A Holiday Celebration: The Emerson Quartet Performing Schumann

As we approach the end of the year, Friends Of Music Concerts is overjoyed to be able to share recordings from one of our favorite ensembles. The Emerson Quartet has provided us with a streaming performance from one of their recent concerts. This video recording of four movements from the Schumann Quartets is now available at the website along with a greeting from the musicians recorded specifically for supporters of Friends Of Music Concerts.

We have had a special relationship with the Emerson Quartet over the years. They first appeared on one of our stages in 1982. Over the years they have been one of our most popular ensembles. When they appear in September 2022, it will be for the 18th time. Sadly, it will be their last appearance for Friends Of Music Concerts. The members have decided to cease performing as the Emerson Quartet so they can pursue other interests. In fact, Philip Setzer, the violinist, performed for us a few weeks ago with Wu Han and David Finckel.

As we look back over this past year, we take great satisfaction from having survived the pandemic and returned to live performances. We are disappointed that we were required to limit the number of tickets available at each performance due to covid social distancing requirements.

And while we are hopeful we can offer more tickets to our performances in 2022, at this time we don’t know how many tickets we will be allowed to sell. We monitor the situation closely and we will share news through our email, website and Facebook as soon as we can.

And as we look back over the year, we are grateful to our supporters who have given generously in the past. Ticket sales do not come close to covering the expenses of our concerts, which are comprised almost entirely of fees for the musicians. In the last year, we have also moved forward in fulfilling another part of our mission: to build the audiences of the future. We were able to bring our Partnership in Education program to White Plains High School, and in the Spring we will bring the program to Sleepy Hollow High School, Hendrick Hudson High School and the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music. This special program has earned high praise from everyone who is involved; you can read about the White Plains event here.

We were also able to launch a new scholarship program to support the education of deserving students through a partnership with Hoff-Barthelson Music School and the Music Conservatory of Westchester. (Read about it here)

Rest assured that we will fully embrace our mission of bringing world-class chamber music to Westchester audiences. We have a full schedule planned for 2022; you can review it at the website. And we look forward to making announcements about concerts scheduled for 2023 in the not too distant future.

We hope you will be able to join the supporters who have made this possible with a contribution. Donations from our supporters provide income for classical musicians so we can enjoy their work while keeping the tradition of classical music alive for future generations. Please join us in this effort.

We wish you a joyous holiday season and hope we will be able to greet you in person at one of our concerts in the new year. In the meantime, please enjoy the Emerson Quartet’s performance of Schumann Opus 41 here.