The Telegraph String Quartet recently made its third visit to IPR's Studio A since 2018.
The ensemble's members are violinists Eric Chin and Joseph Maile, violist Pei-Ling Lin and cellist Jeremiah Shaw.
Violist Craig Bate is subbing for Pei-Ling Lin this summer, since she is eight months pregnant.
Lin's husband, Telegraph violinist Joseph Maile, said they're calling the baby their "season opener" since he's due in the first week of September.
The Telegraph Quartet performed movements from quartets by Maurice Ravel and Grażyna Bacewicz in Studio A.
They're at Interlochen Center for the Arts this week serving as the Artists-in-Residence for this summer's Adult Chamber Music Camp.
In this context, they're working with adult amateur students. Maile said they have different goals for adult amateurs compared to younger pre-professional students: "With adults, it's about opening up doors of what they can appreciate on their instruments and also in the concert hall."
Unlike some string quartets where one person always plays first violin and another person always plays second violin, Maile explained that he and Chin switch off playing first violin in the ensemble.
He says they usually determine who will play which part by "gut feel," although sometimes it depends on whose tone is more suited to a particular piece.
The exception is Beethoven, though. "That's when we sort it out systematically who's going to play the parts," Maile explained. "It's sixteen quartets, and we each wanted to get our 'bids' in for what we particularly liked."
"Good thing there are an even number of them," he said.
Repertoire performed
Maurice Ravel, String Quartet: I. Allegro moderato. Très doux
Grażyna Bacewicz, String Quartet no. 4: II. Andante
Stefan Wiebe engineered this edition of Studio A.
