Audubon Quartet Announces Final Concert as an Ensemble 

Winchester, VA (April 11, 2011) – After 37 years of performing, teaching and recording, the Audubon Quartet, whose members include Akemi Takayama (violin), Ellen Jewett (violin), Doris Lederer  (viola) and quartet founder Clyde Thomas Shaw (cello), will perform for the last time as an ensemble at the Chautauqua Institution (in New York) on August 8, 2011.

Clyde Thomas Shaw said, “We decided as a group that this is the right time. We all have special projects we want to pursue and need the time to pursue. We would like to especially focus our time developing the chamber music program at Shenandoah.” Shaw, Lederer and Takayama will continue to hold their individual faculty positions at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University and continue performing individually as well as with other ensembles. 

The Audubon Quartet came into existence at the 1974 session of the Lenox Quartet Chamber Music Seminar held in Binghamton, N.Y. They skyrocketed to international recognition with a sweep of top prizes in major competitions in their first four years together: 6th International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France (1977); 6th String Quartet Competition at the Festival Villa Lobos in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (1977); and the International String Quartet Competition in Portsmouth, England (1979).

Among their many landmark musical achievements, the Audubon Quartet was the first American string quartet to win a first prize in an international string quartet competition, and the first to visit the People’s Republic of China.  In 1981, the quartet made a groundbreaking three-week tour of mainland China at the invitation of the Chinese Ministry of Culture. Other special appearances included a performance at the White House for President Carter in honor of the Evian Competition prize and an inauguration performance for Pennsylvania’s Governor Richard Thornburgh.

The quartet has been invested in teaching, and has been invited to present master classes at leading music schools and universities around the world. The ensemble held their first university residency at Marywood University (then Marywood College) in Scranton, Pa. from 1974-1979. The quartet also held an artist residency at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. for more than two decades.  Most recently, the quartet has been in residence at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University since 2007, maintaining an active schedule of concerts, coaching and master classes.

Shenandoah Conservatory Dean Michael Stepniak said, “Our conservatory has been immeasurably enriched by the exceptional musicianship of the Audubon Quartet. Beyond bringing with them an extraordinary knowledge of repertoire and performance traditions, the individual members of the Quartet are inspirational to our students. They illuminate the life-changing connection possible not only between artists and great works, but between great performers and listeners.”

Often hailed by critics, The Audubon Quartet has performed in major concert halls throughout North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Caribbean. The New York Times once said, “They listen to one another and adjust instinctively to produce a sound of strikingly beautiful, luminescent quality that invariably serves the music with grace, sophistication and vibrancy.” They performed regularly on the BBC in London and made numerous other radio and television appearances, including NPR’s “Performance Today” and CBS “Sunday Morning.” The quartet has also recorded extensively with various labels, including Centaur Records, RCA Red Seal and Telarc.

For more than 20 years, the Audubon Quartet enjoyed a summer association with the Chautauqua Institution.  Chautauqua's Vice President and Programming Director Marty Merkley said,  "For twenty years I have admired and enjoyed the passion, inspiration and dedication of this genuinely wonderful ensemble of musicians. Their performances and their work with our students have been thrilling. They have become a part of our Chautauqua musical family. I congratulate them on their incredible contributions to the chamber music world and wish each of them success in their new endeavors."  They have also appeared as guests in numerous national and international summer music festivals, including a 30-year association with the Music at Gretna (Pa.) Festival.