Beethoven’s Quartets
Featuring the Avalon String Quartet
December 4-6, 2025 || Winnetka, IL
Join us as we explore the quartets of Ludwig Van Beethoven, which are as much musical triumphs as they are a glimpse into the soul. As a collective, they are among the most intimate and revealing works in the history of music, spanning his entire creative life. These quartets mirror a soul in evolution: from youthful elegance to heroic confrontation, and, ultimately to private meditation and transcendence.
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The Symposium Experience
A multi-day immersive retreat that will bring together a curated group of musicians, scholars, and seekers. Through shared listening, unhurried conversation, and time together around the “table”, we will explore the questions that matter - about the music, the meaning, and the human experience. Your participation includes:
6-8 roundtable discussions alongside distinguished scholars and featured guests, with time for reflection and connection
Exclusive live performance(s) by the Avalon String Quartet and additional quartet to enhance the discussion
“Behind the Score” deep dive with select musicians
Symposium Reader and Listening Guide, mailed in advance
Communal meals and refreshments throughout the retreat, including a more formal group dinner to close the event
Details
Schedule of Events - December 4-6, 2025
Thursday & Friday, December 4-5: evening sessions from 5:00-9:00PM (Friday evening will include post-discussion entertainment)
Saturday, December 6: all-day from 9:00AM-3:00PM
Participation Fee:
Early Bird: $500 (until October 1, 2025)
Standard: $600
Companion Pricing: $900/two
Student Pricing Available (application required)
Scholarship inquiries welcome. We’re committed to keeping space for those called to the conversation.
Please note: to preserve the wholeness of our community, participation is by invitation only, and limited to 15 participants. Those interested are warmly invited to reach out for a conversation.
Featured Participants
Our symposiums are 100% group discussions, rather than lectures or Q&A/Panels. No one in the group holds more authority than another. However, we are excited to be able to bring in key subject matter experts, who have depth in understanding of various subjects. Your participation will put you in dialog and company with them!
The Avalon Quartet has performed in major venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd St Y, Merkin Hall, and Bargemusic in New York; the Library of Congress and National Gallery of Art in Washington DC; Wigmore Hall in London; and Herculessaal in Munich. Other performances include appearances at the Bath International Music Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Caramoor, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, NPR’s St. Paul Sunday, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Dame Myra Hess Concerts, Los Angeles Music Guild, and the Ravinia Festival. The quartet is performing the complete Beethoven Cycle for Beethoven’s 250th Anniversary Celebration at its concert series in historic Ganz Hall at Roosevelt University. In recent seasons, the Avalon presented the complete quartet cycles of Beethoven, Bartok, and Brahms at Fullerton Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago.
