1974 excerpt of Audubon Quartet audition to the Lenox Quartet Young Artist Program, performing Beethoven’s Quartet, Op. 74 (1974 audition humor: choice of Op. 74)
What follows is a chronicle of the history of one of America’s groundbreaking quartets in the 20th Century. As the only founding member of the Audubon Quartet to remain a member throughout its entire 37-year existence, I am in a unique position to tell its story. Wherever possible, and hopefully illuminating, I have incorporated documentary sources and personal comments and observations from others who performed as part of the Audubon or were associated with it in various capacities. However, I take personal responsibility for inadvertent errors or omissions. I would add my sincere thanks to my dear friend Tim Carter for help in editing the text.
The story of the Audubon Quartet began in 1968 when Greg Fulkerson and I met at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. During breaks from practice time, we chatted in the conservatory lounge about the glories of playing the string quartet repertoire, often quizzing each other on the key signatures, main themes and opus numbers of the sixteen quartets composed by Beethoven. During Oberlin’s winter break, Conservatory students were required to create projects that would allow independent study of areas and special subjects, which they were expected and encouraged to explore on their own. In January 1969, Greg and I decided to take our enthusiasm to yet a higher level, and began to read through stacks of string quartets from morning into the evening, even bringing sandwich meals to our marathon sessions. In each session we included other Conservatory students who wanted to get in on our quartet-reading frenzy.
Years later, each having followed careers as orchestral players, Greg and I recapitulated our quartet adventure, but this time for a professional purpose. In April of 1974, violinist Janet Brady and violist Lawrence Bradford joined us in taking a temporary leave from their respective orchestra jobs to meet in San Antonio, where I was assistant principal cellist of the Symphony. Fulkerson was a member of the Cleveland Orchestra, Brady a member of the New Orleans Symphony, and Bradford a member of the Richmond Symphony. This auspicious meeting in Texas was intended for the purpose of reading music together, and exploring the idea of forming our own quartet to audition for the Lenox Quartet Young Artist Program, sponsored by the State University of New York at Binghamton.
On April 14, 1974, our fledgling ensemble, which was later to become the Audubon Quartet, produced an audition tape, performing Beethoven’s Quartet in E-flat “the Harp”, Opus 74.
In July 1974, Raymond Ericson wrote an article in the New York Times, in which he interviewed Peter Marsh, the director of the Young Artist Program at SUNY-Binghamton and first violinist of the Lenox Quartet.
New York Times Article