In March of 2011, Sony Classical announced an exclusive agreement with the Emerson String Quartet. The Quartet's debut album for the label, Mozart's Prussian Quartets K. 575, K. 589 and K. 590, will be released in November 2011 to coincide with a series of concerts at Wigmore Hall in London and Alice Tully Hall in New York City. This summer they return to esteemed music festivals across the United States including the Ravinia, Caramoor, Interlochen, Tanglewood and Aspen Music festivals as well as Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart festival and Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon. During the 2011-2012 season, their 35th season as an ensemble, the Emerson will perform extensively throughout North America and Europe, with performances slated in Boston, Vancouver, Denver, Philadelphia, Washington DC, San Diego, Houston and Ann Arbor as well as Germany, Denmark, Slovenia, Austria, England, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, and South Korea. The Emerson continues its residency at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, now in its 32nd season.

The Emerson String Quartet's most recent recording for Deutsche Grammophon is Old World, New World, a 3-CD set of Dvořák's late quartets, Cypresses and the viola quintet, released in April 2010. Other notable recordings on Deutsche Grammophon include 2009's Intimate Letters - featuring chamber works by Janacek and Martinu and winner of the 2009 Grammy® for Best Chamber Music Performance-J.S. Bach Fugues from "The Well Tempered Clavier," the Grammy® Award- winning Intimate Voices, a recording of Grieg, Nielsen and Sibelius string quartets, and the complete Mendelssohn string quartets and octet, which received 2005 Grammy® Awards for "Best Chamber Music Performance" and "Best Engineered Album, Classical."

The Emerson is Quartet-in-Residence at Stony Brook University, where, in addition to a concert series, teaching and chamber music coaching throughout the academic year, it has conducted intensive string quartet workshops in 2004, 2006 and 2008. The Quartet has also overseen three Professional Training Workshops at Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute. In the 2006-2007 season, Carnegie invited the Emerson to present its own Perspectives series, a nine-concert exploration titled Beethoven in Context, held in Isaac Stern Auditorium. No other quartet has had the opportunity to present such an expansive series at Carnegie Hall. In March 2004 the Emerson was named the 18th recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize - another first for a chamber ensemble.

Formed in 1976, the Emerson String Quartet took its name from the American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer alternate in the first chair position and are joined by violist Lawrence Dutton and cellist David Finckel. Since January 2002, Messrs. Drucker, Setzer and Dutton have stood for their performances; Mr. Finckel sits on a podium. The Quartet is based in New York City.

Moody became the 12th Music Director of the Portland Symphony Orchestra (Maine) in 2008. Highlights with The PSO have included multiple sold-out performances, a fully revamped "Magic of Christmas," and a gala concert with Renee Fleming. The 2009/2010 concert season ended with performances of Mahler Symphony No. 2, led by Maestro Moody (without score) and was universally praised as a crowning artistic achievement for the 85 year old orchestra.

Additionally, Moody serves as Artistic Director of Arizona Musicfest, the nation's premiere winter destination music festival, held in north Scottsdale, Carefee, Cave-Creek, and through the Arizona Desert Foothills region. The Musicfest Festival Orchestra consists of members of some of the nation's top orchestras (Chicago, Boston, Detroit, National symphonies, Cleveland and Metropolitan Opera Orchestras and more). Maestro Moody leads this orchestra in four orchestral concert programs each February. Highlights of the 2011 season included the world premiere of Mason Bates' Desert Transport, a concert featuring the 4 (four) concertmasters who are members of the orchestra, performance with mandolin superstar Chris Thile, and Musicfest's 20th anniversary gala concert performance of the Beethoven 9th Symphony.

Moody served as Associate, then Resident Conductor of The Phoenix Symphony (AZ) from 1998 through 2006. There he conducted a wide variety of concerts, including Classics, Chamber, Pops, Family, Handel's Messiah, and New Year's Eve gala. His casual manner and ability to speak with ease from the podium helped novices and enthusiasts alike gain a greater appreciation for orchestral music, and made Bob a valley-favorite; a relationship he enjoys with Phoenix to this day. Moody also founded The Phoenix Symphony Chorus, and for seven years was Music Director of the Phoenix Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Prior to Phoenix, Maestro Moody served as Associate Conductor for the Evansville (IN) Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director (and founder) of the Evansville Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, conductor for the Interschool Orchestras of New York (in Manhattan), and apprentice conductor for the Landestheater Opera House in Linz, Austria.

Moody is a frequent guest conductor with orchestras across the United States. In 2009 he completed a ten-year tenure as head of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic's "Discovery" concert series. Guest conducting appearances include the symphony orchestras of Houston, Indianapolis, Detroit, Seattle, Pacific, Memphis, Ft. Worth, Virginia, San Antonio, Buffalo, Louisville, Stamford, Charleston, Naples, Anchorage, California, and many more. Summer festival appearances include Santa Fe Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, Brevard Music Center, Chautauqua, Eastern Music Festival, PortOpera, Oregon Bach Festival, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, and Skaneateles Festival. Always energized to "pay it forward" to the next generation of musicians, Moody is proud to have led (or will lead) the All-State Orchestra festivals in Colorado, Maine, and Oklahoma.

Maestro Moody has conducted many of the worlds top classical and pops artists in concert. These have included: Yo Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Renee Fleming, Van Cliburn, Andre Watts, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Robert McDuffie, Lynne Harrell, Midori, Time for Three, Zuill Bailey, Ryan Anthony, Alexander Gavrilyuk, The Canadian Brass, Doc Severinson, Celine Dion, The Manhattan Transfer, Martin Short, Chris Botti, Chris Thile, and many more.

A Champion of new music, Moody is proud to have played an instrumental role in the commissioning and premiere performances of several important new works for orchestra. These include several works of composer Mason Bates: Free Variations for Orchestra, Ode, Rusty Air in Carolina, and Desert Transport. And also the Sabar concerto for African Drum Ensemble and Orchestra, composed by James DeMars.

Moody's work can be heard on four commercially released compact disc recordings: he collaborated with the Canadian Brass for their "Bach" and "Legends" CDs. He is also the conductor for the CD "4th World," highlighting the music of Native American recording artist R. Carlos Nakai (available on the Canyon Record label.) In 2010 the Winston-Salem Symphony released performance (live from 2009) of Beethoven Symphony No. 9.

Born and raised in Greenville, SC, Moody's voice and cello studies throughout high school (including three years of study at the Greenville County Fine Arts Center - one of the first public high schools for the arts in the nation) took him to Furman University, where he received a Bachelor's Degree in Church Music, with performing emphasis in both voice and cello. He completed his Master of Music Degree in Conducting at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where he studied with Donald Neuen.

A strong believer in community growth and enrichment, Moody is a member of the Rotary Club of Winston-Salem, NC, and has served on the boards of the NW North Carolina YMCA, and AIDs Care Services of Forsyth County.

When not making music, one is most likely to find Robert Moody snow-skiing, hiking, running, or involved in other outdoor activities. He was a founding member of The Phoenix Symphony Running Club, completed his first marathon in 2004, and participates annually in both the "Mistletoe Half Marathon" in NC and the "Beach to Beacon" 10K in Maine.

In addition to his solo career, Mr. Sussmann is also a dedicated chamber musician. He was invited to join the prestigious Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Two program for the 2006-2009 seasons and continues to appear with CMS on tour. His 2010-11 season includes a tour of Israel, an appearance at the Cartagena Music Festival, and a performance with CMS on PBS' Live from Lincoln Center. He has performed with many of today's leading artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Menahem Pressler, Joseph Kalichstein, Miriam Fried, Paul Neubauer, Fred Sherry, and Gary Hoffman. In 2008, he performed Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht on a Live from Lincoln Center TV broadcast with other members of the Chamber Music Society. He is also featured on a Deutsche Grammophone 'Live' recording (available through iTunes) of Schubert's Trout Quintet with Menahem Pressler.

Mr. Sussmann is a winner of several international competitions and awards including the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition, the Andrea Postacchini Competition in Fermo, Italy, and the Vatelot/Rampal Competition in Paris, France. He is also the recipient of the David Gritz Violin Award given by the Tanglewood Music Center for his extraordinary commitment, talent and energy. Most recently the New York Salon de Virtuosi concert series awarded him with their fellowship grant, resulting in a live concert broadcast on WQXR's "Young Artists Showcase" radio show. He was also chosen to perform on the Dame Myra Hess concert series in Chicago which was broadcast live on television and on WFMT radio.

Recent highlights include an appearance at the Mostly Mozart Festival, a concert with the Lexington Philharmonic, performances at the 92nd Y and Le Poisson Rouge with the Suedama and Metropolis Ensembles, chamber music appearances in New York (Merkin Hall, Metropolitan Museum, Alice Tully Hall, Brooklyn Chamber Music Society) and on tour throughout the United States. In recent seasons, he has also performed at Carnegie's Stern and Zankel Halls, Santa Fe New Music, the Virginia Arts Festival, the Metropolitan and Gardner Museums. Mr. Sussmann recently recorded works of Beethoven and Dvořák with CMS artistic directors David Finckel and Wu Han. He is also featured as the leader of the Suedama ensemble on a recording of Mozart piano concertos released on the Vanguard Classics label. Mr. Sussmann's recent and upcoming summer festival appearances include Music@Menlo, Strings in the Mountains, Giverny Music Festival, San Miguel de Allende (Mexico), OK Mozart, Ravinia, Caramoor, Tanglewood, Mainly Mozart, the Bridgehampton Festival and the Perlman Music Program.

Mr. Sussmann was born in Strasbourg, France, and holds a Bachelor's and Master's Degree from The Juilliard School. He studied with Boris Garlitsky and Itzhak Perlman, who chose him to be a Starling Fellow, an honor qualifying him as Mr. Perlman's teaching assistant for two years. He lives in New York City.