Cassatt String Quartet celebrates its 40th anniversary by commissioning a new work by Joan Tower
Tower composed her String Quartet No. 7 in honor of her long history with the Cassatts
Premiere is September 14, 2025 at Maverick Concerts in Woodstock NY
On September 14, 2025, the Cassatt String Quartet will give the world premiere performance of Joan Tower’s String Quartet No. 7. The performance will be at Maverick Concerts (120 Maverick Road, Woodstock, NY) and the composer will be in attendance.
“We’ve played all of Joan’s music for string quartet over the years,” said CSQ violinist Muneko Otani. “About a year and a half ago, I approached her to ask if she would write a piece for us to commemorate our 40th anniversary.”
Towers’ husband of 50 years, Jeff Litfin, had passed away not long before that, and Otani got into the habit of spending the night at Tower’s home once a week for over a year. The two enjoyed many conversations about life and music over a glass of wine.
“We had approached Joan before, about ten years ago, but our timing wasn’t right, and she said no. We’re flattered that she’s agreed to this commission now, as we know that she generally is booked years ahead for new works,” added Otani.
Maverick Music Director Alexander Platt caught wind of the project and was immediately interested in programming the work. The funding for the commission came from Phyllis Feder, one of Joan’s friends.
Performance Details
Joan Tower: String Quartet No. 7 world premiere
Commissioned and performed by the Cassatt String Quartet
September 14, 2025 at 4 pm
Maverick Concerts (120 Maverick Road, Woodstock, NY 12498)
Program
Joan Tower: String Quartet No. 7 (world premiere)
Joan Tower: Love Letter for piano (2022) (Joan Tower, piano)
Robert Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44 (with pianist Magdalena Baczewska)
W.A. Mozart: String Quartet No.16 in E-flat, K.428
About the Cassatt String Quartet
Hailed for its “mighty rapport and relentless commitment” and for its active role in diversifying string quartet repertoire, the Cassatt String Quartet has performed throughout the world for four decades, with appearances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Tanglewood Music Center, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Centro National de las Artes (Mexico), Maeda Hall (Japan), and Beijing’s Central Conservatory.
The Cassatt String Quartet celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2025 with premieres by Joan Tower, Victoria Bond, Mari Kimura and Shirish Korde, all written for the group. The season includes concerts across the United States, residencies at major universities and conservatories, the CSQ's bi-annual Cassatt in the Basin residency in West Texas, and the Seal Bay Festival in Maine. The newest of the group’s 40+ recordings, music by Daniel S. Godfrey with guest artists Ursula Oppens and Eliot Fisk, will be released in October 2025.
The Cassatt String Quartet is violinists Muneko Otani and Jennifer Leshnower, violist Emily Brandenburg, and cellist Gwen Krosnick. The quartet is named for the celebrated American artist Mary Cassatt.
Cassatt String Quartet digital press kit
About Joan Tower
Joan Tower is widely regarded as one of the most important American composers living today. During a career spanning more than sixty years, she has made lasting contributions to musical life in the United States as composer, performer, conductor, and educator. Her works have been commissioned by major ensembles, soloists, and orchestras, including the Emerson, Tokyo, and Muir quartets; soloists Alisa Weilerstein, Evelyn Glennie, Carol Wincenc, David Shifrin, Paul Neubauer, and John Browning; and the orchestras of Chicago, New York, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Nashville, Albany NY, and Washington DC among others.
Tower is the first composer chosen for a Ford Made in America consortium commission of sixty-five orchestras. Leonard Slatkin and the Nashville Symphony recorded Made in America on an album which received three Grammy awards. Nashville’s subsequent all-Tower recording received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.
In 1990 she became the first woman to win the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for Silver Ladders, written for the St. Louis Symphony where she was Composer-in-Residence. Other residencies with orchestras include a 10-year residency with the Orchestra of St. Luke's (1997-2007) and the Pittsburgh Symphony (2010-11). Tower was co-founder and pianist for the Naumburg Award-winning Da Capo Chamber Players from 1970-85. She has received honorary doctorates from Smith College, the New England Conservatory, and Illinois State University. She is Asher B. Edelman Professor in the Arts at Bard College, where she has taught since 1972.