Feb. 19: Jupiter Quartet Presented by the Library of Congress
Photo of the Jupiter Quartet by Todd Rosenberg available in high resolution here.
The Jupiter String Quartet
Presented by the Library of Congress
Performing Music by
Carlos Simon, Shulamit Ran, and Ludwig van Beethoven
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 8:00pm
Thomas Jefferson Building - Coolidge Auditorium
10 1st Street SE | Washington D.C.
Tickets and Information
“an ensemble of eloquent intensity, has matured into one of the mainstays of the American chamber-music scene.” – The New Yorker
Washington D.C. – On Wednesday, February 19, 2025, the Jupiter String Quartet – internationally acclaimed winners of the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, who are known for their “compelling” performances (BBC Music Magazine) – will be presented in concert by the Library of Congress in the Thomas Jefferson Building - Coolidge Auditorium (10 1st Street SE) Washington D.C. There will be a pre-concert talk with the artists beginning at 6:30pm.
Based at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,and 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. 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.
The Jupiter Quartet brings its well-honed musical chemistry to three works shaped by bold musicality and deeply meaningful thematic inspirations, written between the early 19th century and the present day, including Warmth from Other Suns by Carlos Simon (2020); String Quartet No. 3, Glitter, Doom, Shards, Memory by Shulamit Ran (2013); and String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130 with the Grosse Fuge by Ludwig van Beethoven (1825).
Carlos Simon, currently Composer-in-Residence at The Kennedy Center, writes in his program note for Warmth from Other Suns, “Between 1916 and 1970, the mass exodus of African-Americans leaving the rural South, seeking homes in the urban West, Midwest, and Northeast became known as the Great Migration. Inspired by Isabel Wilkerson’s book The Warmth of Other Suns, I chose to bring these stories to life through the voice of a string quartet.”
Shulamit Ran’s third string quartet, Glitter, Shards, Doom, Memory is a tribute to the Jewish artist Felix Nussbaum and other victims of the Holocaust. The work’s name is tied to “Glitter and Doom,” the title of an exhibition of German art from 1919-1933, which was on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2006-07. Ran writes in her program note: [T]his is my way of saying, ‘Do not forget,’ something that I believe can be done through music with special power and poignancy.”
Beethoven’s Quartet Op. 130 has the epic scope and startling originality that characterized many of his works from the final years of his life. Completely deaf at this point, he entered a period of sustained creativity, which often found voice through the intimate vehicle of the string quartet. The Op. 130 quartet contains six movements. The first five are of traditional length—a standard first movement followed by a series of dance movements. The fifth movement, Cavatina, is one of the most famously sublime works ever written, after which Beethoven shocked premiere audiences by launching directly into an enormous and strident grand fugue (Grosse Fugue). Audiences were so upset by this that Beethoven’s publisher convinced him to write an alternative dance-like finale, which became the official final movement. However, many quartets have since decided to return to the original ending in order to honor Beethoven’s intentions—and therefore the Jupiter Quartet will conclude the program with the Grosse Fugue (now filed under its own opus number, 133).
Of performing this program and making their Library of Congress debut, the Jupiter Quartet says:
”We are immensely excited to return to the Library of Congress after many years, and particularly happy to get the privilege of playing on the library’s quartet of Stradivarius instruments again. Meg and Liz spent much of their childhood and early musical years in the Washington, DC area, and look forward to returning to the site of so many fond memories. The program we have prepared features multiple perspectives on the struggle to surmount powerful forces of darkness—an effort that is unfortunately still acutely relevant today.”
More About Jupiter String Quartet: 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, Caramoor International Music Festival, Music at Menlo, Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival, the Banff Centre, the Seoul Spring Festival, and many others. In addition to their performing career, they have been artists-in-residence at the University of Illinois 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.
The Jupiter String Quartet feels a strong connection to the core string quartet repertoire; they have presented the complete Bartok and Beethoven string quartets on numerous occasions. 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.
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 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 will record 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.
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.
For Calendar Editors:
Description: The Jupiter Quartet, described by The New Yorker as having “technical finesse and rare expressive maturity,” is presented in concert by the Library of Congress. The award-winning ensemble will perform a program of music from the 19th and 21st centuries, each shaped by bold musicality and different deeply thematic inspirations. Featured works on the concert program will include: Warmth from Other Suns by Carlos Simon (2020); String Quartet No. 3, Glitter, Doom, Shards, Memory by Shulamit Ran (2013); and String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130 with Grosse Fuge by Ludwig van Beethoven (1825). There will be a pre-concert talk with the artists beginning at 6:30pm.
Concert details:
Who: Jupiter String Quartet
Presented by the Library of Congress
What: Music by Carlos Simon, Shulamit Ran, Ludwig van Beethoven
When: Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 8:00pm with pre-concert talk with the artists from 6:30-7:00pm
Where: Thomas Jefferson Building - Coolidge Auditorium (LJG45E), 10 1st Street SE, Washington, DC 20540
Tickets and information: www.loc.gov/item/event-415276/jupiter-quartet/2025-02-19