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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Dear Friends and Music Lovers,    During this coronavirus pandemic, our concerts this fall may be as rare as the music of the forgotten composers we often perform. While this horrid beast prevails we hope to lessen the risk of indoor gatherings. Also, please check the status of every concert on our website or by phone. If there is a cancellation, the program will be video recorded and made available for viewing on our website.    By now you know the danger of gathering indoors with people outside your bubble. If you come, it’s at your own risk. If you are in the least bit fearful, please do not come. We can, however, offer: ♦ Limited seating spaced 6 feet apart ♦ Hand sanitizer from dispensers ♦ Required wearing of masks by audience & staff ♦ Doors to open 20 minutes before concert starts ♦ Request 6 feet distancing when entering & exiting ♦ And suggest minimal, quiet talking    This season there are no subscriptions. Tickets are by reservation only. Please visit our ticket page for details. As these are indeed challenging times, please consider of gift of $100 or more and become a “Friend,” or please give as much as you can to help keep Jupiter alive and thriving. Your financial support is truly needed.    All gifts are tax deductible.    Thank you so much,

Caricature of Jens Nygaard on iPad by Elizabeth "Lizzi" Volpert, age 12

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.

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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...

Monday, November 23 ♦ 2 PM & 7:30 PM
Russian Romantics
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
152 West 66 Street (west of Broadway)
Limited Seating

William Wolfram piano
Winner of the William Kapell, Naumburg, and Tchaikovsky competitions ~ “Wolfram’s technique is flabbergasting; fiendishly difficult octave passages were as child’s play, and his strength is tempered by an easy poetry.” The New York Times ~ “Wolfram is a dazzling performer.” Kalamazoo Gazette

Jennifer Frautschi violin
Two-time Grammy nominee and recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant ~ “stole the show with a commanding, incisive and absolutely riveting performance” The Washington Post

Natalie Loughran viola
A member of the Kila Quartet—a part of the Honors Program at Juilliard—and has performed extensively with the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland

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”

Yi Qun Xu cello
First prizes at the 2017 Eastern Connecticut and 7th Antonio Janigro Cello Competitions ~ praised by The Day for her “great poise and masterful technique” and her “amazing rich tone.”

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

Note: William Wolfram replaces Elizaveta Kopelman and Jennifer Frautschi replaces Mikhail Kopelman for this concert

Ella ADAYEVSKAYA  Sonata Greca in C minor
  ~ in one glorious movement, for clarinet and piano

Adayevskaya (1846–1926) was born Elisabeth von Schultz in St. Petersburg, the daughter of Georg Julius von Schultz, a prominent Estophile of Baltic German heritage. Between 1862 and 1866 she attended the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where her teachers included Adolf von Henselt and Anton Rubinstein. She then toured as a concert pianist in Russia and Europe, and started composing about 1870, beginning with choruses for the Imperial Chapel Choir. Her operas include Neprigozhaya (The Homely Girl), Doch’ boyarina (The Boyar’s Daughter), and Zarya svobodi (The Dawn of Freedom), which she dedicated to Alexander II, but the censor rejected it because of a scene about a peasant uprising. Her interest in Slavonic folk songs, the music of ancient Greece, and the Greek Church inspired her to write Sonata Greca. In 1891 she moved to Venice, and in 1911, she again moved, this time to Germany with her friend Baroness von Loë. They became part of the artistic circle around the poet Carmen Sylva (the literary name of Elisabeth, Queen of Romania). Adayevskaya’s interest and research in folk music also deepened and she published widely, which earned her a place among the pioneers of modern ethnomusicology. She died in Bonn. Adayevskaya is her pseudonym, said to be based on the notes A, D, and A, played by the kettledrum in Mikhail Glinka’s opera Ruslan and Ludmila.

Alexander GEDIKE aka GOEDICKE  Piano Trio in G minor Op. 14
  ~ Romanticism in the German classical tradition, with noble and heartfelt melodies

Born into a family of musicians in Moscow, Gedike was first taught by his father Fyodor, an organist and pianist at the Bolshoi Theater. He then studied piano with Anatoly Galli, Pavel Pabst, and Vasily Safonov at the Moscow Conservatory, graduating in 1898. Although he had no formal training in composition, he benefited from the advice of Sergei Taneyev. In 1900 he won the Rubinstein Competition for Composition in Vienna. Tours as a concert pianist followed in Russia and abroad. In 1909 he was appointed professor of piano at the Moscow Conservatory, and from 1919 he taught classes in chamber music and organ. The New Grove Dictionary notes that “His music is notable for its use of polyphony; he was in fact regarded as the guardian of strict classical traditions in Russian music.” He also influenced an entire generation of organists in the Soviet Union. Gedike was Nikolai Medtner’s first cousin (his father Fyodor was the brother of Medtner’s mother).

Adrien François SERVAIS  Fantaisie sur deux Airs Russes Op. 13
  ~ conveys the spirit of the Russian melodies—Alexander Alyabyev’s The Nightingale and Alexander Varlamov’s The Red Sarafan—in the form of double variations

Composed during his first visit to Russia at the beginning of 1839, it was dedicated to the composer Count Mikhail Vielgorsky. Mikhail and his brother, cellist Matwey, were friends of Servais. Upon hearing the Fantasia, Prince Vladimir Odoevsky, a Russian philosopher and music critic, wrote that it was “unanimously admired by both connoisseurs and music lovers.” Alyabyev and Varlamov were two of the founders of Russian art song.

Servais (1807–1866) switched from the violin to the cello after hearing a performance by Nicolas-Joseph Platel. He promptly enrolled at the Brussels Conservatory as Platel’s pupil, won a first prize a year later, and from 1829 became Platel’s teaching assistant. His first major success, in Paris in 1834, was followed by concerts of the Philharmonic Society in London in 1835, a return to his native Belgium for further study, and several tours through Europe and Russia, when he often performed his own compositions. In 1848 he succeeded Platel at the Conservatory, and was also named first cellist of the Royal Chapel. Servais, described by Berlioz as “Paganinian,” was probably the finest cello virtuoso of his day. He was praised for his intense pure sound, flawless intonation, and acrobatic technique. His enormous Stradivari, later inherited by his son, is still known as the “Servais” cello.

Anton ARENSKY  String Quartet No. 2 in A minor Op. 35
  ~ shortly after the death of Tchaikovsky, his disciple Arensky wrote this wondrous elegy as a memorial, scored less commonly for violin, viola, and two cellos to create a dark, somber timbre—a muted psalm theme from ancient Russian church music is followed by a set of variations on a song by Tchaikovsky (“The Crown of Roses” from Sixteen Children’s Songs), and ends with a Finale that includes a fugue based on a medieval Russian anthem, Slava Bogu na nebe, Slava (“Glory to the Sun”)

A pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Arensky graduated with a gold medal, then became one of the youngest professors ever to teach at the Moscow Conservatory, where he was influenced by Tchaikovsky and Sergei Taneyev. Among his pupils were Rachmaninoff and Scriabin. He died at age 44 from tuberculosis, most likely exacerbated by his drinking.

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

By now you know the danger of gathering indoors with people outside your bubble. If you come, it’s at your own risk. If you are in the least bit fearful of CoVid-19, please do not come. We can, however, offer:

♦ Required wearing of masks
♦ Limited seating spaced 6 feet apart
♦ Hand sanitizers
♦ Doors to open 20 minutes before the concert
♦ A short pause in place of an intermission
♦ No refreshments
♦ Request 6 feet distancing when entering and exiting
♦ Suggest minimal, quiet talking
♦ Windows and/or doors will be open

Please use the restrooms before or after the concert.
Thank you for accommodating the new format at this time.

In addition to the above guidelines, New York State Covid-19 Travel Advisory requires visitors from certain states to quarantine for 14 days. If you are traveling to NYC from any of these states, visitors are required to complete the online Travel Health Form.

Jupiter 2020 - 2021 Season
20 Mondays at 2:00 PM & 7:30 PM

View Our NEW Season Calendar

To reserve Tickets ~ $25, $17, $10 
please call (212) 799-1259
or e-mail admin@jupitersymphony.com

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

“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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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

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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

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...