Photo courtesy of Lisa Marie Mazzucco

The award-winning sounds of the Telegraph Quartet will energize chamber music lovers with the talents of violinists Eric Chin and Joseph Maile; violist Pei-Ling Ling, and cellist Jeremiah Shaw when Neskowin Chamber Music presents its final concert of the 2023-24 season on Sunday, May 19, starting at 3 p.m., at the Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp’s chapel, 5195 Winema Rd, Cloverdale.

Now celebrating its 10th season together, 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 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 U.S. and abroad, including New York City’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, 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. The Quartet is currently on the chamber music faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as the Quartet-in-Residence. 

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

In August 2023, the Telegraph Quartet released its latest album “Divergent Paths,” the first in a series of recordings titled “20th Century Vantage Points,” on Azica Records. This first volume features two works that (to the best of the Quartet’s knowledge) have never been recorded on the same album before: Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet in F Major and Arnold Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 7. Through this series, the Telegraph Quartet reportedly intends to explore string quartets of the 20th century — an era of music that the group has felt especially called to perform since its formation. The New York Times praised the Telegraph’s performance as “…full of elegance and pinpoint control…” “Divergent Paths” follows “Into The Light” (Centaur, 2018), an album highlighting a gripping set of works by Leon Kirchner, Anton Webern, and Benjamin Britten.

Beyond the concert stage, the Telegraph Quartet has sought 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. Telegraph has also served as artists-in-residence at the Interlochen Adult Chamber Music Camp, SoCal Chamber Music Workshop, and Crowden Music Center Chamber Music Workshop. In November 2020, the Telegraph Quartet launched ChamberFEAST!, a chamber music workshop in Taiwan. In fall 2020, Telegraph launched an online video project called TeleLab, in which the ensemble collectively breaks down the components of a movement from various works for quartet. In summer 2022, the Telegraph Quartet traveled to Vienna to work with Schoenberg expert Henk Guittart in conjunction with the Arnold Schoenberg Center, researching Schoenberg’s first and second string quartets. 

Highlights of Telegraph Quartet’s 2023-24 season include performances presented by Stanford Live, Chamber Music Monterey Bay, Friends of Chamber Music Portland, Pro Musica San Miguel De Allende in Mexico, the Lane Series at University of Vermont, Hamilton College’s Performing Arts Series, Feldman Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg, and many others, as well as a residency at the University of Michigan.  Telegraph will also perform residency concerts at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. 

For more information on the group, visit telegraphquartet.com.

Tickets to the May 19 concert are available at the door. Prices are $30 (cash or check) for adults and $10 for youth. For more information, visit neskowinchambermusic.com/.

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