Telegraph Quartet Gives Livestream Performance This Month From SFCM

On Thursday, October 15, 2020 at 7:30pm PT, the Telegraph Quartet (Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violins; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; Jeremiah Shaw, cello) presents a livestream concert on the Faculty Artists Series at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where the ensemble is quartet-in-residence. The quartet will perform live in Sol Joseph Recital Hall, and the stream will be free to watch online with advance registration.

The Telegraph Quartet's program features the String Quartet No. 2 by internationally acclaimed composer and pianist Eleanor Alberga, who was recently awarded the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for composition. The quartet will also perform Korngold's String Quartet No. 3, Op. 37 - his first post-World War II concert work - an odyssey spanning the gamut between the despair of Hitler's tyranny to the celebration of victory over his fall. The evening concludes with Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131, in celebration of the composer's 250th birthday year.

As a special intermission feature, each quartet member will be interviewed about the pieces on the program, their time at SFCM, their origin story, and winning the Naumburg competition. Additionally, Telegraph Quartet violinist Eric Chin will interview Eleanor Alberga, speaking from London.

As quartet-in-residence at SFCM, the Telegraph Quartet coaches degree-seeking students in the collegiate chamber music program and works with promising young soloists and chamber musicians in SFCM's Pre-College. The Quartet performs a featured residency concert each semester and also collaborates in performances throughout the year with other faculty members and advanced students. Three of the quartet's members-Eric Chin, Pei-Ling Lin, and Joseph Maile-are graduates of SFCM.

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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