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The ensemble, which retired in 2023 after a 47-year-long career, will receive the award at the Concert Artists Guild 75th anniversary gala in September
The Concert Artists Guild (CAG) has announced its Musical Trailblazer Honourees for 2026: the Emerson Quartet, Jill Steinberg, and Music for Autism. The award ceremony will form part of CAG’s 75th anniversary gala on 14 September at the Tribeca Rooftop in New York City, alongside further fundraising initiatives. The evening will also feature performances by violinist Joshua Brown, cellist Leland Ko, pianist Evren Ozel and guitarist JIJI.
The Emerson Quartet was established in 1976 at the Juilliard School and disbanded in 2023. It originally comprised violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, violist Guillermo Figueroa Jr. and cellist Eric Wilson. Figueroa was succeeded by violist Lawrence Dutton in 1977, while Wilson was succeeded by cellist David Finckel in 1979, and Finckel in turn by cellist Paul Watkins in 2013.
A distinguishing feature of the quartet was that its violinists alternated between the first and second violin parts. Over the course of its 47-year career, the quartet released over 40 acclaimed recordings, winning nine Grammy Awards and three Gramophone Awards, as well as receiving the Avery Fisher Prize and Musical America’s ‘Ensemble of the Year’ award. It also collaborated with artists including Mstislav Rostropovich, Renée Fleming, Emanuel Ax and Barbara Hannigan.
‘CAG has long understood that great chamber music begins with great investment in emerging artists,’ said Drucker. ‘The ensembles they have championed over the decades speak for themselves. We are happy to be honoured by an organization with such a legacy and such a clear vision for the future.’
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