After winning prizes in 3 three international competitions, the Audubon Quartet captured the attention of the classical music world and manager Joanne Rile made sure that we were placed in the spotlight of media attention. In the spring of 1979, shortly after returning from England, we were contacted by CBS producer Alan Harper, who planned to film us for a feature on the newly launched weekend news show, “Sunday Morning”, hosted by Charles Kuralt. The music critic at that time was Frances Cole, an artist also under Management of Joanne Rile.
In May, Alan Harper and the camera crew came to Scranton and filmed us for several days, during our daily teaching routine at Marywood College. This filmed interview included personal touches of violist Doris Lederer, “standing in” in on a rehearsal of her husband’s rock band, violinist Sharon Smith riding her horse, Dennis coaching a student quartet, a portion of an AQ rehearsal, an interview and Chinese meal at my home and finally, a special concert given at the College for the Scranton community. During that concert, we presented the very same Dvorak “a flat quartet”, played in England, accompanied by a quartet of Villa-Lobos, which we had played in competition in Rio de Janeiro in 1977.
The first-ever broadcast of CBS Sunday Morning was January 28, 1979. The Audubon Quartet was one of the earliest music groups and the first American string quartet presented on that show, during the summer of 1979.