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The San Francisco-based Telegraph Quartet will perform the music of Fanny Mendelssohn, Kenji Bunch and Antonin Dvořák in the Neskowin Chamber Music season finale this Sunday, May 19.
The quartet, comprised of Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violins; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; and Jeremiah Shaw, cello, formed in 2013 with an equal passion for standard and contemporary chamber music repertoire. Described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “an incredibly valuable addition to the cultural landscape” and by the New York Times as “full of elegance and pinpoint control,” the group was awarded the prestigious 2016 Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the Grand Prize at the 2014 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.
For Sunday’s performance, the award-winning quartet will perform an array of works shaped by a mix of personal relationships, cultural experiences and stylistic adventurousness.
Mendelssohn wrote her “String Quartet” in the shadow of her highly praised brother Felix, taking a bold step and ultimately choosing to embrace her own musical voice rather than defer to a style or form that would have been more accepted by her sibling and long-time musical confidant.
American composer Bunch’s third string quartet, “Apocryphal Dances,” is inspired by 17th Century French dance music but the 12-minute work is not written with ardent fixation on the style. Bunch’s intent is for a light and lively experience between the performance of the quartet and the listening audience. Shifts in the melody, chord progressions and rhythmic structure lead the work to reflect qualities of various musical styles.
Dvořák crafted his “String Quartet No. 14” in A flat-major –– his final chamber piece –– in two stages: starting around March 1895 when he was scheduled to depart the United States to return to his homeland and then revisiting the work in December 1895. He finished the piece in less than three weeks and the music largely reflects his spiritual temperament during this time, which was one of uplifting positivity and joy
The quartet’s latest album, “20th Century Vantage Points: Divergent Paths” explores the bewildering and unbridled creativity of the period through the music of Arnold Schoenberg and Maurice Ravel, whose music on this album weaves threads of great contrast and surprising similarity.
The concert begins at 3 pm at Camp Wi-Ne-Ma, located at 5195 Winema Road in Cloverdale. For more information, go to neskowinchambermusic.com.