Telegraph Quartet Performs Music By Beethoven And Brahms On Virtual Performances

Beginning on Saturday, May 22, 2021 the Telegraph Quartet (Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violins; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; Jeremiah Shaw, cello) is presented in a virtual performance by Music in Corrales.

Tickets to access the performance are $15, available at www.musicincorrales.org/concert/telegraph-quartet. Registrants will be sent a private YouTube link to watch the performance and the video will remain online to watch through Sunday, May 30, 2021. There will be a separate 1-hour Q&A session via Zoom for ticket holders on Saturday, May 22 at 7:30pm MDT with members of the quartet.

The quartet's program includes Beethoven's String Quartet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1 and Brahms' String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51. Joseph Maile of the Telegraph Quartet says, "Both of these works represent each composer's first public foray into the string quartet medium. Beethoven's Op. 18 No. 1 is his ambitious, if slightly delayed, entry into the quartet medium as the vanguard of his set of six quartets. And Brahms' wistful second string quartet is one of his two final products, of numerous discarded attempts - most likely with Beethoven metaphorically looking over his shoulder."

During the pandemic, the Telegraph Quartet has given virtual performances presented by San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Faculty Series, SF Music Day 2020, Noontime Concerts, Noe Music, and Crowden Music Center's Sundays@4 Concert Series. In November 2020, the Telegraph Quartet produced ChamberFEAST, its first chamber music festival in Taiwan, born out of Telegraph's mission to spread music through performance, education, and audience engagement. It was presented by Revolving Gate Music and co-hosted by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. During the festival, the Telegraph Quartet worked intensively with university and high school music students throughout Taiwan in various activities including chamber music coachings, performance classes, masterclasses, lectures, and sight-reading sessions, culminating with a student performance. Among these students were some of the Telegraph's very own from the San Francisco Conservatory, who stayed home in Taiwan due to the pandemic.

More about the Telegraph Quartet: The Telegraph Quartet formed in 2013 with an equal passion for the standard chamber music repertoire and contemporary, non-standard works alike. Described by the San Francisco Chronicle as "...an incredibly valuable addition to the cultural landscape" and "powerfully adept... with a combination of brilliance and subtlety," the Telegraph Quartet was awarded the prestigious 2016 Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the Grand Prize at the 2014 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. The Quartet has performed in concert halls, music festivals, and academic institutions across the United States and abroad, including New York City's Carnegie Hall, San Francisco's Herbst Theatre, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's Chamber Masters Series, and at festivals including the Chautauqua Institute, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, and the Emilia Romagna Festival.

Notable collaborations include projects with pianists Leon Fleisher and Simone Dinnerstein; cellists Norman Fischer and Bonnie Hampton; violinist Ian Swensen; and the Henschel Quartett. A fervent champion of 20th- and 21st-century repertoire, the Telegraph Quartet has premiered works by John Harbison, Robert Sirota, and Richard Festinger.

In 2018 the Quartet released its debut album, Into the Light, featuring works by Anton Webern, Benjamin Britten, and Leon Kirchner on the Centaur label. The San Francisco Chronicle praised the album, saying, "Just five years after forming, the Bay Area's Telegraph Quartet has established itself as an ensemble of serious depth and versatility, and the group's terrific debut recording only serves to reinforce that judgment." AllMusic acclaimed, "An impressive beginning for an adventurous group, this 2018 release puts the Telegraph Quartet on the map."

Beyond the concert stage, the Telegraph Quartet seeks to spread its music through education and audience engagement. The Quartet has given master classes at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Collegiate and Pre-College Divisions, through the Morrison Artist Series at San Francisco State University, and abroad at the Taipei National University of the Arts, National Taiwan Normal University, and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Recent and upcoming highlights include the group's debut on the Lincoln Center Great Performers series, a concert with acclaimed composer-vocalist Theo Bleckmann at San Francisco Performances, and performances at Gretna Music, Friends of Chamber Music, Morris Museum, Mill Valley Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Houston, Chamber Music Society of Utica, Rossmoor Chamber Music Society, Music at Oakmont, Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech, and Chamber Music San Francisco.

For more information, visit www.telegraphquartet.com.

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