Jasper String Quartet Joins CTM Classics Roster For North American Representation

CTM Classics is welcoming the Jasper String Quartet to its artist roster for North American representation.

CTM Classics Artist Manager Marianne LaCrosse says, "I'm excited to work with the Jasper String Quartet, who has a long-standing reputation as one of the finest American string quartets on the concert stage today. J, Karen, Andrew, and Rachel bring a high level of musicianship and energy to their performances, recordings, and educational outreach projects and I look forward to working with them to bring their artistry to audiences around the country and beyond."

The Jasper String Quartet agrees, "We are thrilled to join the CTM Classics Artist Roster. We have the highest regard for Marianne's passion and advocacy for the arts and look forward to a wonderful partnership together."

In the 2020-21 season, the Jasper Quartet continues in their fifth season as Artistic Directors of Jasper Chamber Concerts. Jasper Chamber Concerts is dedicated to encouraging curiosity, community, and inclusivity through world-class chamber music performances, with concerts typically held in the Chestnut Hill Skyspace, a uniquely elegant venue designed by renowned artist James Turrell and architect James Bradberry. In February of 2021, the Quartet will release an album recorded with the Jupiter String Quartet of music by Osvaldo Golijov, Felix Mendelssohn, and Dan Visconti. The quartet celebrates its 15th anniversary in the 2021-2022 season.

About Jasper String Quartet
Recipient of Chamber Music America's prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, Philadelphia's Jasper String Quartet (Rachel Henderson Freivogel, cello; J Freivogel, violin; Karen Kim, violin; Andrew Gonzalez, viola) is the Professional Quartet-in-Residence at Temple University's Center for Gifted Young Musicians and the Founder and Artistic Director of Jasper Chamber Concerts.

The Quartet's recent commissions include works by Patrick Castillo and Reinaldo Moya, as well as 4 Seasons | 4 Composers, a work bringing the brilliant muse of the seasons to the string quartet genre and comprising new works by Lera Auerbach, Christopher Theofanidis, Akira Nishimura, and Joan Tower.

The Jasper Quartet is passionate about connecting with audiences beyond the concert hall and has performed hundreds of outreach programs in schools and community centers. The Quartet received a Residency Partnership grant from Chamber Music America for the 2020-21 season and has received numerous Picasso Project grants from Public Citizens for Children and Youth to support its ongoing work with public schools in Philadelphia. The Fischoff National Chamber Music Association recognized the Quartet's "outstanding and imaginative programming for children and youth in the United States" with their 2016 Educator Award.

In the summer of 2021, the Quartet will teach on the faculty of the Saint Paul Chamber Music Institute and Credo, and will also direct the first High School String Quartet Seminar at the Brevard Music Center. The Jasper Quartet is Featured Artist-in-residence at Swarthmore College for the 2020-22 academic years.

Formed at Oberlin Conservatory, the Jasper Quartet launched their professional career in 2006 while studying with James Dunham, Norman Fischer, and Kenneth Goldsmith as Rice University's Graduate Quartet-in-Residence. In 2008, the Quartet continued its training with the Tokyo String Quartet as Yale University's Graduate Quartet-in-Residence.

In 2008, the Jaspers swept through the competition circuit, winning the Grand Prize and the Audience Prize in the Plowman Chamber Music Competition, the Grand Prize at the Coleman Competition, First Prize at Chamber Music Yellow Springs, and the Silver Medal at the 2008 and 2009 Fischoff Chamber Music Competitions. They were also the first ensemble honored with Yale School of Music's Horatio Parker Memorial Prize, an award established in 1945, and selected by the faculty for "best fulfilling... lofty musical ideals." In 2010, they joined the roster of Astral Artists after winning their national auditions.

The Quartet was the 2010-12 Ensemble-in-Residence at Oberlin Conservatory and, in conjunction with Astral Artists, was awarded a 2012 Chamber Music America grant through its Residency Partnership Program for work in Philadelphia schools. From 2009-2011, the Jaspers were the Ernst C. Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and Arts (Katonah, NY).

The Jasper String Quartet is named after Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada. Learn more at www.jasperquartet.com. The Quartet is represented by Artist Manager Marianne LaCrosse of CTM Classics (marianne@ctmclassics.com).

Photo credit: Martha Holland

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