TAKÁCS QUARTET
Edward Dusinberre, violin; Harumi Rhodes, violin;
Richard O’Neill, viola; András Fejér, cello

2025-2026 Season Highlights
Premiere of NEXUS by Clarice Assad
Quintets with Jordan Bak

“…describing them as one of the world’s best string quartets is unavoidable. It’s a delight when such an esteemed ensemble (now based in Boulder, Colorado) not only measures up to but exceeds its reputation in performance.“
—The Guardian

The Takács Quartet, called “the essential quartet of our time” by The New York Times, celebrated their 50th anniversary last season. The Quartet’s performances have been described as “superlative music-making,” (The Guardian) in which their “skills and dynamic spontaneity…make the listener feel as if the ink was still wet on the page and making the two centuries since its writing seem to vanish” (Musical America). The Takács released two anniversary season albums in 2025 for Hyperion Records to glowing reviews. Flow by  Nokuthula Ngwenyama, composed for the ensemble, was followed by an album of piano quintets by Dvořák and Florence Price with Marc André Hamelin.

They begin this season with festival appearances at Caramoor, Bowdoin and Aspen; a tour of Australia and New Zealand in August, which features the world premiere of Sonnet of an Emigrant by Cathy Milliken with texts by Bertolt Brecht; and a coveted spot on NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concerts.”

Highlights of the Quartet’s 51st season in 2025-2026 include the premiere of NEXUS*, written for the Takács by Clarice Assad, whose first piece for the Quartet was Crash (2021). They collaborate for the first time with violist Jordan Bak, who joins the Quartet for Mozart viola quintets in nine U.S. cities. In January, the Takács reunite with longtime collaborator pianist Joyce Yang for Schumann’s Quintet in E-flat major at the Lied Center of Kansas.

Throughout the season, the Quartet perform at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where they have been the Quartet in Residence since 1986; their five performances there this season are available via livestream (see concert listing below for links).

The group’s North American engagements also include concerts in New York at Carnegie Hall, and in Vancouver, Philadelphia, Boston, Princeton, Ann Arbor, Washington DC, Chapel Hill (NC), Los Angeles, Berkeley, Cleveland, Phoenix and Portland (OR).

Violinist Ed Dusinberre has been with the Quartet since 1993; violinist Harumi Rhodes joined in 2018; violist Richard O’Neill joined in 2020; cellist Andras Fejer is the last remaining founding member from the Quartet’s start in 1975.

“We are thrilled to be premiering another work written by Clarice Assad - we had such a joyous time working with her on Crash,” said Takács violinist Edward Dusinberre. “Complementing this new work are pieces of music that are in tune with Clarice’s ever-present sense of innovation: Haydn’s ‘Rider’ quartet with its improvisatory slow movement and theatrical finale, and Debussy’s Quartet, in which he applies his unique soundscape to the quartet genre. And we’re excited to be working for the first time with the wonderful violist Jordan Bak – someone that we have all admired for a long time – on Mozart’s extraordinary quintets.”

*The primary commissioner of the new Assad work is Justus Schlichting, with nine co-commissioning venues (all presenting the work this season): Segerstrom Center for the Arts, University of Maryland, Middlebury College, BroadStage, Chamber Music in Napa Valley, Portland (OR) Friends of Chamber Music, Cal Performances, Carnegie Hall, and University of Michigan.

For more information about the Takács Quartet and their extensive 2025-2026 activities, please visit their website.

SUMMER 2025

Friday, July 25 / Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts / Katonah, NY / Info & Program

Monday, July 28 / Bowdoin International Music Festival / Bowdoin, ME / Info & Program

Monday, July 31 / Aspen Music Festival / Aspen, CO / Info & Program

August 14 - 30 / Tour in Australia and New Zealand / Takács Quartet Website

FALL 2025 HIGHLIGHTS
**Indicates co-commissioner of Clarice Assad’s NEXUS

Sunday & Monday, Sept 14 & 15 / CU PRESENTS / Boulder, CO
Mozart Quintets with Jordan Bak, Viola
Program TBA / Livestream available, Sunday, September 15 at 4pm MT
More Info & Program Details

Thursday, September 25 / Princeton University Concerts / Princeton, NJ
Jordan Bak, Viola
MOZART: String Quintet in C Major, K515
MOZART: String Quintet in G Minor, K516
More Info & Program Details

Saturday, September 27 / Duke Arts Presents / Durham, NC
Mozart Quintets with Jordan Bak, Viola
SCHUBERT: “Quartettsatz”
MOZART: String Quintet in C Major, K515
MOZART: String Quintet in G minor, K516
More Info & Program Details

Tuesday, September 30 / Buffalo Chamber Music Society / Buffalo, NY
Mozart Quintets with Jordan Bak, Viola
SCHUBERT: “Quartettsatz”
MOZART: String Quintet in C Major, K515
MOZART: String Quintet in G minor, K516
More Info & Program Details

Sunday & Monday, October 5 & 6 / CU Presents / Boulder, CO
Livestream available, Sunday, October 5 at 4pm MT
More Info & Program Details

Wednesday, November 5 / Segerstrom Center for the Arts** / Costa Mesa, CA
HAYDN: String Quartet in G Minor, Opus 74 No. 3 “The Rider”
CLARICE ASSAD: NEXUS, World Premiere
DEBUSSY: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
More Info & Program Details

Sunday, November 9 / University of Maryland** / College Park, MD
HAYDN: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74 No. 3 “The Rider”
CLARICE ASSAD: NEXUS, East Coast Premiere
DEBUSSY: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
More Info & Program Details

Tuesday, November 11: Cleveland Chamber Music Society / Cleveland, OH
HAYDN: String Quartet in G Minor, Opus 74 No. 3 “The Rider”
BARTÓK: String Quartet No. 3
DVOŘÁK: String Quartet, G Major, Op. 106
More Info & Program Details

Friday, November 14 / Middlebury College Performing Arts Series** / Middlebury, VT
HAYDN: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74 No. 3 “The Rider”
CLARICE ASSAD: NEXUS
DEBUSSY: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
More Info & Program Details

Sunday, November 16 / BroadStage** / Los Angeles, CA
HAYDN: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74 No. 3 “The Rider”
CLARICE ASSAD: NEXUS
DEBUSSY: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
More Info & Program Details

Tuesday, November 18 / Chamber Music in Napa Valley** / Napa, CA
HAYDN: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74 No. 3 “The Rider”
CLARICE ASSAD: NEXUS
DEBUSSY: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
More Info & Program Details

Sunday, December 7 / The Maestro Foundation / Santa Monica, CA
Mozart Quintets with Jordan Bak, Viola
SCHUBERT: “Quartettsatz”
MOZART: String Quintet in C Major, K515
MOZART: String Quintet in G minor, K516
More Info & Program Details

Monday, December 8  / Portland Friends of Chamber Music** / Portland, OR
HAYDN: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74 No. 3 “The Rider”
CLARICE ASSAD: NEXUS
DEBUSSY: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
More Info & Program Details

Tuesday, December 9 / Portland Friends of Chamber Music / Portland, OR
Mozart Quintets with Jordan Bak, Viola
SCHUBERT: “Quartettsatz”
MOZART: String Quintet in C Major, K515
MOZART: String Quintet in G minor, K516
More Info & Program Details

WINTER-SPRING 2026 HIGHLIGHTS

Sunday & Monday, January 11 & 12 / CU PRESENTS / Boulder, CO
Livestream available, Sunday, January 11 at 4pm MT
More Info & Program Details

Tuesday, January 20 / Lied Center of Kansas / Lawrence, KS
Joyce Yang, Piano
DVOŘÁK: String Quartet Op. 106
NOKUTHULA NGWENYAMA: Flow
SCHUMANN: Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44
More Info & Program Details

Sunday, January 25 / Cal Performances / Berkeley, CA
Mozart Quintets with Jordan Bak, Viola
SCHUBERT: “Quartettsatz”
MOZART: String Quintet in C Major, K515
MOZART: String Quintet in G minor, K516
More Info & Program Details

Sunday, February 22 / Cal Performances** / Berkeley, CA
HAYDN: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74 No. 3 “The Rider”
CLARICE ASSAD: NEXUS
DEBUSSY: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
More Info & Program Details

Sunday, March 1 / Philadelphia Chamber Music Society / Philadelphia, PA 
HAYDN: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74 No. 3 “The Rider”
CLARICE ASSAD: NEXUS
DEBUSSY: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
More Info & Program Details

Wednesday, March 4 / Carnegie Hall** / New York, NY
HAYDN: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74 No. 3 “The Rider”
CLARICE ASSAD: NEXUS, New York Premiere
DEBUSSY: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
More Info & Program Details

Sunday & Monday, March 8 & 9 / CU PRESENTS / Boulder, CO
Livestream available, Sunday, March 8 at 4pm MT
More Info & Program Details

Wednesday, April 8 / Kennedy Center Fortas Chamber Music Concerts / Washington, DC
Mozart Quintets with Jordan Bak, Viola
SCHUBERT: “Quartettsatz”
MOZART: String Quintet in C Major, K515
MOZART: String Quintet in G minor, K516
More Info & Program Details

Saturday, April 11 / Celebrity Series / Boston, MA
Mozart Quintets with Jordan Bak, Viola
SCHUBERT: “Quartettsatz”
MOZART: String Quintet in C Major, K515
MOZART: String Quintet in G minor, K516
More Info & Program Details

Sunday, April 12 / Concord Chamber Music Society / Concord, MA
HAYDN: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74 No. 3 “The Rider”
CLARICE ASSAD: NEXUS
DEBUSSY: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
More Info & Program Details

Wednesday, April 15 / Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech / Blacksburg, VA
Mozart Quintets with Jordan Bak, Viola
SCHUBERT: “Quartettsatz”
MOZART: String Quintet in C Major, K515
MOZART: String Quintet in G minor, K516
More Info & Program Details

Friday, April 17 / University of Michigan** / Ann Arbor, MI
HAYDN: String Quartet in G Minor, Op. 74 No. 3 “The Rider”
CLARICE ASSAD: NEXUS
DEBUSSY: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10
More Info & Program Details

Sunday & Monday, April 26 & 27 / CU PRESENTS / Boulder, CO
Livestream available, Sunday, April 26 at 4pm MT
More Info & Program Details