, performances in non-traditional venues, and master classes for area students.
“The quartet’s program . . . gave a full picture of the ensemble’s abundant strengths. Dominant is a single-minded and relentless concentration that gives sweep and perspective to the music at hand.”
Los Angeles Times
The Vega Quartet has won numerous international awards, including at the Bordeaux String Quartet Competition, as well as top prizes from the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition, the Carmel Chamber Music Competition, and the National Society of Arts and Letters String Quartet Competition. They have toured throughout Asia, Europe, and North America, and have appeared at Weill Hall and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, Bargemusic, and Duke Hall at the Royal Academy of Music, London. The members of the Vega Quartet collaborate with some of the world’s finest musicians including Yo-Yo Ma, David Shifrin, Mark and Maggie O’Connor, Andres Cardenes, Eliot Fisk, William Preucil, Richard Stoltzman, Robert Spano, Charles Wadsworth, Soovin Kim, and the Eroica Trio. They also commission, premier, and record works by leading composers. The Quartet is a frequent guest at numerous music festivals including Amelia Island, Aspen, Brevard, Highlands-Cashiers, Juneau Jazz & Classics, Kingston, Kneisel Hall, Mostly Mozart, Rockport, San Miguel de Allende, and SummerFest La Jolla.
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Upcoming Emory Music Concerts
Many concerts at Emory are free to attend. Visit music.emory.edu or schwartz.emory.edu to view complete event information. If a ticket is required for attendance, prices are indicated in the listings below in the following order: Full price/Emory student price (unless otherwise noted as the price for all students).
Friday, April 5, 8:00 p.m., Randall Goosby, violin, Candler Concert Series, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, $35/$10, tickets required
Saturday, April 6, 2:00 p.m., Carol Xu, violin, student recital, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free
Saturday, April 6, 5:00 p.m., Lucienne “LuLu” Scully, soprano, student recital, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free
Sunday, April 7, 7:00 p.m., Emory Chamber Ensembles, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free
Thursday, April 11, 6:00 p.m., Jazz on the Quad, Emory Quadrangle, free
Friday, April 12, noon, Juilliard String Quartet with Vega Quartet and William Ransom, piano, ECMSA: Cooke Noontime Series, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free
Saturday, April 13, 8:00 p.m., Emory Gamelan Ensemble, Performing Arts Studio, free
Saturday, April 13, 8:00 p.m., Juilliard String Quartet, ECMSA: Emerson Series: Fentress Waits Concert, Cannon Chapel, free, registration required
Sunday, April 14, 2:00 p.m., Rebecca Goodwin, violin/Rachel Seong, cello, student recitals, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free
Sunday, April 14, 3:30 p.m.,Sanjay Aiyar, piano/Jonathan Luo, piano, student recitals, Performing Arts Studio, free
Sunday, April 14, 7:00 p.m., Emory Concert Choir, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free
Tuesday, April 16, 8:00 p.m., Emory Big Band, Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall, free
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Music at Emory
Music at Emory brings together students, faculty, and world-class artists to create an exciting and innovative season of performances, lectures, workshops, and master classes. With more than 150 events each year across multiple Emory venues, audiences experience a wide variety of musical offerings.
We hope you enjoy sampling an assortment of work from our student ensembles, community youth ensembles, artists in residence, professional faculty, up-and-coming prodigies, and virtuosos from around the world.
music.emory.edu
