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September 2006: The Vega String Quartet, Emory Quartet in Residence

On Friday, Sept. 29, at Emory’s Schwartz Center, the award-winning Vega String Quartet performs the first of a series of six concerts spread throughout the season featuring the complete works for solo strings by J.S. Bach and the complete string quartets by Béla Bartók. “This series of concerts celebrates in grand style the establishment of Emory University’s first-ever full-time string quartet in residence,” says Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta artistic director William Ransom.

As Emory’s first resident string quartet, the Vega Quartet will teach throughout the University in the upcoming year, giving classes that explore music’s relationship to every field from biology and business to law and philosophy. They will also work with student chamber music ensembles, coach the Emory Symphony Orchestra strings, and perform extensively. “In addition,” adds Ransom, “they will carry Emory’s name with them as they perform and teach around the world.” This residency is made possible through a generous gift from Cherry L. Emerson, with additional support from the Office of the President, the Office of the Dean of Emory College, and the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta (ECMSA), which coordinates the residency.

The brainchild of Ransom, this season’s Bach/Bartók Cycle features some of the “arguably most important string compositions from the eighteenth and twentieth centuries,” he says. Ransom explains that the juxtaposition of these works makes sense: “Bartók’s music owes everything to Bach, from his use of dance rhythms and songs, to his contrapuntal technique, to his embrace of such formal structures as the ‘Golden Section’.”

Tonight’s concert includes Bach’s Suite No. 1 in G Major and Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, and Bartók’s String Quartet No. 1. (8 p.m., tickets $20, faculty and staff $15, students $5). The next concert of the series takes place in the Schwartz on Friday, October 20, at 8 p.m.

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