Cassatt String Quartet's new recording "Toward Light" to bereleased on October 17 on New Focus Recordings

The Cassatt String Quartet continues its 40th anniversary year with the release of "Toward

Light," (rel. October 17, 2025 on New Focus Records). Three quintets by Daniel Strong Godfrey

reflect on the long association between composer and the Cassatts, with guest performers

Ursula Oppens (piano), Eliot Fisk (guitar), and Nicole Johnson (cello).

"It's been a delight to work with the Cassatt String Quartet over nearly four decades. Their

supreme ability and versatility bring out the best in my compositions. It's a pleasure to have

these works recorded, two of which were commissioned by the quartet," says Godfrey.

Cassatt violinist Muneko Otani says "We have been so fortunate to have Daniel as our friend

and artistic partner since our early days an ensemble. He really understands us, and the works

on this album reflect that."

Godfrey has earned awards and commissions from the J. S. Guggenheim Memorial

Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Fromm Music Foundation, and

many others. He's also the founder and co-director of the Seal Bay Festival of American

Chamber Music on the coast of Maine, where the Cassatt String Quartet is a long-time

ensemble in residence.

The two pieces commissioned by the Cassatts were written nearly 20 years apart. Ricordanza-

Speranza was written for the quartet's 20th anniversary in 2006, and reflects an intense period

of looking back ("ricordanza") and also looking ahead to the future with hope

("speranza"). Toward Light was written in 2023, and similarly shares the sense of looking toward

the future with fear, exasperation, and tenuous optimism. The final work on the album, To

Mourn, To Dance (2013) was written to feature Vermeer Quartet cellist Marc Johnson and his

daughter Nicole, who is also a cellist. Father and daughter performed together at the

premiere, but Mr. Johnson passed away soon thereafter. Nicole Johnson is featured on this

recording, which is dedicated to her father’s memory.