Stanford Report
By: Marty Semilla and Marisa Lin
TSD: In your experience, how is chamber music different from other genres of music performance – solos, orchestral performance, etc.? What makes it special?
SLSQ: There are so many reasons. The repertoire is totally unparalleled, with total masterpieces from Haydn to Shostakovich. Not only are we inspired by incredible music, but you’re able to control your artistic destiny. You can improvise and there’s total democracy in the artistic sense. With the quality, plus the repertoire, plus the ability to make one’s own decisions about rehearsals, nothing comes even close to it. But there are some negatives about it as well. It’s very hard to make a living. There’s four people and not a lot of money. As a string quartet, we’ve been incredibly lucky. We can have a life and a family and still perform.