In his 2nd Razumovsky Quartet, Beethoven presents the most explicit musical embodiment of words he wrote in the Heiligenstadt Testament: surmounting his Fate through Art. The piece begins with powerful opposition, struggle, and questioning in the first movement, contrasting immediately with the slow movement’s salvation through celestial timelessness, and finally, bringing it all back to earth with a heroic, Russian-themed scherzo, and triumphant finale. Join us for this exploration-in E minor
Beethoven Quartet in E Minor, opus 59#2
Sunday, June 25 - Saturday, July 1, 2023 at Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
KentMusic offers experienced string players the opportunity to spend six gratifying days studying a major work from the string quartet repertoire. Participants receive high-level coaching from world-class performing musicians, attend lecture / demonstrations and concerts by the faculty artists, and have ample time for informal chamber music readings, relaxing & socializing.
These seminars offer a unique chance to delve deeply into a single, major work from the string quartet repertoire. In no other program that we are aware of do participants work with this degree of appreciation and profundity, with regard not only to the featured piece but also to the art of string quartet playing generally.
Enrollment is limited to ensure balanced groups and ample coaching. Advance preparation is absolutely essential for all participants. Enrollment is for individual players as well as a limited number of preformed groups.
The last morning session of the conference has traditionally been coaching of other rerpertoire; those of you with July 4th weekend plans would be free to leave if need be after the final Beethoven coaching session on Friday afternoon, June 30th. However, we encourage you to stay that evening for the MSQ concert performance, to include the Beethoven Quartet.
Coached Quartets
At the core of KentMusic is the opportunity to receive intensive, daily coaching on one great quartet that all participants must prepare in advance. Coaches rotate among quartets that are carefully matched and assigned each day.
Lecture/Demonstrations
Daily, in-depth exploration of the work being studied with Dr. David Clampitt and the Manhattan String Quartet. A KentMusic highlight!
Concert Series
Outstanding chamber music concerts featuring the Manhattan String Quartet.
Informal Ensembles
Explore repertoire and meet the other players in self-organized, daily reading sessions.
Come join us and refine your quartet playing at KentMusic!
Beethoven Quartet in E Minor, opus 59#2
Sunday, June 25 - Saturday, July 1, 2023 at Colgate University, Hamilton, NY
The faculty welcomes experienced string players: amateur, pre-professional, and professional. Acceptance will depend upon the number of applicants and the need for balanced instrumentation in assembling the participants into full quartets of similar ability.
Enrollment is for individual players as well as a limited number of preformed groups.
Registration Deadline…………………..April 1, 2023
Acceptance Notification………………..April 22, 2023
Payment in Full Due…………………….May 9, 2023
We have transitioned to an online application process and no longer offer paper forms for download. If you need help registering, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Resident Coached Participant
Single Room $1,350 / Double Room $1,250
Coaching, lectures, free-playing, lodging, meals, MSQ concerts, receptions
Non-Coached Resident Participant/Auditor:
Single Room $1,150 / Double Room $1050
Lectures, free-playing, lodging, meals, MSQ concerts, receptions. May audit coaching sessions.
Commuter Participant:
$910 Per Person
Coaching, lectures, free-playing, 1 dinner, 6 lunches, MSQ concerts, receptions
Non-Playing Resident Guest or Spouse:
Single Room $825/Double Room $725
Lodging, meals, lectures, concerts, reception
Fees include a non-refundable application deposit of $400 per participant and $150 per guest/spouse. In the case of applicants who are not accepted, deposits will be returned.
Application & Deposit
To apply, you can fill out the online application form here and mail your check to the address below.
Manhattan String Quartet
c/o Curtis Macomber
3135 Johnson Avenue #5J
Bronx, NY, 10463
Please make checks payable to MSQ Enterprises, Inc.
MSQ is now also accepting payments via Zelle. 917-751-5612 is our registered phone number.
Meals and Accommodations
For Resident Participants, meals begin with dinner Sunday and end with lunch on Saturday. For commuter participants, dinner on Sunday and daily lunch from Monday through Saturday are included in the fee.
We are happy to report that we will return to on-campus accommodations this summer. Burke Hall, our residence in 2019, will again be our living space for the week. Among the most modern residences at Colgate, Burke offers private, air-conditioned bedrooms and shared bathrooms.
Weinstock Memorial Fund
Our modest Scholarship Fund allows us to help younger players who would otherwise be unable to attend KentMusic. Your contributions to this fund are very much appreciated. Please make your tax-deductible gift payable to “MSQ Enterprises Inc” and mail with your application form.
Inquiries and additional information for KentMusic-Colgate:
Curtis Macomber: 917-751-5612, cjmacomber@earthlink.net
The Manhattan String Quartet
Hailed by the Boston Globe as “a national treasure,” the MANHATTAN STRING QUARTET is celebrating its 51st season. Well known for performances of 20th-century “classics” such as Bartok and Shostakovich, the Manhattan Quartet has established a significant international reputation with regular concert appearances throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia.
After a series of concerts in Moscow and Leningrad in the fall of 1985, the Quartet became the first American classical ensemble to give a full tour of the Soviet Union under that era’s new cultural agreement. Their first series of performances in 1986 was followed by an equally successful tour in 1989.
In 2005, the Quartet made its first tour of Asia and played to sold-out houses in Nagoya and Tokyo, Japan. Notable among its many recordings is the complete cycle of 15 Shostakovich string quartets that TIME Magazine called “One of the most important musical events of 1991.”
The group has been Quartet-in-Residence at Colgate University since 1988 and has held similar posts at the Manhattan School of Music, Cornell University and Grinnell College. In 2011, in collaboration with the Sarajevo Academy of Music, the Manhattan Quartet established the Sarajevo Chamber Music Festival.
Since 1989 the Manhattan String Quartet has hosted annual teaching and performing conferences in the United States for pre-professional quartets and amateur players. In 2001 the Quartet established it’s yearly “Cultural Expedition”trips to Europe where participants study an iconic work from the string quartet canon in the city of its composition.
DAVID CLAMPITT is a music theorist and violinist who taught at Yale University for 11 years before joining the faculty at Ohio State University, where he is where he is Professor and Area Head for Music Theory. The author of many articles and book chapters, he is a recipient of the Emerging Scholar Award from the national Society of Music Theory. A founding member of the Algonquin String Quartet during his years as a violinist in New York City, he has been a regular member and occasional soloist with Orchestra of New England in New Haven, and has appeared as a recitalist at Yale. He has coached and lectured at KentMusic since 1990 and has also given his popular lecture/demonstrations with the Manhattan String Quartet in New York City and Europe.
We are thrilled to announce that Jan Swafford will join us this summer at Kent Music Colgate. A greatly revered composer and author, he is perhaps best known to us for his towering biographies of Charles Ives, Johannes Brahms, Ludwig van Beethoven and, most recently, Wolfgang Mozart. Jan will lecture in conjunction with our study of Op. 59 #2 and share his insight into this historic period of Beethoven’s life.
Jan’s unique perspective peels away the layers of legend to reach the living, breathing human being who composed some of our society’s most iconic music. How Beethoven’s turbulent life, lived in the face of critical incomprehension, romantic rejection, and ever-encroaching deafness, enabled the composition of his majestic music will all be revealed!
Since its beginnings in Kent, Connecticut in 1989, KentMusic has enjoyed a loyal following with participants returning each year from all over the United States as well as from abroad. Returning participants and newcomers alike enjoy a friendly, welcoming atmosphere with the opportunity to refine their skills, learn new repertoire and collaborate with others, see old friends and make new ones. Enrollment is limited to ensure balanced groups and ample coaching. Advance preparation is absolutely essential for all participants.
A Typical Day at KentMusic
Mornings: Breakfast is served from 7:30 AM, followed by coaching sessions with assigned ensembles from 9:00-10:45 AM. After a coffee break, Dr. David Clampitt lectures from 11:00-12:00 on the theoretical and musicological aspects of the movement studied that day with the MSQ playing musical examples. Lunch is served from 12:00-1:00 PM.
Afternoons: Coaching sessions with assigned ensembles resume from 1:45-3:45 PM. The period of free time that follows can be used for relaxation and more music making.
Evenings: Dinner is served from 6:00-7:00 PM. From 7:30-10:00 PM time is available for optional free ensembles.
Colgate University – Hamilton, NY
The Colgate University Campus is set in the rolling hills of the Chenango Valley in central New York State. Colgate offers a beautiful setting with ideal rehearsal, concert, lodging and dining facilities as well as walking trails and athletic facilities. The closest airports are Syracuse (1 hour) and Albany (2 hours). Hamilton is a scenic 4-5 hour drive from New York City or Boston. We assist in arranging carpools and airport vans.
“I am still thinking about the wonderful week at KentMusic. I feel so lucky to be able to delve into this extraordinary music and study it with such a marvelous group of coaches. I think we all get a tremendous amount of satisfaction from the experience in large part because all of you approach the process with such enthusiasm and passion.”
“What a great week it was! For me as well as everybody I talked to. Today is like a fermata, trying to hold on to it before the inevitable rush of What’s Next.”
“The superb concerts make this conference the one to choose.”
“A fine week, worth every penny. I plan to return next year!”
“I’ve been to a lot of music camps and KentMusic is special. You gave me the kind of focused, friendly, interactive experience that is the heart and essence of chamber music. The members of the Manhattan String Quartet are not only superb performers, but they are all great coaches with the rare ability to illuminate the music while inducing us to play at the top of our capacity. KentMusic is extraordinary in its achievement of high standards without competition.”