Saturday, April 18, 2026 | 3:00pm Little Theatre 1 (240 East Ave.)
Doors open at 2:00pm
Goethe once said that a string quartet is like “a conversation between four rational people.” For the members of the Emerson String Quartet, that conversation is coming to a bittersweet ending as they embark on their final season of a fifty-year history that includes 9 GRAMMY Awards and thousands of concerts.
The 3pm screening will be followed by a live discussion hosted by WXXI's Brenda Tremblay with panelists including the filmmaker Tristan Cook and Masumi Rostad, Associate Professor of Viola at the Eastman School of Music.
Interweaving vivid memories of the Emerson Quartet’s past with delicate observations of life on the road in the weeks and days before disbanding, Four Rational People explores the group’s difficult decision to walk away from the things that they cherish most in life: the music they play and the friends they hold dear. At once a frank examination of the tyranny of aging and a cri de cœur to pass the torch to a new generation of artists, Four Rational People culminates with one final Emerson Quartet performance for the ages, leaving all to ponder what happens to us after the final curtain.
WXXI Classical Presents is a series of films that are related to classical music in some way, co-produced by WXXI Classical and The Little Theatre. Selected by classical music hosts Brenda Tremblay, Mona Seghatoleslami, and Steve Johnson each film chosen exemplifies the power of music in an exciting or non-traditional narrative way. More details about the WXXI Classical Presents Series