Fusing classical and contemporary mastery, the Emerson String Quartet has amassed an impressive list of achievements over three decades: eight Grammy Awards, including two for “Best Classical Album”-- an unprecedented honor for a chamber music group; three Gramophone Awards; and frequent performances in major concert halls throughout the world.

Established in 1976, the Emerson String Quartet, who derived its name from the American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, features violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, violist Lawrence Dutton, and cellist David Finckel. Now in its 28th sold-out season, the Emerson continues its residency with The Smithsonian Associates. In addition to its educational affiliation with Carnegie Hall, in the fall of 2002, the Emerson joined Stony Brook University as Quartet-in-Residence, coaching chamber music, giving master classes, and providing instrumental instruction.

Throughout its history, the Emerson String Quartet has garnered an international reputation for groundbreaking chamber music projects and recordings for Deutsche Grammophon.

Individual Bios

Eugene Drucker, violin

A founding member of the Emerson String Quartet, Eugene Drucker has also been active as a solo artist. He has appeared with the orchestras of Montreal, Brussels, Antwerp, Liege, Austin, Hartford, Richmond, Toledo, and the Rhineland-Palatinate, as well as the American Symphony Orchestra and the Aspen Chamber Symphony.

A graduate of Columbia University and the Juilliard School where he studied with Oscar Shumsky, Drucker was concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra, with which he appeared as a soloist several times. He made his New York debut as a Concert Artists Guild winner in the fall of 1976, after having won prizes at the Montreal Competition and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.

Philip Setzer, violin

Philip Setzer was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and began studying violin at the age of five with his parents, both violinists with the Cleveland Orchestra. He continued his studies with Josef Gingold and Rafael Druian, and later at the Juilliard School with Oscar Shumsky. In 1967, Setzer won second prize at the Meriwether Post Competition in Washington, D.C., and in 1976 he received a bronze medal at the Queen Elisabeth International Competition in Brussels.

He has appeared with the National Symphony, Aspen Chamber Symphony (David Robertson, conductor), Memphis Symphony (Michael Stern), New Mexico and Puerto Rico Symphonies (Guillermo Figueroa), Omaha and Anchorage Symphonies (David Loebel), and on several occasions with the Cleveland Orchestra (Louis Lane). He has also participated in the Marlboro Music Festival.

Lawrence Dutton, viola

Lawrence Dutton, violist and eight-time Grammy Award winner, has collaborated with many of the world's great performing artists, including Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovich, Oscar Shumsky, Leon Fleisher, Walter Trampler, Menahem Pressler, Lynn Harrell, Yefim Bronfman, Joseph Kalichstein, Misha Dichter, Jan DeGaetani, and Edgar Meyer. He has also performed as guest artist with numerous chamber music ensembles such as the Juilliard and Guarneri quartets, the Beaux Arts Trio, and the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. In March 2007 he toured in chamber music performances with cellist Ralph Kirshbaum and violinist Robert McDuffie.

With the Beaux Arts Trio he recorded the Shostakovich “Piano Quintet, Op. 57,” and the “Fauré G-minor Piano Quartet, Op. 45,” on the Philips label. His Aspen Music Festival recording with Jan DeGaetani for Bridge records was nominated for a 1992 Grammy Award. For BRAVO cable television he recorded works by Stravinsky and Hindemith. He is currently a professor of viola and chamber music at the Manhattan School of Music and Stony Brook University. He earned a bachelor’s and master's degree from the Juilliard School of Music where he studied with Lillian Fuchs.

David Finckel, cello

Cellist of the Emerson String Quartet since 1979, David Finckel leads a multifaceted career as a concert performer, recording artist, educator, arts administrator, and cultural entrepreneur--placing him in the ranks of today's most influential classical musicians. He has been hailed as "a world-class soloist" (Denver Post) and "one of the top ten, if not top five, cellists in the world today" (Nordwest Zeitung, Germany).

Highlights of recent seasons include recitals throughout North America with pianist Wu Han, a third appearance at London's Wigmore Hall, and the world premiere of Lera Auerbach's “Cello Sonata No. 1.” Solo and chamber appearances, in addition to performances with the Emerson Quartet, include the Aspen Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and Music @ Menlo. Finckel's recent activities as orchestral soloist include appearances with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in Shostakovich's “First Concerto,” as well as performances and recordings of the Dvorak “Concerto” and Augusta Read Thomas's “Ritual Incantations” with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, and John Harbison's “Cello Concerto” with the Albany Symphony.