30 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY OCTOBER 12-18, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com MUSIC Much has been made of the necessity for current-day classical music orchestras, presenters, composers and musicians to find ways to bring new audiences of younger listeners into the fold to replace older concertgoers. To that end, Telegraph String Quartet’s violinist Eric Chin believes he sees a new way forward. “Don’t get me wrong, all four of us love the traditional canon and repertoire for chamber quartets,” he says. “But often the pace and development of the traditional masterworks seem too slow for younger, modern audiences. They seem to be drawn to the much faster, more gripping compositional development of more contemporary 20th and 21st century works.” Chin also believes that there is an attention factor at work here. “It’s as if they are saying ‘tell me why I need to pay attention to this in the first 30 seconds or so, or else I’m moving on,’” he says. “Modern classical compositions seem able to do that.” What draws a musician to the composition is a little different. And like the seminal Kronos and Turtle Island quartets who have been highlighting modern pieces for decades, there is a mission at work here. “Beginning in the 20th century, there was a whole new musical language that was invented due to Schoenberg’s invention of the 12-tone system. That changed everything,” Chin says. “We’re drawn to the modern pieces because most of them are extremely difficult to play...For some reason, we all want to figure out the puzzles beneath the structure of the music and communicate that back to the audiences.” Unlike most other quartets, Telegraph didn’t form because they were students together. Several members went to Juilliard, but at different times and they didn’t know one another then. “We came together over a very simple but profound realization that each one of us wanted to be in a quartet very badly,” Chin says. “All four of us were hungry for it. We read and played some music for about an hourand-a-half and we all just knew. All four of us are founding members.” Telegraph String Quartet 7:30pm Saturday, Oct. 14. Sunset Center, 9th Avenue and San Carlos Street, Carmel. $25-$63. 625-2212, chambermusicmontereybay.org. COURTESY OF TELEGRAPH STRING QUARTET Modern Music Telegraph String Quartet is drawn to the pace, and the challenge, of modern classical compositions. By Paul Fried Telegraph String Quartet violinist Eric Chin says modern compositions suit the attention span of modern audiences. They also provide an engaging challenge for musicians. montagehealth.org/ohana
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