Press Release

January 31, 2023

For Immediate Release

Cassatt String Quartet performs world premiere in Boston on Feb 19

Concert at Northeastern University includes Daniel S. Godfrey’s Toward Light with guitarist Eliot Fisk and the first-ever performance of Passion's Continuum by Anthony Paul De Ritis

On February 19, at 4 pm the Cassatt String Quartet performs in recital at Northeastern University in Boston. The concert features Toward Light with guitarist Eliot Fisk by Daniel S. Godfrey and the world premiere of Passion's Continuum by Anthony Paul De Ritis.

The following week, the CSQ and Eliot Fisk head to Mechanics Hall in Worcester, MA to record Godfrey’s Quintet, produced by multi-GRAMMY award-winning producer Judith Sherman.

This is one of several appearances of the Cassatt String Quartet in New England this year. The group will be in residence at Amherst and Bennington Colleges, and perform on the Treetops Chamber Music Society series in Fairfield County, CT. This summer, the quartet returns as ensemble-in-residence to the Seal Bay Festival in Maine, now in its 20th season. The festival brings unique exposure to contemporary American chamber music to audiences in coastal Maine.

The performance on Sunday, February 19 at 4 pm is at Fenway Hall (77 Saint Stephen Street in Boston). Admission is free and tickets are not required. More information and updates at camd.northeastern.edu.

Hailed for its “mighty rapport and relentless commitment,” the Cassatt String Quartet has performed to critical acclaim across the world since its founding in 1985, with appearances at Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Tanglewood Music Center, the Kennedy Center, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Centro National de las Artes, Maeda Hall, and Beijing’s Central Conservatory. The group’s discography includes over forty recordings, spanning the Koch, Naxos, New World, Point, CRI, Tzadik, and Albany labels – including three discs that have been named by Alex Ross to his “10 Best Classical Recordings” feature in The New Yorker. 

The Cassatt Quartet’s upcoming projects include major performances and recordings of works by Tania León, Dylan Schneider, Shirish Korde, and Daniel S. Godfrey; its annual residencies at the Seal Bay Festival of American Chamber Music and Cassatt in the Basin!; hometown concerts in the New York area; and appearances at Treetops Chamber Music Society, Maverick Concerts, and Music Mountain. 

The CSQ is named for the American Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt. 

February 19 at 4 pm: Boston, MA

Northeastern University's Fenway Center (77 St Stephen St)

Program:

Florence Price: String Quartet No. 1

Dorothy Rudd Moore: Modes

Anthony De Ritis: Passion's Continuum (world premiere)

Zhou Long: Song of the Ch’in

Heitor Villa-Lobos: Cadenza for solo guitar (Eliot Fisk)

Daniel Strong Godfrey: Toward Light for guitar and string quartet (with Eliot Fisk)

May 7: Amherst, MA

Amherst College's Buckley Recital Hall

(53 College St)

Music by Dylan Schneider

PANDEMIC (world premiere)

with saxophonist Jonathan Hulting-Cohen

GOES A-H-H-H: Quartet Bossa Nova

Dancer at an Exhibition (Written for the Cassatt String Quartet)

Part of Amherst College Residency (May 5-8)

May 9 at 8 pm: Bennington, VT

Dean Carriage Barn at Bennington College (1 College Dr)

Program: 

W.A. Mozart: String Quartet in F major, K. 590

Florence Price: String Quartet No. 1

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel: String Quartet

Part of Bennington College Residency (May 9 & 10)

May 14 at 4 pm: New Canaan, CT

Treetops Chamber Music Concert at Carriage Barn Arts Center (681 South Ave)

Program:

W.A. Mozart: String Quartet in F major, K. 590

Dorothy Rudd Moore: Modes

Amy Beach: Piano Quintet in F-sharp Minor, Op. 67 (with Magdalena Baczewska)

July 25 - August 5: Seal Bay Festival in Maine

Programs include:

Anthony De Ritis: Passion's Continuum (ME premiere)

Zhou Long: Song of the Ch’in

Chen Yi: Fiddle Suite

Cassatt String Quartet concerts in New York State are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of Governor and the New York State Legislature

Amherst concert sponsored by: Amherst College Music Department, Provost Lecture Fund, Arts at Amherst Initiative, Office of Provost: Faculty Development Fund

Additional funding for all programs that include contemporary music are made possible in part by: The Aaron Copland Music Fund, Alice M. Ditson Fund, and Amphion Foundation

Seal Bay Festival is also supported The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation