David Soyer, longtime cellist of Guarneri String Quartet, dies at 87
This news just in from the artist management firm Frank Solomon Associates:
We sadly share the news of the passing (on Thursday, February 25) of David Soyer, who was a major figure at the Marlboro Music School and Festival for almost fifty years. His last (and inspiring) public performances were at Marlboro last summer ... where he first came in 1961, at the invitation of Felix Galimir and Rudolf Serkin.
One of the most sought-after cellists in New York at the time, his involvement at Marlboro took his life in a new direction with the formation of the Marlboro Piano Trio with Anton Kuerti and Michael Tree and then, the founding at Marlboro of the Guarneri String Quartet in 1964 with Arnold Steinhardt, John Dalley and Michael Tree.
The first internationally-recognized American string quartet since the Juilliard Quartet, the Guarneri became a role model for the many quartets that were formed by Marlboro participants including the Cleveland, Emerson, Vermeer and more, recently, Brentano String Quartets. David Soyer remained with the quartet until 2002 making the Guarneri the longest continuing collaboration of any quartet in the world. Peter Wiley, one of Mr. Soyer's many successful former students, succeeded him, playing with the Quartet until their retirement last season.
Mr. Soyer performed the Schubert String Quintet in C Major with his Guarneri colleagues and friends last May for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Mr. Soyer performed on a Gugliano cello from Naples, Italy, 1778. He was a member of the Marlboro Board of Trustees and its Senior Artistic Commitee and with his wife Janet, were beloved figures in the Marlboro community. He served on the faculties of the Curtis Institute of Music (since 1968), the Juilliard School of Music and the Manhattan School of Music.
Here's a sample of the famed Guarneri ensemble, with Mr. Soyer on cello, performing Mozart:
