Jasper String Quartet CONTACT Jasper String Quartet 205 Forrest Ave Elkins Park, PA 19027 PHONE (314) 607-2042 email | website Biography QUOTES Winner of the prestigious CMA Cleveland Quartet Award, Philadelphia's Jasper String Quartet is the “The [Jasper String Quartet] Professional Quartet in Residence at Temple University's Center for Gifted Young Musicians. displayed joie de vivre and The Jaspers have been hailed as “sonically delightful and expressively compelling” (The Strad) and athleticism - and perhaps most "powerful" (New York Times). "The Jaspers... match their sounds perfectly, as if each swelling chord were tellingly, grins all around.” coming out of a single, impossibly well-tuned organ, instead of four distinct instruments." (New Haven Advocate) – The Strad The quartet records exclusively for Sono Luminus and have released three highly acclaimed albums - Beethoven Op. 131, The Kernis Project: Schubert, and The Kernis Project: Beethoven. “The Jasper Quartet generates an electricity that seems to Current Projects crackle through the crowd.” The Quartet rounds out their commission tour of Aaron Jay Kernis’ 3rd String Quartet "River" in 2016-17 with performances at Wigmore Hall and at Classic Chamber Concerts in Florida. The – Naples Daily News Quartet's Carnegie Hall Recital of the work last season received a glowing review in The Strad. “The music breathed and The Quartet will release their latest album with Sono Luminus in early 2017 featuring quartets by Donnacha Dennehy, Annie Gosfield, Judd Greenstein, Ted Hearne, David Lang, Missy Mazzoli, and swelled in an expressive way Caroline Shaw. without being over-calculated. In addition, this season they will launch their inaugural season of Jasper Chamber Concerts, a series in Even the moments of silence Philadelphia devoted to world class performances of masterworks from around the world and vibrated with an energy.” Philadelphia. – Lakeville Journal History In 2008, the Jaspers swept through the competition circuit, winning the Grand Prize and the “The refinement, the beauty of Audience Prize in the Plowman Chamber Music Competition, the Grand Prize at the Coleman tone — the rich, unified Competition, First Prize at Chamber Music Yellow Springs, and the Silver Medal at the 2008 and 2009 Fischoff Chamber Music Competitions. They were also the first ensemble honored with Yale School sonority — it reminded of of Music’s Horatio Parker Memorial Prize, an award established in 1945 and selected by the faculty eminences.” for “best fulfilling… lofty musical ideals." In 2010, they joined the roster of Astral Artists after winning – Lesley Valdes, WRTI their national auditions. The Quartet was the 2010-12 Ensemble-in-Residence at Oberlin Conservatory and, in conjunction “Outstanding” with Astral Artists, was awarded a 2012 Chamber Music America grant through its Residency Partnership Program for work in Philadelphia schools. From 2009-2011, the Jaspers were the Ernst C. – The New Yorker Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and Arts (Katonah, NY). They were the first ensemble to be invited for a second year as such. Philosophy The Jaspers perform pieces emotionally significant to its members ranging from Haydn and Beethoven through Berg, Ligeti, and living composers. They have commissioned string quartets from some of today’s best composers, including Aaron Jay Kernis, Andrew Norman, Nicholas Omiccioli, Conrad Tao and Annie Gosfield. Critics and audiences commend the Jasper String Quartet’s “programming savvy” (clevelandclassical.com) and they have performed throughout the United States Jasper and in Canada, England, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway and Panama. The Jasper String Quartet has brought well over 200 outreach programs into schools and enjoys educational work of all types. In their Melba and Orville Roleffson Residency at the Banff Centre they String embarked on "guerrilla chamber music," performing concerts in unusual settings around Alberta, Canada. Currently, the quartet works closely with Philadelphia’s Astral Artists to bring outreach Quartet activities to schools. JSQ Origin Formed at Oberlin Conservatory, the Jaspers began pursuing a professional career in 2006 while studying with James Dunham, Norman Fischer, and Kenneth Goldsmith as Rice University’s Graduate WORLDWIDE MANAGER Quartet-in-Residence. In 2008, the quartet continued its training with the Tokyo String Quartet as Emmy Tu Yale University's Graduate Quartet-in-Residence. 174 West 4th Street, Suite 109 New York, NY 10014 The Jasper String Quartet is named after Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada and is represented exclusively by Dispeker Artists. For more information, please visit www.jasperquartet.com or PHONE (212) 421-7678 www.facebook.com/jasperstringquartet. email | website Programs for 2017-2018, \ Fall 2017: Program 1 Mozart Quartet in G Major, K. 387 (27') Prokofiev Quartet No. 2 in F Major (23’) -intermission- Ravel Quartet in F Major (29’) Program 2 Haydn Quartet in D minor, Op. 76 No. 2 "Quinten" (21') Annie Gosfield "The Blue Horse Walks on the Horizon" (16') -intermission- PHOTOS Schubert Quartet in G Major, D. 887 (50’) Spring 2018 Program 1 Mozart Quartet in D major, K. 499 (27') Ted Hearne "Excerpts from the middle of something Link (from Law of Mosaics)" (4') Missy Mazzoli "Death Valley Junction" (9') -intermission- Beethoven Quartet in A minor, Op. 132 (41') Program 2 Beethoven Quartet in G Major, Op. 18 No. 2 (25') Link Shostakovich Quartet No. 9 (25') OR Hearne and Mazzoli (14' combined) -intermission- Mendelssohn Quartet in E minor, Op. 44 No. 2 (27') Individual Biographies Jasper J Freivogel is the founding and current first violinist of the Jasper String Quartet. Born into a musical family, J started playing violin when he was 2 and string quartets with his siblings when he was 6. He grew up in Kirkwood, MO. String J attended Oberlin College and Conservatory for Bachelor’s degrees in Violin Performance and Politics and, during his time there, won the Kauffman Chamber Quartet Music prize three times, the Presser Music Award, the Hurlbutt prize for most outstanding violinist, and the concerto competition. He received his Master’s in String Quartet Performance from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and an Artist’s Diploma at the Yale School of Music. His principal teachers include Marilyn McDonald, Sylvia Rosenberg, and Cho-Liang Lin for violin and James VIDEO Dunham, Norman Fischer and the Tokyo String Quartet for chamber music. J is also a core member of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO). J is married to cellist Rachel Henderson Freivogel and they live in Philadelphia, PA with their children, Leon and Evy. Sae Chonabayashi is the second violinist of the Jasper String Quartet. She was born in Ibaragi, Japan and began playing violin at age three. Sae attended the prestigious Toho Gakuen School of Music in Japan from the age of fifteen, where Beethoven Op. 131 she completed her studies with Koichiro Harada, a founding member of the Tokyo String Quartet. In 2001, Sae came to the United States to study with Donald Weilerstein at the Cleveland Institute of Music. As a full scholarship student, she continued her studies with Mr. Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory, where she received undergraduate and graduate diplomas. She won third prize in the 2006 Swedish Duo International Competition. She lives in Philadelphia, PA with her husband, Shun, and her son, Hideki Sam Quintal, founding violist of the Jasper String Quartet, was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska in a small log cabin with wood heat and no Smetana Quartet No. 1 running water. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in violin performance "From My Life" from Oberlin Conservatory studying with Marilyn McDonald, his Master’s degree in String Quartet from Rice University studying viola with James Dunham, and his Artist's Diploma from Yale School of Music studying with the Tokyo String Quartet. In addition to many prestigious performances and collaborations with his quartet, he has individually performed with exceptional chamber musicians such as the Tokyo String Quartet, Paul Neubauer and Andrés Díaz. When not playing viola, he loves cooking, cross-country skiing, biking and and building things in his basement workshop. Beethoven Op. 59 No. 3 He lives in Philadelphia, PA with his wife, Anna, and daughter, Lena. Rachel Henderson Freivogel is the founding cellist of the Jasper String Quartet She began her studies with her mother in her hometown of Ann Arbor, MI at the age of four and completed her undergraduate studies in cello performance at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she also received a Master’s Degree in historical performance. She received a Master’s Degree in String Quartet from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and an Artist's Diploma in String Quartet from Yale School of Music. Her principal teachers include Norman Fischer, Clive Greensmith and Catharina Meints. Rachel is married to violinist, J Freivogel, and lives in Philadelphia, PA with her children, Leon and Evy. Discography .