Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players

“This was music-making of a very high order”
“at the Jupiter concerts, there is always so much about which to be enthusiastic.”
“the rarities glittered like jewels”

Fred Kirshnit, The New York Sun
view more reviews

Join Our Mailing List!

Jupiter 2019 - 2020 Season
20 Mondays at 2:00 PM & 7:30 PM

View Our NEW Season Calendar

To purchase Tickets ~ $25, $17, $10 
please call (212) 799-1259 or buy at the door
or e-mail admin@jupitersymphony.com
or order tickets with our printable ticket order form (pdf)

Concert Venue:
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
152 West 66 Street (west of Broadway), New York

“one of the most refined and intelligent church spaces in New York” ~ The New York Times Built in 1893 by Josiah Cleveland Cady, architect of the old Metropolitan Opera House and the American Museum of Natural History

Office Address:
JUPITER SYMPHONY
155 West 68th Street, Suite 319
New York, NY 10023
admin@jupitersymphony.com
(212) 799-1259

Like our Facebook page to see photos, videos,
concert information and the latest news

html5 audio player

Listen to a live recording of the Jupiter Symphony
Chamber Players from September 23, 2013
Recorded by Joseph Patrych

Roman Rabinovich piano
Xiao-Dong Wang violin
Mihai Marica cello

Antonín DVORÁK  Piano Trio No. 1 in B^b Major Op. 21
i. Allegro molto
ii. Adagio molto e mesto
iii. Allegretto scherzando
iv. Finale

The next time you shop on Amazon, sign up at Smile.Amazon.com and donate 0.5% of your purchase to Jupiter, without additional cost to you or to Jupiter. Many thanks

Jupiter in the News

ConcertoNet
“knocked the socks off this listener...It was wondrous chamber music. And the three artists gave it the deserving excitement, volition and imagination.” 
Harry Rolnick, ConcertoNet   more...

“the performers were top notch”
“The homey church where these concerts take place, nestled on West 66th Street in the shadow of Lincoln Center, is an intimate and acoustically vibrant place for chamber music.”
Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times   more...

Strad Magazine
“A finely forthright, fluent and expressive account of Haydn's Divertimento in E-flat major opened this programme of miscellaneous chamber music in a series known for adventurous programming.”
Dennis Rooney, Strad Magazine   more...

ConcertoNet
“Mr. Nygaard’s cadenza flowed down Mozart lanes and paths, each with beautiful backgrounds. And at the very end, Mr. Nygaard brought forth that martial major theme, like an unexpected gift.” 
Harry Rolnick, ConcertoNet   more...

“...the group’s efforts proved illuminating ...Brown played a lovely, subtly virtuosic cadenza for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 by Jens Nygaard, the ensemble’s founder, who died in 2001, but whose fascination with rarities continues to drive its programming”
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times   more...

Dear Jupiter Friends and Music Lovers,

As promised, here are the links to videos of John Field’s Divertissement No. 1 and Sir Hamilton Harty’s Piano Quintet. Fortuitously, our Jupiter musicians had the good sense to record the rehearsal in an impromptu decision, literally minutes before pressing the record button. Pianist Mackenzie Melemed (replacing Roman Rabinovich at the last minute) learned the music in 2 days! Bravo to him.

Both works are Irish rarities that were scheduled for the March 16 performances which had to be canceled because of the coronavirus epidemic. Even though the entire program could not be recorded because of technical issues, we are pleased to be able to share with you the 2 musical gems. Enjoy.

John Field’s Divertissement No. 1
https://youtu.be/wnubWCIAjzI

Sir Hamilton Harty’s Piano Quintet
https://youtu.be/lSGRyyf4xEEy

Monday, March 16, 2pm & 7:30pm ~ CANCELLED
Irish Emeralds
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
152 West 66 Street (west of Broadway)

Mackenzie Melemed piano
Laureate of numerous prizes including the 2018 Arthur Rubinstein Piano Prize and the 2018 Paris Recital Prize from Poland’s Prix de Tarnów Competition ~ “excellent young pianist” The New York Times

Abigel Kralik violin
Top prize winner of the Rising Stars (Berlin) Grand Prix and Vienna International Music Competition, first prize at the 2012 Talents for Europe competition in Slovakia, grand prize at the 2010 Koncz János competition ~ “a shooting star in the truest sense of the word” Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Kultura

Note: Mackenzie Melemed replaces Roman Rabinovich and Abigel Kralik replaces Stefan Milenkovich for these concerts

BEETHOVEN  Irish Songs ~ “The Pulse of an Irishman,” “His Boat Comes on the Sunny Tide,” “On the Massacre of Glencoe,” “Come Draw We Round a Cheerful Ring”
  ~ soprano, violin, cello, piano ~ the tunes are winsome and the accompanying piano trio occasionally sounds unmistakably like vigorous echoes of his muscular style ~ between 1806 and 1818 Beethoven collaborated with a Scottish collector of folk music by the name of George Thomson in arranging more than 100 folksongs for an estimated £550

John FIELD  Divertissement No. 1 H. 13
  ~ simply delicious piano quintet, alternately titled Rondeau Pastoral and better known in its version for solo piano, Twelve O’clock Rondo, on account of the 12 “chimes” at the end ~ by the creator of the Nocturne, which had a major influence on Chopin

We thank the University of Virginia (Special Collections) for providing a copy of the Rondeau Pastoral for our performances.

Sir Charles Villiers STANFORD  Serenade in F Major Op. 95
  ~ a glorious nonet for strings and winds that radiates a splendid sense of spirit and fun ~ by the influential musician responsible for the renaissance in British music

Sir Hamilton HARTY  Piano Quintet in F Major Op. 12
  ~ in a lyrical Romantic idiom, with a distinct, breezy Irish-salted voice

We are grateful to Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, for providing a copy of the autograph manuscript for our performances.

Jupiter Players on this program:

Jessica Niles soprano
A master’s candidate at Juilliard on a Kovner Fellowship ~ awarded the Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding achievement and leadership in 2019

Dechopol Kowintaweewat violin
A winner of Young Concert Artists Auditions (as a member of the Zorá String Quartet) “deeply lyrical” Boston Intelligencer

Sarah Sung viola
Currently at Juilliard, studying with Paul Neubauer and Cynthia Phelps ~ cofounder of VISION Collective along with Timothy Chooi and Drake Driscoll, an initiative that builds meaningful relationships with and among refugees by sharing and exchanging music between diverse communities

Christine Lamprea cello
First Prize winner of the Sphinx and Schadt competitions, winner of the 2013 Astral Artists’ Auditions and recipient of an award from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts ~ praised by the Boston Musical Intelligencer for her “supreme panache and charmingly effortless phrasing”

Ha Young Jung double bass
Gold Medalist in the 2017 Berliner competition, multiple prizewinner at the 2016 Irving Klein and 2016 Boulder Chamber Music competition, First Prizes at the 2013 Koussevitzky and 2007 International Double Bass competitions, Grand-Prix in the 2006 String Competition in Moscow ~ “Disarming prodigy who achieved the rare distinction of making her instrument seem worthy of solo status.” Daily Telegraph of London

Anthony Trionfo flute
A winner of the 2016 Young Concert Artists Auditions, won first prize at the 2013 Alexander & Buono competition, and a winner of the National YoungArts Foundation competition ~ “spellbinding” Santa Barbara Voice

Yoonah Kim clarinet
Winner of the 2016 Concert Artists Guild Competition and first prizewinner of the Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition ~ hailed by the New York Times for her “inexhaustible virtuosity.”

Joshua Elmore bassoon
A recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist award, he is currently a student at Juilliard on a Kovner Fellowship ~ Joshua has appeared on NPR’s From the Top

Karl Kramer horn
Winner of the 1997 and 1999 American Horn competitions ~ “Praise goes to the heroic horn playing of Karl Kramer.” New York Classical Review

Monday, March 30, 2pm & 7:30pm ~ CANCELLED 
Ties to Beethoven
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
152 West 66 Street (west of Broadway)

Janice Carissa piano
Young Scholar of the Lang Lang Foundation, recipient of the 2018 Salon de Virtuosi Grant, winner of the 2014 piano competition at the Aspen Festival, and a top prizewinner of the IBLA Foundation’s 2006 piano competition (at age 8)

Miriam Fried violin
Winner of the Paganini and Queen Elisabeth competitions ~ one of the world’s preeminent violinists ~ heralded for her “fiery intensity and emotional depth” Musical America ~ plays a 1718 ex-Spohr Stradivarius

Friedrich WITT  Quintet in E^b Major Op. 5
  ~ appealing, elegant melodies for a crackerjack pianist, and admirable part writing for the oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn ~ recorded by the Canadian pianist Anton Kuerti

Highly regarded in his day, Witt (1770–1836) is best known for his Jena Symphony, once attributed to Beethoven. He was a cellist in the celebrated court orchestra of Oettingen-Wallerstein, where he studied composition with Antonio Rosetti. When he became famous for his oratorio Der leidende Heiland (The Suffering Saviour), he was appointed Kapellmeister to the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, and from 1814 to his death he was Kapellmeister at the Würzburg Theatre, for which he composed operas.

Lest we forget, Jens Nygaard performed Witt’s obscure Jena Symphony, and was of the opinion it was not plagiarized from Haydn

HAYDN  String Quartet in D Major Op. 76 No. 5
  ~ one of his most unusual quartets, nicknamed “Largo” for its particularly slow affective movement

Professor Roger Parker explains that the Quartet is unique because “the customary balance between the first two movements is reversed. The first movement is light and undemanding in character (a theme and variations), but is then countered by an extensively developmental slow movement, in the unorthodox (and extremely hard to keep in tune!) key of F sharp major.” The quartets in Op. 76 are sometimes known as the “Erdődy” quartets, so-named after their dedicatee, the Hungarian nobleman Count Joseph Georg von Erdődy.

BEETHOVEN  Piano Trio No. 1 in E^b Major Op. 1 No. 1
  ~ reveals his assimilation of the high-Classical style, but in his distinctive personal manner— from the first Mozartean movement in a Beethovenian voice, generous with musical ideas, to his expansionist tendencies in the coda

Beethoven made an imposing statement when his three Op. 1 piano trios were performed at one of the soirées of his early and loyal patron Prince Karl von Lichnowsky. Haydn, one of the invited guests, remarked on their bold originality: “You give me the impression of a man with more than one head, more than one heart and more than one soul!” His first great patron in Bonn, Count Ferdinand Waldstein, recorded in his personal album, “You will receive the spirit of Mozart from the hands of Haydn.” More than a decade after publication, Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung proclaimed the trios “Strong, powerful, and moving.” He had labored over the extensive revisions before Artaria printed them, secretly subsidized by Prince Lichnowsky. Thomas May explained, “Beethoven’s first official declaration in print as a composer was a stunning success, both critically and commercially.... Even more, Beethoven’s successful assessment of the public demand for new pianoforte-centered chamber music allowed him to establish a formidable identity with Vienna’s leading publishers. The biographer Lewis Lockwood points out that, as a result, ‘he thought about composition and publication from early on as a single large-scale enterprise.’”

Jupiter Players on this program:

Mari Lee violin
“an outstanding musician…with an artful, expressive power” Zürichsee Zeitung

Lisa Sung viola
Won a Special Prize at the 2016 Lionel Tertis Viola Competition, top prizes at the 2019 Vienna and 2017 Manhattan competitions, and twice won the Australian States Concerto Competition ~ “a viola prodigy” Australian Daily Telegraph

Timotheos Petrin cello
Winner of the 2015 Astral Artists Auditionm, top prize winner at the Paulo Cello Competition in Finland ~ “a great and passionate soloist style: expressive, vibrant singing lines, sparkling rhythm... an interesting, original personality” Helsingin Sanomat

Roni Gal-Ed oboe
First Prize winner of the Lauschmann Oboe Competition in Mannheim ~ “Outstanding” The New York Times ~ “Expressive, wonderful player” German SZ Magaziner

Vadim Lando clarinet
Winner of the CMC Canada, Yale and Stonybrook competitions ~ “consistently distinguished...vibrant, precise, virtuosic playing” The New York Times

Marlène Ngalissamy bassoon
Won first prize at the 2012 Canadian Music Competition ~ “Ngalissamy gave a fully evolved shape and sinewy sound to the long phrase. Nuanced, authoritative, rendered in a variety of colors, it was a solo to win auditions.” Philadelphia Inquirer

Karl Kramer horn
Winner of the 1997 and 1999 American Horn competitions ~ “Praise goes to the heroic horn playing of Karl Kramer.” New York Classical Review

Monday, April 6, 2pm & 7:30pm ~ CANCELLED 
American Goodies
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
152 West 66 Street (west of Broadway)

Stephen Beus piano
Winner of the Gina Bachauer competition and Vendome Prize ~ “Mesmerizing... explosive... intelligent... he belongs on the world stage.” Salt Lake Tribune ~ “...strikingly original... his playing is so natural as to seem effortless and the sound he produces has extraordinary richness and depth not quite like anyone else’s.” Fanfare

Abigel Kralik violin
Top prize winner of the Rising Stars (Berlin) Grand Prix and Vienna International Music Competition, first prize at the 2012 Talents for Europe competition in Slovakia, grand prize at the 2010 Koncz János competition ~ “a shooting star in the truest sense of the word” Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Kultura

Randall THOMPSON  Suite for oboe, clarinet, and viola
  ~ one of his favorite pieces, the scrumptious trio is distilled Americana, folk-flavored with echoes of old Western tunes and Yankee hymn themes

Born in New York City, Thompson earned his doctorate at the Eastman School of Music and taught at the Curtis Institute, University of Virginia, and Harvard University. He is best known for his choral works.

Marion BAUER  Concertino Op. 32b
  ~ 3 short movements in a late Romantic idiom, with intense harmonies for oboe, clarinet, and string quartet ~ commissioned by the League of Composers

Born in Walla Walla, Washington, Bauer was Nadia Boulanger’s first American pupil. They traded lessons—English for music, and vice versa. She taught and lectured widely, including at Juilliard, and was the first woman faculty member at New York University. Most importantly, Bauer was a tireless promoter and supporter of American and modern music, exerting great influence in the development of American music in the first half of the 20th century.

Charles Griffes became her close friend after they met in 1917. Although their friendship was short (he died in 1920), their mutual respect and influence ran deep. After Griffes’s death, Bauer programmed his music on numerous lecture-recitals and helped to organize concerts of his music. She wrote that he “was one of the first to put into American piano music something of the elusive charm and color of French Impressionism.”

Charles Tomlinson GRIFFES  Two Sketches on Indian Themes
  ~ the first is based on a “Farewell Song of the Chippewa Indians” and the second is from a Hopi festival, being his impression of a Native American dance ~ by the most gifted of the American impressionists, for string quartet

Griffes was born in Elmira, New York. He studied in Berlin; and upon returning to the U.S. in 1907, he became the director of music studies at the Hackley School for boys in Tarrytown for 13 years, until his death at age 35 from influenza during the pandemic. Although the post gave him financial stability, it was “grim and unrewarding.”

Howard HANSON  Concerto da Camera in C minor Op. 7
  ~ penned in one fantasy-like movement for piano and string quartet by the 20-year-old, expressing a wide range of emotions and with audacious virtuosity

Born in Wahoo, Nebraska to Swedish parents, Hanson was Director of the Eastman School of Music for 40 years. During his tenure, he presented over 1,500 different compositions by more than 700 composers. John Gladney Proffitt notes that he “was the leading practitioner of American musical Romanticism.... Hanson dedicated his professional life to the encouragement, creation and preservation of beauty in music, believing it to be an art form possessing unique power to ennoble both performer and listener and, by extension, mankind.”

We are grateful to Sibley Music Library at the Eastman School of Music for providing a copy of the music for our performances.

Charles Wakefield CADMAN  Piano Trio in D Major Op. 56
  ~ an Elysian post-Romantic work by the “Most Popular Composer of 1930” ~ its use of ragtime elements in a classical composition is a first, anticipating the music of composers like Gershwin and Milhaud

Cadman did not teach. Born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, he was for a time the music editor and critic of the Pittsburgh Dispatch, and became a foremost expert on American Indian music. After he moved to Los Angeles in the 1920s, he helped found the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and wrote film scores, earning a reputation as one of Hollywood’s top film composers of the period.

Jupiter Players on this program:

Lisa Shihoten violin
Honored by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and winner of the Menuhin and Paganini violin competitions

Luosha Fang viola
Winner of the 2013 Astral Artists Auditions (as a violinist) ~ won first Prize in the 2018 Tokyo Viola Competition, Silver Medalist at the 2010 Fischoff competition (as first violinist of the Chimeng Quartet) ~ “She proved her full range - technically, expressively, and with a great sense of uncovering for the listener why this music is important.” Peter Dobrin ~ The Inquirer

Coleman Itzkoff cello
Gold Medalist in the 2017 Berliner competition and a multiple prizewinner at the 2016 Irving Klein and 2016 Boulder Chamber Music competitions ~ “flawless technique and keen musicality” Alex Ross ~New Yorker

Vadim Lando clarinet
Winner of the CMC Canada, Yale and Stonybrook competitions ~ “consistently distinguished...vibrant, precise, virtuosic playing” The New York Times

Lillian Copeland oboe

Dear Friends and Music Lovers,    As many of you already know, Jupiter is a paradise for melomaniacs. It’s a haven to wallow in beautiful melodies, superb musicians and music making, and interesting programs. There’s nary a dull moment, thanks to our brilliant artistic director, Michael Volpert.    Indeed, “The playing is top notch; the programs are full of exotica.” Richard Morrison ~ The London Times “excellent musicians in unusual programs” Anthony Tommasini ~ The New York Times “this was truly impressive music making” “One of the Best Deals in Town” “Those in the know keep coming back.” Fred Kirshnit ~ The New York Sun “bringing classical music to people in a powerful way” Cole Grissom ~ Broadway World    So do come as often as you can. And please give as much as you can to help keep Jupiter spinning its musical magic. Your financial support is truly needed.    All gifts are tax deductible.    Thank you so much,

Pencil drawing of Jens Nygaard by Michael McNamara

Why the name Jupiter: When Jens Nygaard named his orchestra Jupiter, he had the beautiful, gaseous planet in mind—unattainable but worth the effort, like reaching musical perfection. Many, indeed, were privileged and fortunate to hear his music making that was truly Out of This World. Our Players today seek to attain that stellar quality.

View Our Season Calendar

more details here...

Order Tickets with Our Printable Ticket Order Form (pdf)

Take a look at our guest artists for this season.
Find out more about the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players.