Press Release

September 14, 2023

For Immediate Release

Cassatt String Quartet performs world premiere in Boston on Sept. 22

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

On September 22 at 7:30 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 performance is at Fenway Hall (77 Saint Stephen Street in Boston). Admission is free and tickets are not required.

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. On November 16, the quartet is joined by trombonist Haim Avistur for a program of music by Joan Tower, Victoria Bond, Adolphus Hailstork, and Beethoven in West Hartford, CT, and on December 10 they appear in Ridgefield, CT performing music by Beethoven, Victoria Bond, and Fanny Mendelssohn. Details are below.

Hailed for its “mighty rapport and relentless commitment,” the New York City-based Cassatt String Quartet has performed throughout the world for nearly four decades, with appearances at Alice Tully Hall and 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 Quartet’s prolific discography – featured three times in Alex Ross’s “10 Best Classical Recordings” column in The New Yorker – includes over forty recordings, for the Koch, Naxos, New World, Point, CRI, Tzadik, and Albany labels.

The Cassatt Quartet’s 2023-2024 season includes performances and recordings of works by Tania León, Adolphus Hailstork, Chen Yi, Joan Tower, Zhou Long, and Daniel S. Godfrey; their annual residencies at the Seal Bay Festival in Maine and Cassatt in the Basin! in West Texas; hometown concerts in the New York area, including at Symphony Space and Bargemusic; and appearances at Treetops Chamber Music Society, Maverick Concerts, and Music Mountain.

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

September 22 at 7:30 pm: Northeastern University with guitarist Eliot Fisk

Fenway Center at Northeastern University (77 St Stephen St, Boston, MA)

Program:

Zhou Long: Song of the Ch’in

Anthony Paul De Ritis: Passion's Continuum for String Quartet World Premiere

Heitor Villa-Lobos: Cadenza from the concerto for Guitar and Orchestra

Heitor Villa-Lobos: Prelude # 5 In D major

Daniel Strong Godfrey: Toward Light

November 16 at 7 pm: West Hartford, CT

Mandell JCC (335 Bloomfield Ave, West Hartford, CT)

Program:

Joan Tower : Elegy for Trombone Quintet 

Victoria Bond: Blue & Green Music

Adolphus Hailstork: Monuments for Trombone and String Quartet 

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 18, no. 1

with trombonist Haim Avitsur

November 17: Masterclass at Hartt School of Music

Hartt School of Music (200 Bloomfield Avenue West Hartford, CT)

Following their November 16 performance in West Hartford, the Cassatt String Quartet gives a masterclass to students of the Hartt School of Music. The event if free and open to the public.

December 10 at 4:45 pm: Music at the Mansion (Ridgefield, CT)

Lounsbury House (316 Main St, Ridgefield, CT)

Program:

Beethoven: String Quartet in F major, Op. 18, No. 1

Bond: Blue and Green Music

Fanny Mendelssohn: String Quartet in E-flat major

Concert preceded by a wine and cheese reception at 4 pm

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