It wasn’t just their progress in bowing. Nor was it their decision to replace the standard concert black with red, floor-length gowns. Apparent as these changes were, the members of the Akademos Quartet made an even more dramatic change during their trip to New York from Poland for the ten-day Emerson String Quartet Professional Training Workshop: new seating.

Through all ten years of their playing together, these four women had seated themselves onstage the same way: violins, then viola, and then cello on the end. On May 23 and 24, for the two Young Artists Concerts that brought the workshop to a close, the Akademos placed the cello center stage, with the viola to her left. Turning the cello to face the audience allowed the bass notes to emerge with greater definition, while the viola remained clearly audible throughout.

First violin Anna Rechlewicz says it was hearing the Emerson, which uses the same arrangement, that persuaded her and her fellow quartet members to change course. “The Emerson’s playing convinced us. We were able to take from their knowledge and then hear the difference in our playing.”

It was a simple thing, yet these small, practical modifications were an important aspect of the workshop.

“They came up a notch or two, which is what you try to do in this situation,” says Emerson violinist Philip Setzer. “We’re really proud.”

The quartet—four young women who met a decade ago while studying at the same music school in Poland—gained tools like these from The Weill Music Institute workshop, where they were one of three quartets chosen from around the world. The others were the Berlin-based Le Musiche Quartet and the Vinca Quartet from Boulder, Colorado.

“It’s a great adventure to meet such people,” says Akademos violist Aleksandra Batog. “I think it’s affected us all.”

The Professional Training Workshop reflected the core repertoire of the Emerson String Quartet’s Perspectives concerts: the complete Beethoven quartet cycle, which the Emerson is presenting over eight nights in May and June, with complementary works interspersed throughout. Included in the workshop were a day of coaching for each of the participating quartets with the four Emersons, two seminars—one with Emerson’s publicist, Susan Demler, a director and partner of Kirschbaum Demler & Associates; the other on programming and concert planning—and the two public concerts in Weill Recital Hall.

“We could hear and see improvements even in such a short time, which is amazing to me,” says Rechlewicz.