Jupiter Quartet is Presented by Music at Kohl Mansion on November 19
Photo of the Jupiter Quartet by Todd Rosenberg available in high resolution at www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/jupiter-string
The Jupiter String Quartet is Presented by
Music at Kohl Mansion
Performing Music by Elizabeth Maconchy, Carlos Simon, Nathan Shields,
William Bolcolm, and Ludwig van Beethoven
Sunday, November 19, 2023 at 7pm
Kohl Mansion | 2750 Adeline Drive | Burlingame, CA
Tickets and Information at
www.musicatkohl.org/jupiter-string-quartet-2023-11-19
“technical finesse and rare expressive maturity”
– The New Yorker
Burlingame, CA – The Jupiter String Quartet – internationally acclaimed winners of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the Banff International String Quartet Competition – will be presented in concert by Music at Kohl Mansion on Sunday, November 19, 2023 at 7pm. St. Lawrence String Quartet cellist and educator Christopher Costanza will offer an informative and lively pre-performance lecture at 6pm in the Kohl Mansion Library before all series concerts. The concert includes a complimentary post-performance reception with the artists.
Giving concerts all over the country, 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). Brought together by ties both familial and musical, the Jupiter Quartet has been performing together since 2001 and has been the quartet-in-residence at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 2012. Exuding an energy that is at once friendly, knowledgeable, and adventurous, the Quartet celebrates every opportunity to bring their close-knit and lively style to audiences. Their connections to each other and the length of time they’ve shared the stage always shine through in their intuitive performances.
For this Sunday evening performance, the er Quartet will perform a musically bold and emotionally charged program that they have titled Upheaval. The program will begin with the hauntingly powerful third quartet of the esteemed Irish-English composer Elizabeth Maconchy. An avowed socialist who supported the Republican forces fighting off Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War, Maconchy wrote this work among the shadows of 1930s Europe. Next, Nathan Shields’ new quartet, Medusa –– composed for the Jupiter Quartet for Shields’ Guggenheim Fellowship –– uses the scintillating paintings of Caravaggio as an inspiration for exploring the effects of various types of political and social violence. The first half of the program will be rounded out by Carlos Simon’s heartbreaking Elegy, a memorial to the Black American victims of police violence, and William Bolcolm’s gently melancholy rag, The Graceful Ghost. After the intermission, the quartet will delve into the wonderful intricacies of Ludwig van Beethoven’s epic eighth quartet—one of the many works he wrote during a time of immense political turmoil.
Jupiter Quartet says of this program and performing it for audiences at Kohl Mansion:
“We are looking forward to sharing this intense and colorful program with the audience at Kohl Mansion. Its subject matter—a grappling with the realities and effects of violence—is unfortunately very much in the forefront of all of our minds as we witness current events. We hope this music will bring time for both reflection and inspiration as we confront such difficulties.”
More About Jupiter String Quartet: This tight-knit ensemble is firmly established as an important voice in the world of chamber music. Artists-in-residence at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana since 2012, the Jupiter Quartet maintain private studios and direct the University’s chamber music program.
The Jupiter 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 Urbana-Champaign 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.
About Music at Kohl Mansion: Inspired by the belief that the arts strengthen communities, Music at Kohl Mansion presents world-class chamber concerts at the historic Kohl Mansion and music education in public schools on the San Francisco Peninsula. Outreach programs provide access to interactive musical experiences for diverse audiences of all ages.
Music at Kohl Mansion (MAKM), the longest-running chamber-music-only presenter on the S.F. Peninsula, is deeply committed to community building through the arts, both in its highly praised mainstage concert series founded in 1983 and in education and community programs that connect people and promote human understanding. MAKM programs enhance the quality of life of Bay Area residents and visitors by reaching out to individuals of all ages, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds.
For Calendar Editors:
Description: The Jupiter Quartet, the Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, who are described by The New Yorker as an ensemble of “technical finesse and rare expressive maturity,” is presented by Music at Kohl Mansion for a performance at Kohl Mansion (2750 Adeline Drive). The Jupiter Quartet will perform a bold program anchored around one of Beethoven’s “Razumovsky” String Quartets (No. 8 in E minor, Op. 52 No. 2), as well as music by living American composers: Carlos Simon’s Elegy and Nathan Shields’ Medusa, in addition to Irish-English composer Elizabeth Maconchy’s String Quartet No. 3. St. Lawrence String Quartet cellist and educator Christopher Costanza will give a pre-concert lecture at 6pm.
Short description: The Jupiter Quartet, an ensemble of “technical finesse and rare expressive maturity” (The New Yorker), is presented by Music at Kohl Mansion for a performance featuring the music of Elizabeth Maconchy, Carlos Simon, Nathan Shields, and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Concert details:
Who: Jupiter String Quartet
Presented by Music at Kohl Mansion
What: Music by Elizabeth Maconchy, Carlos Simon, Nathan Shields, William Bolcolm, and Ludwig van Beethoven, plus a pre-concert lecture by St. Lawrence String Quartet cellist and educator Christopher Costanza
When: Sunday, November 19, 2023 at 7pm. Pre-concert lecture at 6pm (Kohl Mansion Library)
Where: Kohl Mansion, 2750 Adeline Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010
Tickets and information: www.musicatkohl.org/jupiter-string-quartet-2023-11-19/