By Maria Grant
The Hesper Quartet returns to The Ebenezer Theater in Easton on April 27 after winning the Silver Prize in last year’s 11th Chesapeake International Chamber Music Competition. Pianist Ying Li, who will join the Quartet in the second half of the program, was the First Prize winner of the 2021 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, as well as recipient of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival Prize and the Tri-1 Noon Recitals Prize.
The Hesper Quartet, a Korean-American chamber ensemble, was first formed in 2022 at the Emerson String Quartet Institute at Stony Brook University. The Quartet decided upon the name Hesper because Hesper means evening star. Just as each star has its own story, the Quartet strives to tell the fascinating story of each piece of music that they play. Current members of the Quartet are violinists Valerie Kim and Yejin Yoon, violist Sohui Yun, and cellist Connor Kim.
The April 27 Program includes Britten’s Three Divertimenti for String Quartet, Smetana’s String Quartet No. 1 (“From My Life”), and Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 57.
Here’s how the Quartet explained the rationale for these specific selections. Britten composed Three Divertimenti when he was quite young. The music represents different portraits of his friends and is a bit of a parody of the whole quartet genre. Smetana’s quartet is a biographical piece about the different stages of his life. It is deeply personal and soulful music. Shostakovich’s Quartet, written in 1940, is hauntingly beautiful and insightful and reflects the drama and the angst of being alive during the mid-twentieth century.
As the Hesper Quartet explained, their goal is to showcase the different textures of a quartet—starting off small and sparse and then building to the quintet with the piano.
The Hesper Quartet has collaborated with several renowned artists and has recently played in South Korea, Ohio, Stanford University, and Windsor. Several European tours are planned for this year. Ying Li has played at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and in various European venues.
Tickets for the April 27 Interlude Concert at 2 p.m. at The Ebenezer Theater are $50. Chesapeake Music also offers a limited number of free tickets for students, music educators, and the Talbot County Department of Emergency Services, as well as “buy-one-get-one” tickets for those new to Chesapeake Music. To purchase tickets, visit ChesapeakeMusic.org.