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Spotlight On

Dorothy Lawson: ETHEL's String Theory for Quartets

Feb 13, 2025
44:32

Today, the Spotlight shines On Dorothy Lawson, a cellist who's helped redefine what a string quartet can be. Dorothy and the group ETHEL have spent years breaking down walls between classical, jazz, rock and world music.

On March 13th at New York’s Carnegie Hall, Dorothy teams up with bass legend Ron Carter to reimagine his landmark Kronos Quartet recording from 40 years ago, featuring arrangements of music by Thelonious Monk.

Dorothy shares how ETHEL has evolved through four generations of musicians, their unique residency at the Metropolitan Museum, and why making deeply human music matters now more than ever.

(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from the album Vigil by ETHEL & Layale Chaker)

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