The Telegraph Quartet Begins Three-Year Residency at The University of Michigan
Photo of the Telegraph Quartet by Lisa Marie Mazzucco available in high resolution here.
The Telegraph Quartet Begins Three-Year Residency
at The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance
Ann Arbor, MI -- The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance is pleased to announce that the Telegraph Quartet will begin a three-year artist residency at SMTD in fall 2024. The members of the quartet – Eric Chin and Joseph Maile (violins), Pei-Ling Lin (viola), and Jeremiah Shaw (cello) – will coach student chamber music groups, conduct studio classes or seminars, and offer mentorship sessions to students interested in chamber music careers. During the residency, the quartet will also perform several times each year on campus and will have opportunities to explore collaborative performance-based projects with students and faculty across the school and the university.
“We are so honored that the Telegraph Quartet has chosen to engage in an extended residency at the University of Michigan,” said Santa Ono, president of U-M. “For me personally, few activities provide greater joy than playing the cello. As one of the nation’s foremost public universities, we are dedicated to being as excellent in the sciences as we are exceptional in the arts. What’s more, through our Vision 2034, we have dedicated ourselves to providing a life-changing education, and the gifts of art and creativity that the members of the Telegraph Quartet offer to our students, staff, and faculty will long resonate throughout our community.”
David Gier, dean of SMTD and Paul C. Boylan Collegiate Professor of Music, described the importance of this residency for the school: “I’m delighted that the School of Music, Theatre & Dance is engaging the Telegraph Quartet for this residency, which will beautifully complement the dynamic work of our resident faculty in the Departments of Strings and Chamber Music. Our students will benefit significantly from sustained and focused interactions with this gifted professional quartet that will help them develop as chamber musicians and envision and plan for their lives as working musicians.”
Formed in 2013, the Telegraph Quartet explores standard chamber music repertoire as well as contemporary, non-standard works. They have performed in concert halls and at music festivals and academic institutions throughout the United States and internationally. They have collaborated with notable musicians, including pianists Leon Fleisher and Simone Dinnerstein, cellists Norman Fischer and Bonnie Hampton, violinist Ian Swensen, and the St. Lawrence and Henschel Quartets. The Telegraph Quartet has premiered works by numerous composers – including John Harbison, Richard Festinger, Robert Sirota, and Osvaldo Golijov – and has earned honors such as the 2016 Walter W. Naumburg Chamber Music Award and the Grand Prize at the 2014 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.
“We are excited to begin our new role as the faculty quartet-in-residence at the University of Michigan and overjoyed to be calling Ann Arbor our new home!,” the quartet’s members stated. “It’s thrilling to be aligned with such a vibrant and forward-thinking university that is so dedicated to the future through creative exploration. We are looking forward to bringing with us one of the most cherished aspects of chamber music – working together synergistically – and partnering with the faculty to nurture the experience for all the students within the university and the community abroad.”
The Telegraph Quartet has garnered praise for its recordings Into the Light (Centaur, 2018), featuring the works of Leon Kirchner, Anton Webern, and Benjamin Britten, and Divergent Paths (Azica Records, 2023), the first in a series of recordings titled 20th Century Vantage Points. In addition to performing and recording, the quartet is also dedicated to education. Among many other engagements, 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 and in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Most recently, the quartet served on the chamber music faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as the quartet-in-residence. “We want to express our heartfelt thanks to our community in the Bay Area and at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music who have so deeply supported us these past ten years,” the members shared. “We look forward to creating connections between our first home and our next at the University of Michigan!”
David Halen, chair of the Department of Strings and professor of music, described the significance of the quartet’s SMTD residency, for the student body and the broader community: “The appointment of the Telegraph Quartet is truly historic in that it represents a groundbreaking opportunity for our students to learn through the mentorship of these four exemplary artists. With their broad and eclectic programming, they will bring an even greater variety of musical experiences to campus, and we predict they will magnificently represent the wealth of offerings at the University of Michigan through their wide-ranging performing career.”
Matt Albert, chair of the Department of Chamber Music and associate professor of music, shared his view of the ways the quartet will impact SMTD: “It's been so inspiring for our students, faculty, and staff to begin to see Eric's, Joseph's, Pei-Ling's, and Jeremiah's passion and commitment for string quartet playing throughout their audition process. These four people connect with one another deeply and respectfully. Their ability to help others connect in equally meaningful ways will lift up our entire chamber music community, from strings through woodwinds, brass, and piano, in music old, new, and not yet written."