Jasper Quartet & Jupiter String Quartet Presented by Music Mondays

On Monday, May 9, 2022 at 7:30pm, Music Mondays will present a joint concert by the Jasper Quartet, winners of the Cleveland Quartet Award, and the Jupiter String Quartet - winners of the Banff International String Quartet Competition.The concert will take place at Advent Lutheran Church (2504 Broadway, NY).

For this Monday evening performance, the Jasper Quartet and Jupiter Quartet Quartet will perform a program featuring music by Florence Price, Michi Wiancko, Dan Visconti, and Felix Mendelssohn. The Jasper Quartet will begin the concert with String Quartet No. 1 in G Major by Florence Price. Then the Jupiter Quartet will perform To Unpathed Waters, Undreamed Shores, by Michi Wiancko. Both quartets will then join in a collaborative performance of Dan Visconti's Eternal Breath, before finishing the program with Felix Mendelssohn's Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20.

Florence Price's String Quartet No. 1 in G Major showcases a key and tonality-driven compositional style - an attribute derived from 19th century Romanticism. Price's inclination for writing textural variation into her music results in a performatively challenging but harmonically impressive work. Michi Wiancko's To Unpathed Waters, Undreamed Shores, serves as a response to climate change. The piece was commissioned for the Jupiter Quartet by Bay Chamber Concerts in partnership with the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Regarding the piece, Wiancko says, "I believe that a musical work that engages with regeneration, resilience, and collective humanity, has the potential to be a powerful and unique contribution to the string quartet repertoire."

Dan Visconti's hauntingly beautiful Eternal Breath was commissioned by Margie and Bill Freivogel (parents of musicians J, Meg, Liz, and older brother Ben) on the occasion of their 40th wedding anniversary. Visconti describes the concept of the piece: "Eternal Breath is based on a simple 'breathing' phrase, which becomes longer and more elaborate as the expanding melody is passed around the entire ensemble. The idea of the breath of life passed from one generation to the next, as well as the expansion of the family through marriage inspired the development of the initial, chant-like material." Felix Mendelssohn composed String Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20, his intricate masterpiece, at the age of sixteen. The work is famously joyful. Rather than treating the two quartets as separate entities, Mendelssohn weaves all kinds of deft and subtle conversations among the eight musicians, in every possible combination.

The Jupiter and Jasper quartets celebrate many years of deep connections that go beyond simply enjoying playing music together. There are siblings-J Freivogel from the Jaspers is the younger brother of Jupiter members Meg and Liz Freivogel; spouses- Rachel Henderson Freivogel and J are married in the Jaspers, and Daniel McDonough and Meg are married in the Jupiters; and longtime friends-Nelson Lee and Karen Kim were apartment mates while they were college students in Boston. In 2021, the two quartets celebrated the release of a collaborative album on Marquis Classics, produced by Grammy-winner Judith Sherman, which features two pieces on this program: Dan Visconti's Eternal Breath (world premiere recording) and Felix Mendelssohn's Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20.

About the Jasper String Quartet: Celebrating its sixteenth anniversary in 2022, the Jasper String Quartet is recognized as one of the leading American string quartets on the performance stage today.

A recipient of Chamber Music America's prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, the quartet has been hailed as "sonically delightful and expressively compelling," (The Strad) and described by Gramophone as "flawless in ensemble and intonation, expressively assured and beautifully balanced." The New York Times named their album Unbound as one of the 25 Best Classical Recordings of 2017.

The Jasper String Quartet is the Professional Quartet-in-Residence at Temple University's Center for Gifted Young Musicians and Featured Artist-in-Residence at Swarthmore College for the 2020-22 academic years. In addition, the Quartet is the Founder and Artistic Director of Jasper Chamber Concerts. The Jasper Quartet is committed to celebrating the diverse array of compositional voices writing for string quartet on every program.

For more information, visit www.jasperquartet.com.

About Jupiter String Quartet: The Jupiter String Quartet is a particularly intimate group, consisting of violinists Nelson Lee and Meg Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel (Meg's older sister), and cellist Daniel McDonough (Meg's husband, Liz's brother-in-law). Now enjoying their 20th year together, this tight-knit ensemble is firmly established as an important voice in the world of chamber music.

The quartet has performed in some of the world's finest halls, including New York City's Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, London's Wigmore Hall, Boston's Jordan Hall, Mexico City's Palacio de Bellas Artes, Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center and Library of Congress, Austria's Esterhazy Palace, and Seoul's Sejong Chamber Hall. Their major music festival appearances include the Aspen Music Festival and School, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Rockport Music Festival, Music at Menlo, the Seoul Spring Festival, and many others. In addition to their performing career, they have been artists-in-residence at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana since 2012, where they maintain private studios and direct the chamber music program.

Their chamber music honors and awards include the grand prizes in the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition; the Young Concert Artists International auditions in New York City; the Cleveland Quartet Award from Chamber Music America; an Avery Fisher Career Grant; and a grant from the Fromm Foundation. From 2007-2010, they were in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Two.

The quartet's latest album is a collaboration with the Jasper String Quartet (Marquis Classics, 2021), produced by Grammy-winner Judith Sherman. This collaborative album features the world premiere recording of Dan Visconti's Eternal Breath, Felix Mendelssohn's Octet in E-flat, Op. 20, and Osvaldo Golijov's Last Round. The quartet's discography also includes numerous recordings on labels including Azica Records and Deutsche Grammophon.

The quartet chose its name because Jupiter was the most prominent planet in the night sky at the time of its formation and the astrological symbol for Jupiter resembles the number four. For more information, visit www.jupiterquartet.com.