The Emerson String Quartet, also known as the Emerson Quartet, was an American string quartet initially formed as a student group at the Juilliard School in 1976. It was named for American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and began touring professionally in 1976. The ensemble taught in residence at The Hartt School in the 1980s and is currently the quartet in residence at Stony Brook University. Both of the founding violinists studied with Oscar Shumsky at Juilliard, and the two alternated as first and second violinists for the group. The Emerson Quartet was one of the first such ensembles with the two violinists alternating chairs.
Shlomo Mintz is an Israeli violin virtuoso, violinist and conductor. He regularly appears with orchestras and conductors on the international scene and is heard in recitals and chamber music concerts around the world.
Truls Olaf Otterbech Mørk is a Norwegian cellist.
Mischa Maisky is a Soviet-born Israeli cellist.
Meriwether Lewis Spratlan Jr. was an American music academic and composer of contemporary classical music.
Mats Lidström is a Swedish solo cellist, recording artist, chamber musician, composer, teacher and publisher.
Elisabeth Batiashvili, professionally known as Lisa Batiashvili, is a prominent Georgian violinist active across Europe and the United States. A former New York Philharmonic artist-in-residence, she is acclaimed for her "natural elegance, silky sound and the meticulous grace of her articulation". Batiashvili makes frequent appearances at high-profile international events; she was the violin soloist at the 2018 Nobel Prize concert.
James Zuill Bailey, better known as Zuill Bailey is a celebrated, Grammy Award-winning American cello soloist, chamber musician, and artistic director. A graduate of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and the Juilliard School, he has appeared in recital and with major orchestras internationally. He is a professor of cello and Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at El Paso. Bailey’s extensive recording catalogue are released on TELARC, Avie, Steinway and Sons, Octave, Delos, Albany, Sono Luminus, Naxos, Azica, Concord, EuroArts, ASV, Oxingale and Zenph Studios.
Alban Gerhardt is a German cellist. Since his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1991, he has appeared with many of the world's leading orchestras.
Jian Wang is a Chinese cellist. A soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and teacher, he was the first Chinese musician to ever sign an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.
Maurice Gendron was a French cellist, conductor and teacher. He is widely considered one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century. He was an Officer of the Legion of Honor and a recipient of the National Order of Merit. He was an active member of the French Resistance during World War II.
Mari Kodama is a classical pianist who has performed in Europe, North America and Japan.
Jeffrey Alan Kahane is an American classical concert pianist and conductor. He was music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra for 20 years, the longest of any music director in the orchestra's history. He is the music director of the Sarasota Music Festival, a program of the Sarasota Orchestra, and a professor of keyboard studies (Piano) at the USC Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles, California
Antônio Meneses Neto is a Brazilian cellist with the National Symphony Orchestra. Meneses was born into a family of musicians; his father was first horn player at the Opera of Rio de Janeiro. He began to study the cello when he was ten. During a tour in South America, the famous cellist Antonio Janigro met him and asked him to join his classes in Düsseldorf and then in Stuttgart. In 1977, he won the first prize at the International Competition in Munich and in 1982 he was awarded first prize and gold medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
The Miró Quartet is an internationally performing professional classical string quartet based in Austin, Texas. The group is the Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Texas and its members are on the faculty of the Butler School of Music. Its members are Daniel Ching, violin; William Fedkenheuer, second violin ; John Largess, viola; and Joshua Gindele, cello.
Yuja Wang is a Chinese pianist. Born in Beijing, she began learning the piano there at age six, and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. By the age of 21, she was already an internationally recognized concert pianist and signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. She has since established herself as one of the leading artists of her generation. Wang currently lives in New York.
Geoffrey Burleson is an American classical and jazz pianist.
Pentatone is an international classical music label located in Baarn, Netherlands.
Luna Pearl Woolf is an American composer. Her works include opera, chamber music, orchestra, and choral compositions. Many of her pieces incorporate spoken-word recitals and choreography as well as musical performances. As a composer of many different works including operas, dramatic chamber music, silent film scores, and musical story-telling, she’s been commissioned by organizations such as Carnegie Hall, Washington National Opera, Minnesota Sinfonia, Salle Bourgie, ECM+, and others. She has collaborated with many artists including Joyce DiDonato, Frederica von Stade, Daniel Taylor, Lisa Delan, Christopher O’Riley, the Brentano String Quartet, the Russian National Orchestra, and Jeremy Irons amongst many others.
"Hymn: Largo cantabile", S. 84/1, sometimes also referred to as "Largo cantabile: Hymn" and often shortened as "Hymn", is a composition by American composer Charles Ives written in 1904. Grouped in the suite A Set of Three Short Pieces, it is published and commonly performed as a standalone work.
