As ETHEL prepares for their first Carnegie Hall performance, Dorothy Lawson reflects on decades of mixing classical precision with the spirit of popular music.
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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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00:01:24 - Introduction and New York's Musical Scene
00:02:43 - The Unique Character of New York's Music Community
00:04:39 - Upcoming Carnegie Hall Show with Ron Carter
00:07:39 - ETHEL's Relationship with Carnegie Hall
00:09:42 - Origins of ETHEL
00:11:14 - The New York New Music Scene of the 1990s
00:14:32 - Evolution of Classical Music Presentation
00:17:14 - Post-War Classical Music Culture
00:19:18 - The Star System in Classical Music
00:23:48 - ETHEL's Early Development
00:26:50 - Four Generations of Musicians
00:29:33 - Post-Genre Music Making
00:34:32 - Musical Traditions and Cultural Exchange
00:37:32 - ETHEL's Commissioning Program
00:40:07 - The Metropolitan Museum Residency
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Visit ETHEL at https://ethelcentral.org
Purchase ETHEL’s music from Bandcamp → https://ethelcentral.bandcamp.com/music
or Qobuz → https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/interpreter/ethel/276402
and listen on [your streaming platform of choice → https://album.link/i/1735309677
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