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San Francisco Chronicle
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
This beloved S.F. quartet is disbanding after 40 years. Here's where to see its final Bay Area concert
After four decades, a beloved San Francisco ensemble will soon play its last notes together. The Alexander String Quartet plans to bid farewell to the Bay Area with a concert at Kohl Mansion in Burlingame on Sunday, May 4, before heading to the East Coast the next month for the group's final performances. Formed in 1981 in New York City, the ensemble was the first American quartet, in 1985, to win the Portsmouth (now Wigmore Hall) International String Quartet Competition. The group moved to San Francisco in 1989, where it became a stalwart of the local chamber music scene. 'They've meant a great deal not just to the area but also to the chamber music world at large,' said Music at Kohl Mansion Executive Director Patricia Kristof Moy. 'We were able to count on them so far above and beyond the call of duty. … It truly is a family feeling with the Alexanders.' Only one of the Quartet's original members — cellist Sandy Wilson — currently remains. The group's outgoing lineup also includes first violinist Zakarias Grafilo (joined 2002), second violinist Yuna Lee (joined 2023) and violist David Samuel (joined 2021). Last April, the ensemble announced it would be disbanding at the end of the 2024-25 season, and now, for the first time, the members have spoken at length about the factors that led to their decision. It 'was not ever our intention that this would be the disbanding of the Quartet,' Wilson told the Chronicle by phone from his San Francisco home. He and Paul Yarbrough, the group's founding violist, who retired in 2021, had agreed not to step down at the same time. Wilson, now 70, said that for several years, he had made clear to his younger colleagues his plans to retire at his current age, so the decision to disband was left up to Grafilo, Lee and Samuel. The three ultimately determined that the challenges of sustaining the Quartet — chief among them searching for a new cellist, who would have likely had to relocate (perhaps with a household) to pricey Northern California — were too much to handle. Academic institutions' declining appetite for supporting musical ensembles also played a role. After all, the Quartet had moved to the Bay Area in 1989 to be San Francisco State University's ensemble-in-residence through a 'town and gown' partnership between the school, the Morrison Chamber Music Foundation and San Francisco Performances. In fact, Grafilo initially met the Alexanders while an SFSU student in the mid-1990s and credits Yarbrough, then one of his chamber coaches, for encouraging him to become a full-time musician. The residency had been diminished in recent years, Wilson said, and as a result the Quartet needed to rely more on touring to sustain business. But that didn't prove easy, either. Since the pandemic, 'presenting organizations have cut back on the number of concerts they've been able to offer, so that makes it sort of difficult for groups to continue to tour,' said Grafilo, who lives in Daly City. 'It's not surprising, but for us … it seemed like a good time to hang things up on our own terms.' But that hardly means going it alone. The ensemble, which has recorded all of the Beethoven, Brahms, Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály quartets, has also been known for its collaborative projects — including a 2023 album that featured classical guitarist William Kanengiser and paid tribute to Sting, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin. Sharing musical knowledge has been a part of the Quartet's DNA since its earliest days. From the start, the founding members saw a market for ensemble musicians who were willing to spend time teaching in classrooms. Wilson estimated that in the Quartet's first five years of existence, he played more than 100 school concerts, mostly in Connecticut, for audiences ranging from kindergarten through high school. That later grew into regular visits for the group to Baruch College and St. Lawrence University in New York as well as Pennsylvania's Allegheny College. 'It became a way for us to be very busy and engaged and productive,' Wilson said. 'We were doing something to seed at least a modicum of knowledge and even affection for chamber music in people who are much younger than the typical demographic who would listen to us.' Educational outreach continued to be an essential component of the Quartet's service to the Bay Area. For many years, the ensemble partnered with music historian Robert Greenberg for Saturday morning concerts presented by San Francisco Performances. And Moy said that the Alexanders were the first group to regularly work with Music at Kohl to visit middle and high schools across the Peninsula, giving performances at school-wide assemblies, leading seminars that were tailored to supplement classroom curriculum and coaching student orchestras. In the spirit of expanding horizons, it's only fitting that the Quartet's final Bay Area concert is set to feature a work by the young Iranian American composer Kian Ravaei, whom the ensemble met at a festival a few summers ago and whose piece 'The Little Things' the group has performed multiple times since 2023. (An album featuring Ravaei's piece, which was loosely inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson, is in the works.) Also on the program is Haydn's String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77, No. 1 — one of the composer's late, lesser-known quartets — and Brahms' Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34, for which the Alexanders are slated to be joined by Bay Area concert pianist Jeffrey LaDeur, a longtime friend of the group. 'We did some very good work, we've made some wonderful connections,' Wilson said. 'We have probably left something of a legacy, particularly here in the Bay Area, and we're certainly very proud of that.' The Bay Area has in recent years lost two other staple chamber ensembles, including the St. Lawrence String Quartet, which spent more than two decades as Stanford University's quartet-in-residence and disbanded last year. The Telegraph Quartet, which was previously the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's quartet-in-residence and in its early years mentored by the Alexanders, moved to Ann Arbor last fall to take up a post at the University of Michigan. 'There is life after string quartet, I've heard,' Wilson said, noting he's particularly looking forward to diving into the solo cello repertoire and flying without carrying a cello on his back, 'so we'll find out.'
Korea Herald
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Sharp violinist and warm pianist join forces for 'A New Chapter'
Violinist Lim Dongmin and pianist Choi Hyunglok explore Janacek, Poulenc, Bartok and Saariaho in duo recital Tuesday evening Violinist Lim Dongmin, described by pianist Choi Hyunlok as precise and sharp, exuding an air of cool intensity, contrasts with Choi's own playing, which exudes warmth and fluidity. The duo, however, has found their contrasting styles create a synergy since first meeting each other last September through the KBS Young Musicians album project. 'At first, I was concerned about whether I could keep up with Dongmin's intensity,' Choi, the 2019 winner of the Sendai International Music Competition, told The Korea Herald during an interview Thursday. 'But I realized that our contrasting styles actually enhance our performance, creating a dynamic balance.' With distinct styles, the duo shares an affection for contemporary music, which Lim introduces as "a new chapter" in classical music. The program for the duo's recital Tuesday evening, entitled "A New Chapter," at IBK Chamber Hall in Seoul Arts Center, features 20th-century composers ― Leos Janacek, Francis Poulenc and Bela Bartok ― alongside contemporary composer Kaija Saariaho. This selection might be considered challenging, given that many audiences perceive modern classical music as difficult or inaccessible. However, both musicians are committed to proving otherwise. 'I have a deep attachment to 20th-century music,' Lim said. 'People assume it's hard to listen to, but we selected pieces that are compelling even on a first hearing. Poulenc's violin sonata, for example, has an instantly memorable melody, and both Janacek and Bartok weave folk influences into their compositions, making them feel familiar despite their modernity,' Lim, a member of Eden Quartet, said. Eden Quartet, consisting of Korean National University of Arts garduates who are currently studying in Germany, is a quartet on the rise that clinched the third prize at the 2023 Mozart International Competition and the second prize at the International String Quartet Competition "Premio Paolo Borciani" in 2024. Choi highlighted the emotional and narrative quality of the program. 'Some moments feel almost cinematic, like watching a suspense film. We want the audience to be immersed, not just as listeners but as participants in the journey.' Both musicians, based in Germany, have studied extensively in Europe, an experience that has profoundly influenced their art. Lim, who currently studies at The Hanns Eisler School of Music and Hannover University of Music, noted how immersion in German culture has deepened his understanding of its classical traditions, while Choi said the academically rigorous environment in Munster has allowed him to refine his musical perspectives. 'Being in Germany has helped me approach composers like Beethoven or Brahms with more depth,' Lim explained. 'Even just living in that cultural atmosphere changes the way you interpret their music.' Both musicians have clear aspirations for the future. Choi, who will wrap up his Konzertexamen, the highest postgraduate degree, at Munster School of Music, said he hoped to remain an honest and emotionally resonant performer. 'I want my interpretations to feel genuine and meaningful, to move people with my playing.' Lim, on the other hand, is focused on artistic growth. 'My biggest goal is to avoid predictability. Even if I've performed a piece many times before, I always want it to feel fresh. That continuous search for new interpretations is what keeps music alive for me.'
