Chamber Music Charleston returns to the Presbyterian Church on Edisto Island (2164 Highway 174, Edisto) on Saturday, May 2 at 7pm with a very special program commemorating America’s 250th anniversary through masterworks for string quartet, illuminating the Lowcountry’s pivotal role in the nation’s early musical life while reflecting Europe’s enduring influence on the development of chamber music.

Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Edisto Art Guild, this concert is part of a broader initiative by Chamber Music Charleston connecting America’s early musical foundations to the profound legacy of European composers. Central to this history is the Saint Cecilia Society, founded in Charleston in 1766 and among the earliest musical organizations in the United States. Through its concerts until 1820, the Society helped cultivate a vibrant cultural life in a young nation. By revisiting repertoire connected to this era in historically resonant settings, Chamber Music Charleston honors the Society’s lasting contributions to America’s musical identity and celebrates a defining chapter in the country’s cultural heritage.

The program features Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s String Quartet in F Major, K. 590—one of his final and most refined quartet works—and Béla Bartók’s String Quartet No. 2, a pivotal piece written by the Hungarian composer who emigrated to the United States in the 1940s