Jan 24: Newport Classical Presents the Telegraph Quartet in Next Chamber Series Concert
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Newport Classical Presents
Telegraph Quartet Performs Beethoven
Next Chamber Series Concert
Friday, January 24, 2025 at 7:30pm
Newport Classical Recital Hall | 42 Dearborn St | Newport, RI
Tickets and Information
Newport, RI – Newport Classical continues its fourth full-season Chamber Series, featuring twelve concerts held on select Fridays at 7:30pm at the organization’s home venue the Newport Classical Recital Hall (42 Dearborn St.), with a performance on Friday, January 24, 2025 by the Telegraph Quartet (Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violins; Pei-Ling Lin, viola; Jeremiah Shaw, cello), a group praised by The New York Times for being, “full of elegance and pinpoint control,” and the San Francisco Chronicle for its, “soulfulness [and] tonal beauty.”
For its Newport debut, the Telegraph Quartet presents music rarely experienced by its creators: Rebecca Clarke’s Poem for String Quartet; Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat Major, Op. 74 (“Harp”); and Bedřich Smetana’s String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, From My Life. 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 has received the prestigious Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the Grand Prize at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. The ensemble has performed across the country including at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, and at festivals including the Chautauqua Institute, Interlochen Arts Festival, and the Emilia Romagna Festival, and is currently the Quartet-in-Residence at The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.
Rebecca Clarke wrote her Poem for String Quartet – a serene work rooted in rhythmic and melodic repetition – in 1926. However, she would never see the work published and disseminated before her passing in 1979. Beethoven had begun losing his hearing by his late 20s and by the time the good-natured “Harp” Quartet was composed in 1809, its cheery quality belied the composer’s 11-year-long struggle with hearing loss that inevitably kept him from fully experiencing this work. Similarly, Smetana would not have been able to even hear his own first string quartet at all, as he fell victim to severe hearing loss in 1874. His own autobiographical string quartet, for all its joy and enthusiasm, ends with a piercing e-string note that denotes the onset of that hearing loss two years prior to the quartet’s creation.
Newport Classical's Chamber Series takes place at Newport Classical Recital Hall in downtown Newport, known for its striking architecture and excellent acoustics. The Chamber Series, newly expanded to twelve concerts held between September and June, reaffirms Newport Classical’s commitment to offer year-round classical music programming. Audiences are invited to enjoy performances by world-class classical musicians in a relaxed setting, with a complimentary glass of wine from Greenvale Vineyards and homemade treats by Newport Classical volunteers.
As part of Newport Classical’s desire to create connections between classical music, the artists who perform it, and the Newport community, all musicians performing on the Chamber Series also visit Newport-area schools to perform for, speak with, and inspire students, through Newport Classical’s Music Education and Engagement Initiative.
Up next, the Newport Classical Chamber Series continues with Boyd Meets Girl coming to Newport for a performance on Valentine’s Day, February 14 – the impressive husband-and-wife guitar and cello duo has toured the world sharing their eclectic mix of music from Debussy and Bach to Radiohead and Beyoncé. On February 28, the acclaimed Trio Karénine, which has established itself in recent years as a key group on the French and international stage, pairs Schubert’s second piano trio with Dvořák’s rarely programmed second piano trio, filled with color, warmth, lively dance, and Slavic folk elements. Oboist James Austin Smith, hailed by The New York Times as “virtuosic,” and for his “dazzling” and “brilliant” performances, joins forces with acclaimed pianist Gloria Chien in music by William Grant Still, Clara Schumann, Camille Saint-Saëns, and more, on March 21. On April 25, Bulgarian-American violinist Bella Hristova, who has won international acclaim for her “expressive nuance and rich tone” (The New York Times) presents the music of Bach and Messiaen, alongside works by Grieg and Indian-American composer Reena Esmail, with pianist Anna Polonsky. Pianist Orion Weiss, known for his “powerful technique and exceptional insight” (The Washington Post), returns to Newport for a solo recital of Bach’s beloved Goldberg Variations on May 16. On June 13, the GRAMMY®-nominated Norwegian Trio Mediaeval, who captivate audiences with their crystalline voices, closes the 2024-2025 Newport Classical Chamber Series with an enchanting evening of Norwegian and Swedish traditional songs, hymns, fiddle tunes, and ballads.
The 2025 Newport Classical Music Festival will take place from July 4-22, 2025, with programming to be announced at the end of March.
About Newport Classical
Newport Classical is a premier performing arts organization that welcomes people of every age, culture, and background to intimate, immersive musical experiences. The organization presents world-renowned and up-and-coming artistic talents at stunning, storied venues across Newport – an internationally sought-after cultural and recreational destination.
Originally founded in 1969 as Rhode Island Arts Foundation at Newport, Inc., Newport Classical has a rich legacy of musical curiosity having presented the American debuts of hundreds of international artists and is most well-known for hosting three weeks of concerts in the summer in the historic mansions throughout Newport and Aquidneck Island. In the 55 years since, Newport Classical has become the most active year-round presenter of music on Aquidneck Island, and an essential pillar of Rhode Island’s cultural landscape, welcoming thousands of patrons all year long.
Newport Classical invests in the future of classical music as a diverse, relevant, and ever-evolving art form through its four core programs – the one-of-a-kind Music Festival; the Chamber Series in the Newport Classical Recital Hall; the free, family-friendly Community Concerts Series; and the Music Education and Engagement Initiative that inspires students in local schools to become the arts advocates and music lovers of tomorrow. These programs illustrate the organization’s ongoing commitment to presenting “timeless music for today.”
In 2021, the organization launched a new commissioning initiative – each year, Newport Classical will commission a new work by a Black, Indigenous, person of color, or woman composer as a commitment to the future of classical music. To date, Newport Classical has commissioned and presented the world premiere of works by Stacy Garrop, Shawn Okpebholo, Curtis Stewart, and Clarice Assad.