SAINT PAUL CHAMBER MUSIC INSTITUTE 2021 OPENING CONCERT featuring Sabina Thatcher, viola The Jasper String Quartet

Sunday, June 20, 2021 7 PM Woulfe Hall, University of St. Thomas Anderson Student Center

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Sonata Pastorale for Solo Viola Lillian Fuchs (1901-1995) I. Pastoral. Maestoso II. Pastoral. Andante semplice Sabina Thatcher, viola

String Quartet No. 1 in G Major Florence B. Price (1887-1953) I. Allegro II. Andante moderato

The Jasper String Quartet J Freivogel, violin Karen Kim, violin Andrew Gonzalez, viola Rachel Henderson Freivogel,

String Quartet No. 1 Vivian Fung (b. 1975) I. Animato II. Interludium III. Pizzicato IV. Moto Perpetuo-Presto Possible The Jasper String Quartet

INTERMISSION

String Quartet in F Major Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) I. Allegro moderato-très doux II. Assez vif- très rythmé III. Très lent IV. Vif et agité

The Jasper String Quartet

Celebrating its fifteenth anniversary in 2021, the Jasper String Quartet is recognized as one of the leading American string quartets on the performance stage today.

A recipient of Chamber Music America’s prestigious Quartet Award, the quartet has been hailed as “sonically delightful and expressively compelling,” (The Strad) and described by Gramophone as “flawless in ensemble and intonation, expressively assured and beautifully balanced.” The New York Times named their album Unbound as one of the 25 Best Classical Recordings of 2017.

Based in , the Jasper String Quartet is the Professional Quartet-in-Residence at Temple University's Center for Gifted Young Musicians and Featured Artist-in-Residence at Swarthmore College for the 2020-22 academic years. In addition, the Quartet is the Founder and Artistic Director of Jasper Chamber Concerts.

Sabina Thatcher joined the Orchestra in September 2019 as associate principal viola. She served as the principal viola of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra from 1989 until 2012. She was a soloist with that ensemble on numerous occasions, performing a wide variety of repertoire including Penderecki’s Viola Concerto, Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante, Hindemith’s Kammermusik and John Harbison’s Viola Concerto. She was also a member of the Rosalyra String Quartet, which gave its New York debut in 1996, and with which she recorded works by Bartók, Beethoven, Shostakovich and Brahms. She has also recorded both the Fauré Piano Quartets and the Brahms A-major Piano Quartet.

Thatcher was an artist-faculty member at the Aspen Music Festival and School from 1998 to 2016, and she has been a distinguished artist and teacher at the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at . She was a finalist in the Naumberg International Viola Competition and has performed solo recitals locally and nationally. Before coming to Minnesota, she graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a performer’s certificate and distinction, then studied at the Juilliard School with Lillian Fuchs. During that time, she toured with the Brandenburg Ensemble under the direction of Alexander Schneider and was a prizewinner in the Hudson Valley Competition. She is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota.

Special thanks to John and Jennifer Sejdinaj, Teresa Roberts, Nels Leininger and Gail English, Brian and Lisa Casey, Alfred Guillaume, David and Karen Grandstrand, Ann Divine, House of Note, Titilayo Ufomata, Tuck and Janice Langland, Annette Conklin and an anonymous donor for your generous support of the Institute and scholarships for student participants.

This program has been made possible, in part, with support from ACMP Associated Chamber Music Players.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, and through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

Additional funding is made possible by generous donations from Boss Foundation, Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation, Ecolab Foundation, Anna M. Heilmaier Foundation, the Art and Martha Kaemmer Fund of HRK Foundation the Twin Cities Opera Guild, and an anonymous donor.