On February 6, 2022, Telegraph Quartet will present the world premiere of composer Robert Sirota and librettist Stevan Cavalier’s “Contrapassos.”

Commissioned by the Sierra Chamber Society, this new work was originally meant to premiere in March 2020 as part of Sirota@70, a celebration of the company’s 70^th anniversary. The concert will see the new work presented along with Beethoven’s “String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132” and Schoenberg’s “String Quartet No. 2 Op. 10” for soprano and string quartet.

The premiere performance will be held at the Grace Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, the concert will feature soprano Abigail Fischer, accompanied by the quartet. Subsequent performances will be held on Feb. 8 at Old St. Mary’s Cathedral, and Feb. 10 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

“As a composer, I have found that my best work invariably emerges from the fabric of relationships with others,” Sirota said in an official statement. “I am fond of saying that I don’t compose pieces so much for instruments or voices, as for specific people… Add to this that I have known the great soprano Abigail Fischer literally since before she was born, and you have the perfect alignment of relationships and collaborations.”