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SUMMARY:Jupiter String Quartet
DESCRIPTION:SOLD OUT — JOIN THE WAITLIST \n\n\n\n                \n                        First Name*Last Name*Phone*Email*\n                            \n                        Number of Tickets*1234Mobility Considerations*\n			\n				\n				No Mobility Considerations\n			\n			\n				\n				Space for a Wheel Chair\n			\n			\n				\n				Unable to Use Stairs\n			Seat Availability Preference*\n			\n				\n				Seat us separately\n			\n			\n				\n				Seat us together\n			Please indicate whether you would prefer to wait until the necessary number of seats become available together. Notes for Box Office\n          \n            \n            \n            \n            \n            \n            \n            \n            \n            \n            \n            \n            \n            \n        \n                        \n                        \n\n\n\n  \nJupiter String Quartet \nJupiter String Quartet\nMélanie Clapiès\, Meg Freivogel\, violin • Liz Freivogel\, viola • Daniel McDonough\, cello \nFRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN (1732–1809)\nString Quartet in C Major\, Op. 33\, No. 3\, Hob. III:39\, “Bird”    \nCLARICE ASSAD (b. 1978)\nCanções da America   \nJOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897)\nString Quartet No. 2 in A Minor\, Op. 51\, No. 2   \n  \nProgram Notes \nFRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN\nString Quartet in C Major\, Op. 33\, No. 3\, Hob. III:39\, “Bird” (1781) \nThe songs and cries of birds bear an uncanny similarity to human music\, and as such they have been fodder for musical imitation for centuries. Carlo Farina calls for his band of string players to scrape away on grating\, repeated pitches to reproduce the cluck-cluck of a hen in his experimental 1626 Capriccio Stravagante. Antonio Vivaldi\, in his “Spring” Concerto\, added more detail to this avian rendering\, asking the violins to play sets of repeated notes that are ornamented with quick\, chirping trills and grace notes. By the end of the 18th century\, a piece did not need to have a particular narrative or descriptive program attached to it for listeners to associate such figures with birds. \nJoseph Haydn didn’t call his 1781 String Quartet in C Major\, Op. 33\, No. 3 the “Bird” Quartet himself\, but he must have recognized the topical associations that go along with a theme like the one that dominates the opening movement of the piece. The tune\, if we can call it that\, is first played by the violin and consists of one repeated note ornamented by a grace note\, which becomes increasingly agitated as the phrase proceeds. Even when the music becomes more melodic\, the chirping grace note remains in place\, tying together ostensibly contrasting themes. In the Trio of the minuet\, little\, halting trills create a continuity with the first movement\, as if the violin is tweeting back an answer to the grace notes we heard before. Is it going too far to suggest that there is a hint of a panicked cuckoo in the dashing\, alarm-like refrain we hear at the start of the finale? \nWhen he sent this set of Quartets to his publisher\, friends\, and patrons\, Haydn explained that they were “of a new and entirely special kind.” Part of this uniqueness comes from the degree of unity he creates by using shared motifs across his various movements. Whether or not we think of the main motif in the Quartet as bird-like\, it is clearly marked out by its distinctive\, slightly shrill quality\, which makes its reappearance across the whole work all the more audible and meaningful. \nProgram Note by Nicky Swett \n  \nCLARICE ASSAD\nCanções da America (2022) \nCanções da America is a collection of song-like movements inspired by chants\, dances\, and rhythms associated with South American music. A melting pot of cultures consisting of Europeans\, immigrants\, Natives\, and people from Africa. This six-movement work embraces fragments of the Milonga dance\, related to the tune of Uruguay\, the choro from Brazil\, the music of Paraguay\, and a movement dedicated to the Argentinian Tango\, born in its modern version in Buenos Aires in the early 19th century. Also in the suite is an homage to Andean music\, chant-like melodies associated with the regions of Perú\, Bolivia\, and Ecuador\, and other peoples who lived approximately in the area of the Inca Empire before the Europeans arrived.  \nFor the first time as a composer\, I explore the music of neighboring Brazilian countries — my original homeland — including Uruguay\, Paraguay\, Bolivia\, and Argentina. The latter was the homeland of composer Claudia Montero\, whose passing in early 2021 inspired me to write this work. Montero was an accomplished musician who dedicated her life to creating beautiful pieces of music sparked by Latin American themes. She supported numerous projects to amplify women’s voices in music\, and her body of works reinforces the importance of female composers’ voices in today’s world. Canções da America is dedicated to her legacy and the Fry Street Quartet. \nProgram Note by Clarice Assad \n  \nJOHANNES BRAHMS\nString Quartet No. 2 in A Minor\, Op. 51\, No. 2 (1866–1873) \nIt wasn’t easy for Johannes Brahms\, unable\, as he put it\, to ignore “the tramp of a giant” behind him. This “giant” was sicced on him by many friends and colleagues\, who repeatedly insisted that he was the inheritor of Ludwig van Beethoven’s musical legacy. It is no wonder that it took Brahms a long time to publicize his first efforts at writing string quartets and symphonies\, the genres in which Beethoven left the longest shadow. Brahms claimed that he threw away over twenty attempted string quartets before he was satisfied enough to release his two Op. 51 Quartets in 1873. \nFor many contemporary listeners\, these Quartets were similar to the late Quartets of Beethoven in their degree of complexity. Reviewers close to the time of publication noted that repeated listenings were a must for these pieces\, though many held that they were well worth the effort. An 1878 article on the Quartets by the critic Hermann Deiters contentiously maintained that this music “had its roots in the real and not the misunderstood Beethoven\,” and that Brahms’s themes in these works establish their “richness through elaborate complexity.” \nIn his A Minor Quartet\, Op. 51\, No. 2\, Brahms uses rhythmic variety to generate themes and articulate structure. In the first movement\, if a passage isn’t thickened by 2-on-3 or 3-on-4 rhythms\, it’s almost certainly riddled with syncopations that displace our sense of a downbeat. The near constant metrical play makes those brief moments in which the strings unite for a somber chorale or an expansive unison quite special. The Andante moderato was a favorite of Arnold Schoenberg. He analyzed it extensively in his landmark essay “Brahms the Progressive\,” emphasizing how the expressive\, variable phrase lengths of the violin’s first melody fall unevenly against the consistent viola and cello accompaniment. The third movement is a capricious minuet-scherzo mashup\, in which nostalgic sections in 3/4 alternate with vivacious\, fluttering\, staccato music in 2/4. The final movement is again full of rhythmic tension: the melody sounds like it’s in a different meter than the waltzing accompaniment\, a conflict that lasts right up to the frantic coda and dramatic final cadence. \nProgram Note by Nicky Swett \n— \nThe Jupiter String Quartet is a particularly intimate group\, consisting of violinists Mélanie Clapiès and Meg Freivogel\, violist Liz Freivogel (Meg’s older sister)\, and cellist Daniel McDonough (Meg’s husband\, Liz’s brother-in-law). Founded in 2001\, the ensemble is firmly established as an important voice in the world of chamber music\, and exudes an energy that is at once friendly\, knowledgeable\, and adventurous. The New Yorker states\, “The Jupiter String Quartet\, an ensemble of eloquent intensity\, has matured into one of the mainstays of the American chamber-music scene.” \nThe quartet has performed across the United States\, Canada\, Europe\, Asia\, and the Americas 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\, the Banff Centre\, Taos School of Music Summer Festival\, Virginia Arts Festival\, Music at Menlo\, Maverick Concerts\, Caramoor International Music Festival\, Lanaudiere Festival\, West Cork (Ireland) Chamber Music Festival\, Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival\, Skaneateles Festival\, Madeline Island Music Festival\, Yellow Barn Festival\, Encore Chamber Music Festival\, the inaugural Chamber Music Athens\, and the Seoul Spring Festival\, among others. \nTheir chamber music honors and awards include the grand prizes in the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2004. In 2005\, they won the Young Concert Artists International auditions in New York City\, which quickly led to a busy touring schedule. They received the Cleveland Quartet Award from Chamber Music America in 2007\, followed by an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2008. From 2007-2010\, they were in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Two and\, in 2009\, they received a grant from the Fromm Foundation to commission a new quartet from Dan Visconti for a CMSLC performance at Alice Tully Hall. In 2012\, the Jupiter Quartet members were appointed as artists-in-residence and faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign\, where they continue to perform regularly in the beautiful Krannert Center for the Performing Arts\, maintain private studios\, and direct the chamber music program. \nThe Jupiter String Quartet feels a strong connection to the core string quartet repertoire; they have presented the complete Bartok string quartets at the University of Illinois and the complete cycle of Beethoven string quartets at the Aspen Music Festival and School\, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Lanaudiere Festival in Quebec. Also deeply committed to new music\, they have commissioned string quartets from Nathan Shields\, Stephen Andrew Taylor\, Michi Wiancko\, Syd Hodkinson\, Hannah Lash\, Dan Visconti\, and Kati Agócs; a quintet with baritone voice by Mark Adamo; and a piano quintet by Pierre Jalbert. They are also part of a commission for chamber choir and string quartet\, with music by Su Lian Tan and words by Robin Wall Kimmerer. \nThe Jupiters place a strong emphasis on developing relationships with future audiences through educational performances in schools and other community centers. They believe that\, because of the intensity of its interplay and communication\, chamber music is one of the most effective ways of spreading an enthusiasm for “classical” music to new audiences. The quartet has also held numerous masterclasses for young musicians\, including most recently at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music\, Cleveland Institute of Music\, Northwestern University\, Eastman School of Music\, the Aspen Music Festival\, Encore Chamber Festival\, Madeline Island Music Festival\, and Peabody Conservatory. \nThe 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 Arts Fuse acclaimed\, “This joint album from the Jupiter String Quartet and Jasper String Quartet is striking for its backstory but really memorable for its smart program and fine execution.” The quartet’s discography also includes numerous recordings on labels including Azica Records and Deutsche Grammophon. In fall 2024\, the Jupiter Quartet recorded their next album with Judith Sherman\, featuring the world premiere recordings of Michi Wiancko’s To Unpathed Waters\, Undreamed Shores\, Stephen Taylor’s Chaconne/Labyrinth\, and Kati Agócs’s Imprimatur\, which were all composed for the Jupiters. \nRecent and upcoming highlights include residencies at Taos School of Music Summer Festival\, San Francisco Conservatory of Music\, the Adam Chamber Music Festival in New Zealand\, and the University of Idaho\, as well as performances presented by the Library of Congress\, the University of Florida Performing Arts\, Bay Chamber Concerts\, Calgary Pro Musica\, San Antonio Chamber Music Society\, Buffalo Chamber Music Society\, and many more. As artists-in-residence at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana\, they also perform a series of concerts at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. \nThe 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.
URL:https://www.bowdoinfestival.org/event/jupiter-string-quartet-2026/
LOCATION:Studzinski Recital Hall\, 12 Campus Road S\, Brunswick\, ME\, 04011
CATEGORIES:Concert,Ticketed Events,Mondays,Livestream
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