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, October 26 ♦ 2 PM & 7:30 PM
Jens’s 89th Birthday
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

Xiao-Dong Wang violin
Twice winner of the Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition, and winner of the First Prize and special Szymanovski Prize winner of the Wieniawski-Lipinski International Competition ~ featured in TimeOut Shanghai 21 November 2012

Claire Bourg violin
Winner of New England Conservatory’s Concerto competition

Ayane Kozasa viola
Winner of the 2011 Primrose, 2012 Astral & Irving Klein competitions ~ hailed for her “magnetic, wide-ranging tone” and “rock solid technique” Philadelphia Inquirer

Paul Wiancko cello
His winnings at several competitions have led, most notably, to solo performances with the Polish Radio Symphony and the Bahia Symphony at the Teatro Nacional in Brazil ~ winner of the 2018 S&R Foundation Washington Award for Composition

Karen Ouzounian cello
Founding member of the Aizuri Quartet ~ prizewinner at the 2012 Canada Council for the Arts competition ~ “radiant” and “expressive” The New York Times ~ “nothing less than gorgeous” Memphis Commercial Appeal

Note: William Wolfram replaces Do-Hyun Kim for this concert

Johann RUFINATSCHA  Piano Quartet A^b Major
  ~ exquisite melodies from one of Tyrol’s most important 19th century composers, whose musical achievements and notoriety in his day for a time unhinged the confidence of Brahms, whose own work is said to be influenced by “schöne Rufi”

Born in 1812 in Mais (now in the Italian province of South Tyrol), Rufinatscha left home at age 14 to study piano, violin, and composition at the Innsbruck Music Society. After graduating in 1832, he taught at his alma mater for 3 years before heading to Vienna to study with Simon Sechter, whose pupils included Vieuxtemps, Lachner, Béla Kéler, and Bruckner; he also gave Schubert one lesson in counterpoint. Rufinatscha’s earliest compositions were written in the 1830s, when he began to build his reputation as a composer and became a most prominent teacher of piano and harmony in Vienna. Over the next 3 decades his symphonies and other works were performed to acclaim at prestigious venues in Vienna. In the 1860s he met young Brahms when they were members of the “Roundtable of Professors” that met at a Viennese restaurant to discuss the musical events of the day. However, he faded into obscurity when his music fell out of fashion—influenced by Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, his music was eclipsed by the Romanticism of Wagner, Liszt, and Brahms—and his passive personality led to his withdrawal from public life and impoverishment, accelerated by the financial Panic of 1873. He died in 1893 in Vienna. Fortuitously, Rufinatscha had the foresight to donate his musical manuscripts to the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum in Innsbruck in 1887. We are grateful to the Museum for a copy of the music.

BRAHMS  String Quintet in F minor
  ~ Discover an old friend in new clothes in this reconstruction done by Sebastian Brown in 1947: “Before destroying the original manuscript [written for string quintet with 2 cellos], Brahms arranged this work as a Sonata for 2 pianos (Op. 34bis). He later arranged the Sonata as a Quintet for piano, 2 violins, viola and cello (Op. 34). It is on these two arrangements that the present suggested reconstruction is based.”

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...