Jupiter String Quartet to Perform at Williams College
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Jupiter String Quartet will perform on Friday, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m. in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall on the Williams College campus. They will also provide a chamber music master class for Williams students on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 4:30 p.m. also in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall.These free events are sponsored by the W. Ford Schumann '50 Performing Arts Endowment and are open to the public. Tickets are required for the concert and will be available one hour prior.
In a program promising bracing interpretations of the Quartet in F Minor, opus 20, no. 5 by Hayden, and the Quartet in E-flat Major, opus 127, the first of his late Beethoven quartets, the Jupiter quartet also provides an opportunity to delve into the world of the Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov through his work Yiddishbbuk. Weaving miriad elements to create this monumental work, Golijov draws together an artistic vision of 20th century Jewish life in a complex meditation in three movements. At the heart of this endeavor is no less than the attempt to recover the unrecoverable and to redeem that which would by any other means be lost forever. This expansive process draws on Kafka, tango, Bernstein and Klezmer just to name a few of the enticing ingredients to this hot and spicy musical stew.
Though the performers, Nelson Lee and Megan Freivogel, violin; Liz Freivogel, viola, and Daniel McDonough, cello have been the Jupiter String Quartet since 2001, they literally matured together in other formations long preceding this. Megan and Liz Freivogl are sisters and Daniel McDonough is married to Meg. The Jupiters are “one of the strongest young string quartets in the country” (The New York Sun), and are in demand for their exuberant performances. Indeed, Jupiter, the Roman god associated with happiness, strength and jollity is astrologically important to this quartet. The most prominent planet in the night sky when they chose it as a namesake, the symbol for this giant neighbor resembles the number four. The spirit and ebullience of this deity infuses the group in its quest for excellent, challenging and energetic performance.
As reflected in this concert, the Jupiter String Quartet maintains an enduring interest in the bedrock of chamber music and commits itself to presenting that tradition to new audiences and young audiences. In the context of these enduring works the Jupiters enjoy presenting contrasting groundbreaking new music lending new perspectives to an established form of chamber music.
