A Living Tribute to Jens Nygaard: Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players... It's Out of This World

A chamber music series to acknowledge and perpetuate the legacy of conductor Jens Nygaard, continuing a marvelous journey through the universe of music that includes works from the standard repertoire and the rarely-performed, and featuring outstanding musicians.

Join Us For Our 2024-2025 Season!

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
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Greetings!

    Welcome to Jupiter, where you’ll find heavenly music played by a constellation of stars.
    Just as you visit a museum to view art by major and minor masters, you’ll hear music of major and minor composers at Jupiter, in programs designed by our brilliant artistic director Michael Volpert.
    The familiar and new discoveries to enjoy are also enhanced by our venue’s great acoustics and convivial ambience.
    We thank our generous Patrons and Friends in spades for the privilege of offering these musical feasts made possible by their support. We thank the musicians for learning the repertoire, some of which is very difficult and will leave you gasping with awe and admiration. And we thank all of you for coming to Jupiter to savor its array of delectable concerts.

You’ll continue to have:

HEPA-filter air purifiers in operation
Ventilation—as much as possible
Spaced-apart seating for better sight lines

Affordable ticket prices

   Ticket reservations are advised to avoid disappointment at the door.

Not least, please consider a gift to help Jupiter create the best music making around.
   All gifts are tax deductible.
   Thank you so much,
Meiying

Jens Nygaard & pianist William Wolfram
circa late 1990s
Artistic director Michael Volpert and Jens Nygaard
circa late 1990s

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 NEW Season Calendar

Click on the dates for 2024-2025 program details:

September 9 ~ Mad about Schumann
September 23 ~ Crème de la Crème

October 7 ~ Out of Judaism
October 21 ~ The Ricordi Legacy
October 28 ~ Amazing Women
November 11 ~ Spanish Flair
November 25 ~ Ukrainian Splendor
December 2 ~ Tinkerers
December 16 ~ Romantic Melodists
January 6 ~ Admired in Vienna

January 20 ~ Romance with Finns
February 3 ~ Love Exposed
February 17 ~ Getaway to UK
March 3 ~ The Franck Connexion
March 17 ~ Blazing Stars
March 24 ~ Classical Evolution
April 7 ~ A “Dvorák” Medley
April 14 ~ Poles Vault
April 28 ~ German Romantics
May 12 ~ Russian Musical Society

more details here...

View Our Printable Calendar and Ticket Order Form (pdf)

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

Join us for our next concerts...

Fei Fei, piano
Stella Chen, violin
Isabelle Ai Durrenberger, violin
Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, viola
Ramón Carrero-Martínez, viola
Ani Aznavoorian, cello
Sara Scanlon, cello
Sooyun Kim, flute
Roni Gal-Ed, oboe
Vadim Lando, clarinet
Karl Kramer, horn
Gina Cuffari, bassoon

Monday, April 28 2 PM & 7:30 PM
German Romantics
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
152 West 66 Street (west of Broadway)

Limited Seating

Tickets: $25, $17, $10 ~ Reservations advised
Call (212) 799-1259 or email admin@jupitersymphony.com
Pay by check or cash (exact change)​​​

Fei Fei piano
Winner of the Concert Artists Guild and a top finalist at the 14th Van Cliburn competitions. Praised by the Plain Dealer for her “bountiful gifts and passionate immersion into the music she touches,” she continues to build a reputation for her poetic interpretations, charming audiences with her “passion, piquancy and tenderness” and “winning stage presence” (Dallas Morning News)

Stella Chen violin
Recipient of a 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant and winner of the Grand Prize‑Queen Mathilde Prize at the 2019 Queen Elisabeth competition ~ other honors include the first Robert Levin Award from Harvard University, the top prize at the Tibor Varga competition, and she was the youngest ever prize winner of the Menuhin competition ~ lauded by by The Strad for her “silken grace” and “brilliant command” ~ her debut album Stella x Schubert, released in 2023 on Apple Music’s Platoon label to critical acclaim, garnered her the title of Young Artist of the Year at the Gramophone Awards

Isabelle Durrenberger violin
Fellow of Ensemble Connect’s 2023–2025 seasons, semifinalist at the 2022 Indianapolis Competition, and 3rd Prize at the 2018 Irving Klein String Competition

Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt viola
Winnings include First Prize at the 2013 Banff Competition, Gold Medal and Grand Prize at the 2010 Fischoff Competition, First Prize at the Lionel Tertis Viola Competition, and top prizes at the Tokyo and Sphinx competitions ~ “she should have a great future” Tully Potter ~ Wigmore Hall ~ lyricism that stood out...a silky tone and beautiful, supple lines
Strad Magazine

Ramón Carrero-Martinez viola
Winner of the Grand Prize at the 2022 Fischoff Competition as a member of the Terra String Quartet, and has won other competitions in the U.S., Italy, and Venezuela

Ani Aznavoorian cello
Winner of the Julius Stulberg and Paolo competitions ~ “shows great sensitivity and great virtuosity at all moments” Los Angeles Times ~ “stunning in her assured technical mastery” Kansas City Star

Sara Scanlon cello
Grand Finalist of the National YoungArts Competition ~ her many prize winnings include concerto competitions of the Chappaqua Orchestra, Hamden Symphony, and Adelphi Orchestra

Sooyun Kim flute
Winner of the Georg Solti Foundation Career Grant and a top prize at the ARD flute competition, she has been praised for her “vivid tone colors” by the Oregonian and as a “rare virtuoso of the flute” by Libération

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

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

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

Gina Cuffari bassoon
Principal Bassoonist of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, praised for her “sound that is by turns sensuous, lyric, and fast moving” Palm Beach Daily News

Wilhelm Maria PUCHTLER  Notturno in F minor for Piano Quartet Op. 9
   ~ a siren of the night beckons with its mysterious beauty through dark atmospheric shrouds, relieved by a clearing in the shifting moods, but not for long

Puchtler was an “adherent of the New German School which was led by Liszt and Wagner, and whose followers were antagonistic towards the Conservatives like Brahms, Joachim, and Schumann [Michael Volpert].” Brahms thought his piano music “horrendously difficult to play” and that his other works were “just dreadful.” If you beg to differ, then phooey to Herr Brahms and succumb to the siren.

Born in 1848 in the village of Remlingen (then in Bavaria), Puchtler put the priesthood before music so as to please his parents. However, after their deaths, he entered the Stuttgart Conservatory in 1868 and studied composition with its founder Immanuel Faisst. He also studied privately with Franz Liszt, with whom he became friends. After graduating, he obtained a position in Göttingen as a music teacher and choir director. He died in 1881 at age 33 from tuberculosis.

Max BRAUER  Sextett in G minor
   ~ exuberant late-Romanticism—for piano and wind quintet

Brauer was born in 1855 in Mannheim, which then had the reputation of performing the largest repertoire of operas of any city in Germany. His first studies were with Vinzenz Lachner, the city’s court conductor from 1836 to 1873 (Lachner was so highly valued that his contract was renewed and extended whenever he received offers from other musical centers). Brauer then enrolled at the Cologne Conservatory, where he studied piano and composition with Ferdinand Hiller, Gustav Jensen, and Samuel de Lange. After graduating, he was appointed music director of Kaiserslautern, a Bavarian province in his day. After 2 decades, around 1905, Brauer moved to Karlsrühe, where he founded and became director of the Bach Choral Society, a position he held until his death in 1918. Brauer composed in most genres, including operas, orchestral music, chamber music, and sonatas.

BRAHMS  String Sextet No. 1 in Bb Major Op. 18
   ~ fresh and colorful, genial and spontaneous

Written at age 27 during his first official appointment to the princely Court at Detmold, the string sextet was then a rare form. Upon finishing the piece—one of his earliest chamber works—Brahms sent it to his friend, the violinist Joseph Joachim. After playing through the piece with friends, Joachim was cautiously optimistic and arranged a premiere in Hanover on 20 October 1860. Brahms was present for the occasion, as was his dear friend Clara Schumann, who was quite taken with the piece and remarked, “It was even more beautiful than I had anticipated, and my expectations were already high.”

Maxim Lando, piano
Itamar Zorman, violin
Christine Lamprea, cello
Anthony Trionfo, flute
Vadim Lando, clarinet
Karl Kramer, horn
Joshua Butcher, bassoon

Monday, May 12 2 PM & 7:30 PM
Russian Musical Society
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
152 West 66 Street (west of Broadway)

Limited Seating

Tickets: $25, $17, $10 ~ Reservations advised
Call (212) 799-1259 or email admin@jupitersymphony.com
Pay by check or cash (exact change)​​​

Maxim Lando piano
Winner of the 2021/22 Vendome Grand Prize, 2020 Gilmore Young Artist Award, winner in the 2018 Young Concert Artists Auditions, Gold Medal at the 2017 Berliner International Competition, Gold Medal at the 2015 International Television Contest for Young Musicians in Moscow, 2nd prize at the Kissinger Klavier Olymp in Germany, winner of the 2014 Juilliard Pre-College Concerto Competition ~ “He has an ever so clear approach to the keyboard, and the molding and shaping of phrases straight from the musical angels.” Berkshire Fine Arts ~ “Lando boasts technical skill” Anthony Tommasini ~ The New York Times ~ “He was simply brilliant” Cleveland Classical

Itamar Zorman violin
Recipient of the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grant ~ winner of the 2011 Tchaikovsky and 2010 Freiburg competitions ~ “a virtuoso of emotions” Göttinger Tageblatt ~ “I cannot believe my ears... such musical originality, a tone full of colors and beauty and an emotional expression full of inner intensity” Hanoch Ron ~ Yedioth Aharonot (Israel's largest newspaper)

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”

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

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

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

Joshua Butcher bassoon
Acting Assistant Principal Bassoon with the Albany Symphony

Nikolay RUBINSTEIN  Valse morceau de salon Op. 16
   ~ a lovely waltz for solo piano (later arranged for 2 pianos)

Rubinstein (1835–1881) was born the year his father opened a small pencil factory in Moscow. He and his older brother Anton were taught piano, first by their mother (a task master when it came to practicing) and then by Aleksandr Villoing. From 1844 to 1846 both boys studied music theory in Berlin. After returning home, he studied medicine at Moscow University to avoid conscription, barely graduating in 1855 (abetted by the notoriously lax exams). By 1860, preferring music, he established the Moscow branch of the Russian Musical Society in his own house, where music was taught and concerts were presented. Its success and popularity led to expansion and larger quarters. Nikolay’s personality was also an asset. He was reputed to be a “gregarious, extrovert, generous, charming bon vivant [and] was welcome in all the fashionable aristocratic houses in Moscow, a city for which he had a special affection.” In 1866 Nikolay Rubinstein cofounded (with Prince Troubetzkoy) the Moscow Imperial Conservatory (successor to the Russian Musical Society). He served as its director and piano professor; and he engaged young Tchaikovsky as a teacher of harmony and encouraged him to perform his compositions. Although Nikolay “attacked Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto at its first, private performance, later he recanted and became a celebrated interpreter of the work.” He promoted Tchaikovsky’s music and, between 1866 and 1880, he conducted the premieres of almost every orchestral composition. Tchaikovsky was very grateful for Nikolay’s support, dedicating more of his works to him than to anyone else. He also supported the work of Rimsky-Korsakov and Mily Balakirev and gave “a brilliant first performance of Balakirev’s enormously difficult piano piece Islamey only two months after its completion, despite a heavy programme of teaching, conducting and administration and his very full social life”—a testament to Nikolay’s extraordinary prowess as a pianist. As pedagogues, “Both brothers were vigorous, uninhibited teachers and frequently screamed at their pupils, who nevertheless adored them. Nikolay’s best-known pupils were [Sergey] Taneyev, [Alexander] Ziloti, and Emil Sauer. He died of consumption in a Paris hotel on his way to Nice for health reasons. It was typical of him that he ate a dozen oysters on his deathbed [New Grove Dictionary].

Paul PABST  Melodie
   ~ a bonbon—for violin and piano

Pabst—considered one of the greatest pianists of his day—was influential in the development of the late Romantic style of piano playing in Russia. He was admired by Liszt and Tchaikovsky, who called him “a pianist of divine elegance” and “a pianist from God.” The boy gave his first public recitals at the age of 11. Later, he and a young Rachmaninoff performed many concerts together; and he was also the pianist for the premiere of Anton Arensky’s Piano Concerto. Born in 1854 in Königsberg, the capital of East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia), his father August Pabst was his first teacher. He then studied at the Dresden Academy of Music, with Anton Door at the Academy of Music and Lyric Arts in Vienna, and with Liszt in Weimar. From 1875 he taught piano in Riga, and in 1878 was invited by Nikolay Rubinstein to teach piano at the Moscow Conservatory. After Rubinstein’s death he became professor of piano in 1881, and taught there the rest of his life. As a composer, Pabst wrote virtuosic piano transcriptions that were admired by the most outstanding pianists of the time, including Tchaikovsky, who was especially impressed by his Paraphrase on themes from his opera Eugène Onegin. Tchaikovsky also sought Pabst’s advice while writing his First Piano Concerto, and in 1884 he appointed Pabst to edit his piano works for publication. Pabst also wrote a Piano Concerto (once thought to be lost), a Piano Trio dedicated to Anton Rubinstein, and many smaller works, almost exclusively for piano (such as the Melodie). When he unexpectedly died from a heart attack in 1897 at age 43, the funeral wreath from the Russian Musical Society bore the epitaph, “To Honored Artist, Indefatigable Professor, Hardly Simply a Man.”

Nikolay RIMSKY-KORSAKOV  Quintet in Bb Major
   ~ an absolute charmer, its wistful Andante movement revealing his Russian nationalism

Unlike his String Sextet, which won an honorable mention at the chamber music competition sponsored by the Russian Musical Society, the Quintet for piano, flute, clarinet, horn, and bassoon was passed over by the jury, but was subsequently performed by the St. Petersburg Chamber Music Society.

Rimsky-Korsakov described the Quintet in his autobiography, Chronicle of My Musical Life, published in 1909: “The First Movement, Allegro con brio, is in the classical style of Beethoven. The Second Movement, Andante, contained a good fugato for the wind instruments with a very free accompaniment in the piano. In the finale, Allegretto vivace, I wrote in rondo form. Of interest is the middle section where I wrote cadenzas for the flute, the clarinet and the horn to be played in turns. Each was in the character of the instrument and each was interrupted by the bassoon entering by octave leaps.”

As a member of the Mighty Five, Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908) played a significant role in shaping the Russian classical music landscape by developing a nationalistic style of classical music. He drew from Russian folk song and lore and utilized orientalism—exotic harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic elements—instead of traditional Western compositional methods. Some of his works were performed at the Russian Musical Society. For example, Serbian Fantasy was premiered in December 1867 at the third symphony concert of the RMS in Moscow, conducted by Nikolay Rubinstein. His Symphony No. 2 “Antar” was composed in 1868 and the first version was premiered in March 1869 at the RMS. When the first revised version was played at the RMS in 1876, Rimsky-Korsakov was the conductor. His Symphony No. 3 in C Major (completed on 18 February 1874) was featured at the fifth symphony concert of the RMS on 1 January 1875, with Nikolay conducting. Even though Tchaikovsky’s reviews of the Serbian Fantasy and 3rd Symphony were pretty harsh, he concluded, “Let us not forget that Mr Rimsky-Korsakov is still very young, that his whole future lies before him, and there is no doubt that this remarkably gifted musician is destined to become one of the finest exponents of our art.”

Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY  Piano Trio in A minor Op. 50
   ~ quintessential euphoria and pathos

Tchaikovsky was deeply upset to learn of Nikolay’s sudden and unexpected death from tuberculosis in Paris on 23 March 1881, at the age of 45, and he wrote an account of his passing for the Russian newspapers. Some months later, he composed the Piano Trio in remembrance of his mentor and close friend, Nikolay Rubinstein (younger brother of Anton), and dedicated it “to the memory of a great artist.” The massive trio was first performed at the Moscow Conservatory in March 1882, with Sergey Taneyev at the piano. In a letter to his patroness Nadejda von Meck on 20 January 1882, Tchaikovsky confessed, “I fear I may have arranged music of a symphonic character as a trio.” The variations were based on undisclosed events in Rubinstein’s life.

At the age of 22, Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) “found out that the Russian Musical Society offered classes in music theory…I went immediately to those classes” and in September 1862, he was among the first students of the newly-opened St Petersburg Conservatory, where the director was Anton Rubinstein. Anton also taught, and his classes in orchestration and composition were central to Tchaikovsky’s studies. Several weeks before his graduation in 1866, he was invited by Nikolay to teach at the newly-founded Moscow Conservatory. Tchaikovsky very quickly became a member of the musical family. He also began work on his first symphony, “Winter Daydreams,” composing through depression and insomnia. When he showed the unfinished score to his former teachers, Anton Rubinstein and Nikolay Zaremba, both men disliked it, but Nikolay Rubinstein liked it and presented the scherzo movement at a concert of the Russian Musical Society. The entire symphony, performed in February 1868, was a resounding success. Henceforth Nikolay continued to champion the music of Tchaikovsky.

Jupiter 2024 - 2025 Season
20 Mondays at 2:00 PM & 7:30 PM

Good Shepherd Church ♦ 152 West 66 Street

View Our Season Calendar

Tickets: $25, $17, $10 ~ Reservation advised
Call (212) 799-1259 or email admin@jupitersymphony.com
Pay by check or cash (exact change)​​

Please visit our Media Page to hear Audio Recordings from the Jens Nygaard and Jupiter Symphony Archive

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

Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church

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

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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 New York Times
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...

 

As promised, here are the 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  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 Illinois (Champaign) for a copy of the Divertissement music.

Mackenzie Melemed piano
Abigel Kralik violin
Dechopol Kowintaweewat violin
Sarah Sung viola
Christine Lamprea cello

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

Andrew Clements of the Guardian proclaimed the beautiful Quintet “a real discovery: a big, bold statement full of striking melodic ideas and intriguing harmonic shifts, which adds Brahms and Dvořák into Harty’s stylistic mix, together with Tchaikovsky in some passages.” There’s folk music charm as well, reminiscent of Percy Grainger—notably in the Scherzo (Vivace) with its folksy quirks and nonchalance, and the winding, pentatonic melody in the Lento.

Our gratitude to the Queen’s University Library in Belfast, Northern Ireland, for a copy of the autograph manuscript of the music. Much thanks, too, to Connor Brown for speedily creating a printed score and parts from Harty’s manuscript.

Mackenzie Melemed piano
Abigel Kralik violin
Dechopol Kowintaweewat violin
Sarah Sun viola
Christine Lamprea cello

I Allegro 0:00
II Vivace 10:43
III Lento 14:44
IV Allegro con brio 23:59

FEb 8 2021 HAYDN  Sonata No. 1 in G Major
​​​​​​Oliver Neubauer violin, Mihai Marica cello, Zoe Martin-Doike viola

FEb 8 2021 HOFFMEISTER Duo Concertante No. 1 in G Major
Sooyun Kim flute, Zoe Martin-Doike viola

Feb 8 2021 MOZART Piano Quartet No. 2 in Eb Major
Oliver Neubauer violin, Janice Carissa piano
Mihai Marica cello, Zoe Martin-Doike viola

Feb 8 2021 KREUTZER  Quintet in A Major
Sooyun Kim flute, Vadim Lando clarinet, Janice Carissa piano
Mihai Marica cello, Zoe Martin-Doike viola

Video Viewing ~ Classical Treats
February 8, 2021 Jupiter Concert

Greetings! Three months ago, our musicians brought warmth and joy with their wonderful music making on a cold, winter’s day with Classical Treats. The viewing is offered for $25, and we hope to cover the costs of production. Thanks so much for viewing the video of this concert, and for supporting Jupiter with gifts as well! MeiYing

View the video for $25

You will be automatically directed to the video page once payment is made. If not, click on the “return to merchant” link after checkout. Please go through the checkout process only once and do not use the back button or reload the page while making the purchase. If there are any problems, contact jupiternews@jupitersymphony.com.

Viewers comments of previous videos:

“Oh I thoroughly enjoyed the concert. Good to see Maxim and his dad. Familiar faces to me. I enjoyed the notes about the players. Till the next time...”

“Great playing and really nice camera work. Probably better than being there!

“We so enjoyed the concert. The pianist was outstanding as was the musical selection.

“It was wonderful. Thank you.

♦ ♦ ♦

Musicians

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)

Oliver Neubauer violin
Recipient of the Gold Award at the 2018 National YoungArts Competition and winner of the 2017 Young Musicians Competition at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Zoë Martin-Doike viola
Member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, top prizewinner of the Primrose and Lenox competitions on viola and violin, respectively and founding violinist of the Aizuri Quartet

Mihai Marica cello
Winner of the Irving Klein, Viña del Mar, Salon de Virtuosi and Dotzauer competitions ~ “Mihai is a brilliant cellist and interpreter of music. His playing is spellbinding.” Mitchell Sardou Klein

Sooyun Kim flute
Winner of the Georg Solti Foundation Career Grant and a top prize at the ARD flute competition, she has been praised for her “vivid tone colors” by the Oregonian and as a “rare virtuoso of the flute” by Libération

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

♦ ♦ ♦

Program

HAYDN  Sonata No. 1 in G Major Hob XVI:40 ▪ 1784
  ~ sophisticated and subtly wrought, the Sonata is from a set of 3, arranged for string trio from the original for keyboard and published by Johann André in 1790

The sonatas were written for Princess Marie, the new bride of Prince Nicholas Esterházy, grandson of Haydn’s employer, Prince Nicholas I. Cramer’s Magazin der Musik, in its review in 1785, observed that they were “more difficult to perform than one initially believes. They demand the utmost precision, and much delicacy in performance.” In 2 contrasting movements, the pastoral Allegretto innocente is followed by a gleeful zany romp.

Conradin KREUTZER  Quintet in A Major ▪ between 1810 and 1820
  ~ in the late Classical–early Romantic style, the charming Quintet is written for the unusual combination of piano, flute, clarinet, viola, and cello with the piano as primus inter pares, first among equals—each movement a winner bearing a variety of melodic gifts and revealing a lively feeling for rhythm and color

Born in Messkirch to a respected Swabian burgher, Kreutzer (1780–1849) is considered a minor master of the Biedermeier epoch. He studied law in Freiburg before turning entirely to music after his father died in 1800. In 1804 he went to Vienna, where he met Haydn and probably studied with Albrechtsberger, one of Beethoven’s teachers. His active career included tours in Europe and several posts in Vienna, Stuttgart, Cologne, and other German cities, all the while composing numerous operas. Some of his music is not entirely forgotten—his settings for male chorus to Ludwig Uhland’s poems long remained popular with German and Austrian choirs; Das Nachtlager in Granada used to be revived occasionally in Germany; and his score for Der Verschwender continues to be performed in Austria.

Franz Anton HOFFMEISTER  Duo Concertante No. 1 in G Major ▪ [1790]
flute and viola

1st movement ~ Allegro
  ~ by Mozart’s friend and his principal publisher

MOZART  Piano Quartet No. 2 in Eb Major K. 493 ▪ 1786
  ~ a flawless masterpiece of utmost lightness and charm, with heavenly melodies

Mozart was under contract with the publisher Franz Anton Hoffmeister to write 3 piano quartets, a virtually new genre of his own invention. When the first (K. 478 in G minor) did not sell because of its difficulty for amateurs, Mozart was released from his obligation. Nine months later, which was two months after the completion of Le Nozze di Figaro, the second piano quartet (K. 493 in Eb Major) was published by Artaria. A little easier than the first, Alfred Einstein viewed it as “bright in color, but iridescent, with hints of darker shades.”

♦ ♦ ♦

Harry Munz audio engineer
Marc Basch videographer

For more about the musicians: guest artistsplayers
For further notes on the music: calendar

Jupiter featured on Our Net News

American program opener on March 18, with grateful thanks to Michael Shaffer of OurNetNews.com for recording the matinee concert, and making available the Horatio Parker Suite video for our viewing pleasure.

Horatio Parker Suite in A Major, Op. 35, composed in 1893
Prelude

Stephen Beus piano
Stefan Milenkovich violin
David Requiro cello

 

More video from this performance can be viewed on our media page

Jupiter on YouTube
featured in a short documentary on artist Michael McNamara

NEW YORK CANVAS : The Art of Michael McNamara is a video portrait of the artist who has painted iconic images of New York City for more than a decade, capturing the changing urban landscape of his adopted city. Our Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players provide the music from Brahms’s Piano Quartet in G Minor, underscoring the inspiration the artist has drawn from Jens Nygaard and the musicians. Michael was also our Jupiter volunteer from 2002 to 2010.

Here is a video of the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players performance of the Rondo alla Zingarese movement:

 

The producer-director, Martin Spinelli, also made the EMMY Award-winning “Life On Jupiter: The Story of Jens Nygaard, Musician.

For more information, visit our media page

Emmy Award-winning “LIFE ON JUPITER - The Story of Jens Nygaard, Musician” available on DVD with bonus music. More Info...

If you wish to purchase your own copy to remember Jens by or for more information visit www.lifeonjupiter.com

The New York Sun Review
by Adam Baer
--The Jupiters Play On--

“Some great musicians get a statue when they pass away. Some get their name imprinted on the roof of a well-known concert hall. But the late conductor Jens Nygaard has a living tribute: an entire ensemble of musicians and a concert series to go along with it...

It is one of the city’s cultural jewels...

In the end, if Mr. Nygaard was known for anything, it was unmitigated verve. That’s what the audience regularly returned for, and that’s what they got Monday afternoon. To have a grassroots community of musicians continue to celebrate Mr. Nygaard with indomitable performances like these week after week, even without the power of world-famous guest soloists, is proper tribute. And with more large orchestras and ensembles needing more corporate sponsorship year after year, I, for one, hope the Jupiter’s individual subscriber-base remains strong.

New York’s musical life needs the spirit of Jens Nygaard, and Mei Ying should be proud she’s keeping it alive.”

Read the complete article on our reviews page.

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office address:
JUPITER SYMPHONY
155 West 68th Street, Suite 319, New York, NY 10023
admin@jupitersymphony.com
For information or to order tickets, please call:
(212) 799-1259

MeiYing Manager
Michael Volpert Artistic Director

All performances, except where otherwise noted, are held at:
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
152 West 66 Street (west of Broadway) New York, NY 10023
The Box Office at the Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
will be open 20 minutes prior to each concert.

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