St. Lawrence String Quartet to Disband

In Monday’s (4/29) San Francisco Classical Voice, Janos Gereben writes, “Just three weeks after the Alexander String Quartet announced that next season will be its last, the St. Lawrence String Quartet (SLSQ) is bidding its own sad farewell. After 34 renowned seasons and acclaim around the world, the SLSQ will disband as an ensemble this year, but its members will remain active at Stanford University, where the Quartet has been in residence since 1998. Following final performances at UC San Diego, Stanford, and Spoleto Festival USA, the SLSQ’s individual members will continue to perform, teach, direct Stanford’s chamber music program, and produce the annual St. Lawrence Chamber Music Seminar, in addition to pursuing other musical projects. But the Quartet … will cease to exist…. The SLSQ performed and recorded hundreds of works. The group was so committed to Franz Joseph Haydn that in some single concerts it performed all six quartets from the composer’s Opus 20. And yet, the SLSQ was also a prominent agent for new music … The St. Lawrence has inspired and nurtured generations of young artists and chamber music enthusiasts. The Quartet also brought music to prisons, construction sites, hospitals, living rooms, and scientific laboratories, in addition to venerable stages.”