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.

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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...

Hina Khuong-Huu, violin
Jordan Dodson, guitar
Josephine Kim, violin
Dov Scheindlin, viola
Torron Pfeffer, viola
Sara Scanlon, cello
Vadim Lando, clarinet

Jupiter ~ Summer 2025
May 19 June 2 June 16
2 PM & 7:30 PM

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

Monday, May 19 2 PM & 7:30 PM
Haydn Matters
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
152 West 66 Street (west of Broadway)

Limited Seating

Hina Khuong-Huu violin
First-Prize winner of the 2023 Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition, prizewinner of the 2018 Menuhin Competition held in Geneva, a recipient of the Salon De Virtuosi Career Grant ~Violin Channel’s “Rising Star”

Jordan Dodson guitar
Winner of the 2013 Astral Artists National Auditions, 2011 Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition, 2010 Indiana International Guitar Competition, and 2008 American String Teachers Association Competition ~ “One of the top young guitarists of his generation” Performance Today

Josephine Kim violin
Prizewinner and semifinalist in the Coltman Chamber Music Competition, cofounder of Illume Duo

Dov Scheindlin viola
Winner of the Siemens Prize ~ “an extraordinary violist” of “immense flair” The New York Times

Torron Pfeffer viola
Associate Principal Viola for Symphony in C ~ Torron has played in numerous film and television scores, including the soundtracks for Barbie, Don’t Worry Darling, Till, Only Murders in the Building, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

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

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

Joseph HAYDN  “Guitar” Quartet in D Major
   ~ from String Quartet in E Major Op. 2 No. 2 / Hob III:8
the second in a set of 6 early string quartets in the style of a divertimento by the founder of Viennese Classicism and the “Father of the String Quartet”

The beautiful quartet is the first to use a key signature with more than three flats or sharps. The adaptation was done by an unknown 18th century musician. Later, it was edited by Hans Dagobert Brugger as “Quartet in D Major for Obbligato Lute, Violin, Viola and Violoncello” and published in 1924. At the time of its composition, Haydn was director of music to Count Morzin (1757–1761) or in the employ of Prince Esterházy in the small baroque town of Eisenstadt (from 1 May 1761).

Luigi Rodolfo BOCCHERINI  “Fandango” Quintet in D Major G. 448
   ~ striking piece for guitar and string quartet, the “Fandango” movement infused with rousing Flamenco and Spanish dance elements

The Quintet was cobbled together from 2 previous quintets for François de Borgia, Marquis of Benavente, who was a great admirer of Boccherini as well as an accomplished guitarist. The Catalan nobleman held musical gatherings at least twice a week in Madrid, and in order for Boccherini to meet the demand for new music, he resorted to skillful arrangements of his own works. The “Fandango” Quintet is from G. 270 (1771) for the Pastorale and Allegro maestoso, and G. 341 (1788) for the Grave assai and Fandango. Boccherini himself suggested that castanets be used in the Fandango.

Born in Lucca in 1743, the prolific Italian composer and virtuoso cellist greatly admired Haydn and was strongly influenced by his style, so much so that he was warmly regarded in his day as “the wife of Haydn.” French violinist Alexandre Boucher described his disposition as “gentle, patient and polite.” Boccherini came from a family of considerable artistic gifts. His father Leopoldo was a cello or double bass player, his brother Giovan Gastone was a poet and dancer who wrote librettos for Salieri and Haydn, and his sister Maria Ester had a distinguished career in Vienna as a ballet dancer. He spent some time in Vienna and Paris, and from 1769 lived and worked in Spain for the rest of his life. In the 1770s he flourished under the patronage of Don Luis, the Spanish Infante. As an accomplished cellist, Boccherini could play much of the violin repertoire on the cello at pitch, a skill he learned when he substituted for a sick or absent violinist in the court orchestra during his time in Vienna. He died in 1805 in Madrid.

Gioachino ROSSINI  Variazzioni di clarinetto
   ~ his elaborate musical language revealed at age 17, with breathtaking virtuoso lines for the soloist

Rossini wrote the delightful affair for Clarinet in C and piano the year before his departure from the Liceo in Bologna; the arrangement for clarinet and string quartet is by Werner De Bleser. His early works show an abundance of freshness, fluent melody, and charming harmonic invention.

Rossini was born on 29 February 1792 in Pesaro, the son of a trumpeter and virtuoso horn player and an opera singer. When the family moved to Lugo in 1802, he began studying figured bass and composition with Don Giuseppe Malerbi and was inspired by the priest’s collection of music by Haydn and Mozart. In 1804 the family moved to Bologna, where Rossini continued his studies with Angelo Tesei at the Accademia dei Concordi, which specialized in classical music, and that of Haydn in particular. He could already play the viola tolerably, and the horn decidedly well. He worked hard not only at singing but at the cembalo as well. By age 14 he was employed in the more modest neighborhood theaters as chorus master and accompanist of recitatives. And he was in demand as a singer in various churches, where his beautiful voice and musical taste won him considerable popularity. In 1806 he entered the Liceo Musicale, adding counterpoint and piano to his studies. During the 1809–10 Carnival Season of the Teatro Comunale, Ferrara and the Teatro Comunale, Bologna, he was engaged as “maestro al cembalo.” Rossini later told Wagner that he had learned far more from the study of the works of Haydn and Mozart than from all his counterpoint lessons. He was nicknamed “The Italian Mozart” for his love of and influence by Mozart.

MOZART  String Quintet in G minor K. 516
   ~ among the greatest of string quintets in a key which he reserved for works of dramatic intensity and deep personal statement

The manuscript of the heartfelt Quintet bears the date 16 May 1787. It was written during the final illness of his father, Leopold Mozart, who died 12 days later in Salzburg. Hermann Abert, author of the classic biography of Mozart, deems the G minor Quintet as “the most profound of all Mozart’s works in this key and…is…the most anguished resignation, which it embraces with a resolution of literally harrowing impact. It is…the creation of a lonely individual who confronts the dark powers of fate, but who fails to master them in the Beethovenian sense of that term. Like the torments that they inspire he accepts them as something irrevocable….”

Haydn and Mozart first met in December 1783 at a benefit concert featuring works by both composers. Despite an age difference of 24 years, the two men became close friends. During the 1780s, they played together in impromptu quartets in Vienna, with Haydn on violin and Mozart playing viola. Haydn recognized and frequently praised Mozart’s exceptional talent. Mozart, in turn, greatly admired Haydn’s work, and would affectionately address Haydn as “Papa.” In 1785 Mozart dedicated his “Haydn” Quartets to Haydn and sent his “six sons” to “my dearest friend—a manifestation of his deep regard for his mentor. When Haydn heard them, he declared to Mozart’s father, “I tell you before God, and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer known to me by person and repute; he has taste and what is more the greatest skill in composition.” Their mutual admiration extended to influence. Haydn’s music, particularly his symphonies and string quartets, influenced Mozart’s compositional style. And Mozart introduced innovations that Haydn used in his later works. After Mozart’s death, Haydn stated, “Posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years.”

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Drew Petersen, piano
Lun Li, violin
Clara Neubauer, violin
Maurycy Banaszek, viola
Kevonna Shuford, viola
Christine Lamprea, cello

Monday, June 2 2 PM & 7:30 PM
Binge on Beethoven
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)​​​

Drew Petersen piano
Recipient of the 2018 Avery Fisher Career Grant and 2017 American Pianists Awards, 2015 Leeds (4th prize), Kosciuszko-Chopin competitions, Jan Gorbaty Award, and Artist-in-Residence at the University of Indianapolis ~ “Thrilling piano playing wedded to astute quite astonishing musicianship.” East Hampton Star

Lun Li violin
First Prize winner in the 2021 Young Concert Artists Auditions, Paul A. Fish Memorial Prize and Buffalo Chamber Music Society Prize, and was named the John French Violin Chair at YCA; he is also the joint First Prize winner at the recent Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition ~ “admirable command of all the possibilities of the bow, and uses it with delightful musical sense” Ludwig van Montréal

Clara Neubauer violin
Silver Medal winner at the 2020 National YoungArts Competition, first prize at the 2019 Symphony of Westchester and 2017 Adelphi Young Artist competitions., and winner of the 2017 Young Musicians Competition at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center ~ recently featured on the WQXR Young Musicians Showcase

Maurycy Banaszek viola
Winner of numerous violin, viola & chamber music awards

Kevonna Shuford viola
A vibrant musician, she has performed with ensembles such as the Boston Philharmonic, Atlantic Symphony, and Palaver Strings; and she has appeared as an artist at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar, Encore Chamber Music Program, and Meadowmount School of Music

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”

BEETHOVEN  Symphony No.7 in A Major Op. 92
   ~ in an arrangement for string quintet published by Sigmund Anton Steiner in 1816

It was common practice in the first half of the 19th century to have transcriptions made of popular pieces, even whole symphonies and operas. This was driven in part by great public demand, which publishers welcomed, as it provided a lucrative source of income for both publishers and composers. The demand exploded into a huge new market for chamber music, which came into existence as home music making became one of the most popular pastimes for the emerging bourgeois classes of Western Europe. Beethoven himself contracted Steiner to make several different arrangements of the 7th Symphony, for which Beethoven received a tidy sum. The 7th Symphony was an instant hit upon its premiere, and so was the arrangement of the string quintet, which became one of Steiner’s bestsellers. It was frequently performed in concert until the First World War.

Publishers such as Steiner and Breitkopf & Härtel kept a large stable of highly trained musicians, many of whom were composers themselves, available to produce various arrangements. Steiner was a gifted and clever businessman. His career began as a writer and secretary and he worked his way up to publisher. In 1803 he purchased the print shop owned by Alois Senefelder, the inventor of lithography. In 1815 a young Tobias Haslinger joined Steiner’s firm (he took over as sole owner from 1826 till his death in 1842). The publishing house printed, apart from lithography, mainly sheet music. Around that time Steiner met Beethoven. His company issued first editions of the composer’s works from 1815 till the 1820s. It was located in the Paternostergasse in Vienna, and became a popular meeting place for Beethoven and his friends. A relaxed atmosphere prevailed. Haslinger “became a close friend of Beethoven and always seems to have brought out the humorous side of the composer. With Steiner they set up an imaginary army in which Beethoven was ‘Generalissimo,’ Steiner ‘Lieutenant-General’ and Haslinger ‘Adjutant,’ while ducats were ‘armed men’ [Barry Cooper, The Beethoven Compendium].” However, over the years, the relationship between the composer and his publisher deteriorated. Beethoven had borrowed money from Steiner several times between 1816 and 1818—a total of 2,420 Viennese florins. When Steiner asked for his money back, with 500 florins in interest, Beethoven reacted angrily; but he finally paid back the loan in April 1824.

BEETHOVEN  Symphony No. 3 in D Major “Eroica” Op. 55
   ~ among the greatest of symphonies, it lives up to its name, Heroic— bigger and longer than any symphony before it and on a huge scale, the groundbreaking and powerful work caused a sensation, emanating emotional depth, vigor, and passion transcribed for piano quartet by Ferdinand Ries, Beethoven’s pupil, secretary, copyist, and friend

The esteemed critic Harold Schonberg tells us that “Musical Vienna was divided on the merits of the Eroica. Some called it Beethoven’s masterpiece. Others said that the work merely illustrated a striving for originality that did not come off.”

Ries (1784–1838) was Beethoven’s pupil, secretary, copyist, and friend. Born in Bonn, he was taught the piano and violin from the age of 5 by his father Franz, who had taught the young Beethoven violin and aided the Beethovens generously. In his teens Ferdinand worked as a copyist earning a mere 3 pence a sheet, but managed to scrimp and save 7 ducats (gold coins)—enough to get him to Vienna to study with Beethoven in 1801. Upon his arrival, with a letter of recommendation from his father, Beethoven welcomed the penniless Ries, gave him financial assistance, got him tutoring jobs in aristocratic households, and allowed him to be the first to take the title of “Pupil of Beethoven” (Carl Czerny was his other pupil during this time). He taught Ries the piano for 3 years, but sent him to Georg Albrechtsberger for composition. In return, Ries became an indispensable secretary and copyist, assisting with the practicalities of composition, dealing with publishers, finding lodgings, and looking after him as his hearing declined. It was Ries who found the lodgings in Pasqualatihaus, where Beethoven resided longer than anywhere else. Although overshadowed by his master, Ries had talent and ambitions as a composer. In 1804 he made his public debut with the second premiere of Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto in Vienna, playing his own cadenza, which Beethoven allowed him to write; the reviews of his performance were glowing. The next year Ries was ordered to return to Bonn to be conscripted into the French revolutionary army, which had occupied Bonn and the Rhineland. However, since he had lost an eye in childhood through smallpox, he was excused. From 1809, for 4 years, Ries toured across Europe—Kassel, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Russia—before ending up in London, where he married and stayed for 11 years (1814–1824). After he was appointed director of the London Philharmonic Society in 1815, he promoted Beethoven’s music tirelessly, and was instrumental in securing the commission for a new symphony that became the Ninth. By the time Ries left London for Godesberg, he had accumulated considerable wealth from teaching and composing, but lost much of it when the London bank in which he had invested failed. Ries remained active, taking leadership positions and composing in Frankfurt am Main and Aachen. He died after a short illness at age 53, leaving nearly 180 works, including symphonies, operas, oratorios, chamber music, and solo piano pieces. His collaboration with Franz Wegeler on their recollections of Beethoven resulted in one of the most important early biographical sources still in use.

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Albert Cano Smit, piano
Danbi Um, violin
Cherry Choi Tung Yeung violin
Cong Wu, viola
Gaeun Kim, cello
Sooyun Kim, flute
Vadim Lando, clarinet

Monday, June 16 2 PM & 7:30 P
Au Conservatoire de Paris
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)​​​

Albert Cano Smit piano
Winner in the 2019 Young Concert Artists Auditions, First Prize at the 2017 Naumburg Piano Competition and finalist and CMIM grant recipient of the 2017 Concours International Musical de Montréal ~ “a superb musician has spoken” Le Devoir

Danbi Um violin
Top prize in the 2018 Naumburg competitions; Recipient of the 2018 Salon di Virtuosi Career Grant; Winner of the 2015 Astral Artists Auditions; Silver Medalist in the Menuhin and Michael Hill competitions ~ “...utterly dazzling” The Strad ~ “a marvelous show of superb technique” and “mesmerizing grace” New York Classical Review

Cherry Yeung violin
Winner of many first and top prizes—at the 2018 Hudson Valley Philharmonic and 2013 Schoenfeld string competitions, the 2017 Juilliard Violin Concerto, and 2014 and 2015 Hong Kong Academy Concerto competitions ~ in 2018 she was also named a New York Philharmonic Global Academy Zarin Mehta Fellow

Cong Wu viola
Assistant Principal Violist of the New York Philharmonic, won 3rd Prize in the 14th Primrose Viola Competition and a Special Prize in the 12th Lionel Tertis Competition

Gaeun Kim cello
Among her honors are the 2023 New York Young Artist Award, first prize and Pablo Casals special award at the 2022 Irving Klein competition, first and audience prizes at the 2022 Washington competition, first prize at the 2015 David Popper and 2014 Liezen competitions, and first prize and special award at the 2012 Antonio Janigro Competition

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

Note: Danbi Um replaces Njioma Grevious for this concert

The 5 composers, whose music is featured on the program, studied and/or taught at the Paris Conservatory, founded in 1795. Devienne was professor from 1795 to 1803. Dancla began his music studies there in 1828; Saint-Saëns and Ravel matriculated at ages 13 and 14, respectively; and Henri Rabaud, in 1893, and became its director in 1920.

François DEVIENNE  Flute Quartet in A minor Op. 66 No. 1
   ~ an elegant, graceful, and engaging piece by the first flute professor of the Paris Conservatoire

Born in Joinville in 1759, the brilliant flautist and virtuoso bassoonist, known as the “French Mozart,” was also a prolific composer. A workaholic, he composed 8 hours a day, performed regularly, taught, and compiled an influential treatise for playing the flute. Well known in his day, Devienne’s compositions raised the level of writing for wind instruments in France in the late 18th century. His works for flute, the fashionable instrument of the day, were revived by Jean-Pierre Rampal in the 1960s. Of his operas, Les visitandines (1792), among the most successful of the Revolutionary period, had a 5-year run of over 200 performances in Paris. In demand as a musician, Devienne was a bassoonist in the Paris Opéra orchestra, a member of the famous Loge Olympique during the 1780s after he became a freemason in 1781, and appeared numerous times both in solo concertos and symphonies concertante at the Concert Spirituel. After he joined the military band of the Paris National Guard in 1792, he taught at its Free School of Music, which became the National Institute of Music in 1793, and then the Paris Conservatoire in 1795. His famous Nouvelle méthode for the one-key flute, which includes interesting articles on the technique and style of the time, was published in 1794 and widely used. Devienne died in 1803 at Charenton, a Parisian asylum for the mentally ill, his faculties impaired.

Charles DANCLA  String Quartet No. 8 in G Major Op. 87
   ~ pyrotechnics abound in this Gold Medal winner of the Société Sainte Cécile of Bordeaux’s music competition, influenced by his deep admiration of Paganini and Vieuxtemps

The quartet is a fine work with passages of rich string sonorities, a joyful and bright minuet, a sublime slow movement, and a bravura finale of perpetual motion. It was dedicated to his friend and compatriot François Soubies, a French politician of the extreme left wing group of the Montagne.

Dancla (1817–1907) came from a talented French family of musicians; his 2 brothers played the violin and cello, and his sister, the piano. He attended the Paris Conservatoire from 1828 to 1840 and won a premier prix in 1833; his school mates included Charles Gounod and Cèsar Franck. Performances by Pierre Baillot (one of his teachers) of quartets by Boccherini, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven sparked his interest in chamber music, prompting him to form his own group, together with his siblings. Their concerts at the home of the postman Hesselbein were a regular feature of the Paris season. In 1842, he failed to secure the sought-after post of principal professor of violin at the Conservatoire. Six years later, still dispirited, he left Paris to work in postal jobs, first in Cholet, then in Paris. In 1855, however, he was finally offered a position at the Conservatoire and five years later, became professor of violin, a post he held until he unwillingly retired in 1892. As a violinist Dancla was praised for his trill, lightness of bowing, and his brilliance. The New Grove Dictionary gives a summary of other achievements: “He was highly respected at the Conservatoire as a person, musician and teacher.... He was a prolific composer and won prizes for four of his 14 string quartets and three of his works for male chorus; but it is only through his didactic works that his music survives.... He may be regarded as the last exponent of the classical French school of violin playing.”

Maurice RAVEL  Piece en Forme de Habanera
   ~ based on a Cuban contradanza arranged for clarinet and piano by Gaston Hamelin

In March 1907 Ravel received a commission from Amédée-Louis Hettich, a singer and teacher at the Paris Conservatoire intending to compile a repertoire of vocal exercises by contemporary composers. Thus, the Vocalise-Étude en forme de habanera for mezzo-soprano and piano was composed. Together with contributions from Vincent d’Indy, Paul Dukas, Reynaldo Hahn, and others, the Répertoire moderne de vocalises-études was published by Alphonse Leduc in 1909. Ravel’s song was premiered by Magdeleine Greslé and Marcel Chadeigne in a concert of the Société Nationale de Musique on 22 February 1919 at the Salle de la Société des Concerts. The piece became better known in his instrumental arrangement as Pièce en forme de habanera—a song without words.

Bru Zane Mediabase notes, “In character and rhythm it recalls the Habanera written in 1895 that appeared as one of the two movements of his Sites auriculaires for two pianos and was later included as the penultimate movement of the orchestral Rapsodie espagnole (1907). Playing ‘almost slowly and with indolence,’ the left hand presents the ostinato that is typical of this dance, which French musicians believed to be Spanish although it in fact originated in Cuba. Melodic elements combining binary and ternary rhythms, and vocal melismas, measured or cadential (the latter marked ‘rubato’), are superimposed in the piece. Ravel’s Spanish inspiration was quite free, with some of the ornamental formulas calling to mind rather an imaginary East. As for the modal harmonies, they bear Ravel’s signature, with hardly any borrowings from the oral traditions of the Iberian Peninsula. They subtly articulate the minor colourings that dominate at the beginning of the piece, and the predominance of major sonorities in the final episode.”

Ravel studied at Conservatoire de Paris from age 14, from 1889 to 1905, when he failed in his fifth attempt to win the Prix de Rome. “Ravel failed the preliminaries, summarily ending his already checkered career at the Conservatoire. Aspersions were cast in every direction as the pundits spun their tales and explanations; Gabriel Fauré’s accession as director after the unexpected resignation of Théodore Dubois was widely understood as a turn to the outside for someone to rescue a fading enterprise. But in fact Dubois had decided to resign well before the prize competition, and Ravel’s two principal detractors at the Academy, Charles Lenepveu and Émile Paladilhe, held scant claim to the compositional stature traditionally enjoyed by directors of the Conservatoire. Ravel himself was reasonably well established already; certainly he did not ‘need’ the prize…and he generally tried to hold himself above the fray [Holomon].” Allegedly, one of Ravel’s problems was his use of trombones, pianissimo.

Henri Benjamin RABAUD  Solo de Concours Op. 10
   ~ a bravura piece for the clarinet, written for the annual Paris Conservatoire’s exit exam for graduates

Rabaud’s solo piece was used five additional times. A solo de concours serves as a showcase for the performer’s technical skills, musicianship, and artistic expression. It was often used as a final performance for graduation or entrance into a specific program.

Rabaud (1873–1949) held important posts as a conductor, composer, and academic. He was conductor of the Paris Opéra, the Opéra-Comique, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra; he composed several well-received operas and orchestral works; and in 1922 he succeeded Gabriel Fauré as director of the Paris Conservatoire, retiring in 1941. The Parisian was born into a distinguished musical family, studied at the Conservatoire in 1893 (composition with Jules Massenet), and won the Prix de Rome in 1894 for his cantata Daphné. As a composer, he was conservative and viewed modernism as an enemy. His music shows a tendency toward Wagnerian richness and a love of the exotic. During the German occupation, Rabaud sought to protect the Jewish members of the faculty, but fearful that the Nazis would close the Conservatoire, he cooperated with the authorities in regard to the Jewish teachers and students at the conservatory.

Camille SAINT-SAËNS  Piano Quintet in A minor Op. 14
   ~ his thrilling and aspiring early work, its joie de vivre exuding confidence as well as humor, and revealing the influence of Schumann

Gramophone remarked that “its power, fertile ideas and scrupulous design (fugue, again, in the finale) are both arresting and appealing.” His first chamber work—the cyclic Quintet—written at age 20, was dedicated to his great-aunt, Charlotte Masson, who raised him after his father died of tuberculosis and taught him piano when he was 2 and a half years old. It was performed (apparently for the first time) at the Salons Érard on 10 April 1860 by Quatuor Armingaud with the composer at the piano. Adolphe Botte, in the Revue et Gazette musicale of 15 April 1860, noted Saint-Saëns’ “serious bent.” It was not published until 1865.

Saint-Saëns began his studies at the Paris Conservatoire in 1848 at age 13. He recalled that he enjoyed being the wittiest in the class, the funniest, and would often play music that would amuse his classmates in its ridicule. In 1849 he won a second prix and in 1851, at 16, he won a brilliant premier prix for organists and began composition studies, taught by Fromental Halèvy. However, he failed twice in the Prix de Rome competition, but won first prize in a competition organized by the Société Sainte-Cécile.

The following is merely a glimpse of the revered Paris institution. In the words of Kern Holomon, “Since its establishment…the Paris Conservatoire has functioned as the gateway to the upper echelons of classical music in France…. A premier prix from the Conservatoire launched careers in the best theaters and concert societies; the foremost instrumentalists rose to occupy, simultaneously, principal chairs at the Opéra and Société des Concerts du Conservatoire (the Paris Conservatory Orchestra) and a professorship at the school. Matriculation at the Conservatoire was so highly valued that families of gifted children would move to Paris and sometimes, like César Franck’s family, change citizenship, since admission required French nationality. In the early years even the best foreign students were routinely turned away, including Franz Liszt in 1823; though by the 1880s, a quota of 15% foreign students was deemed acceptable…. Apart from its direct pedagogical mission, the Conservatoire was home to three pillars of the nation’s musical culture: the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire (1828), the Bibliothèque du Conservatoire (1795), and the Musée Instrumental (1861…). A fourth pillar was the Prix de Rome…. After a year of organization and remodeling of facilities, the institution began to offer classes in 1796–97 to a student cohort of some 350 with a faculty of about 75.” The original concert hall, inaugurated in 1811, seated some 1055. While low on creature comforts, it possessed enviable acoustics and was known as “the Stradivarius of concert halls.” Ensuing renovations, which included the restoration of the breathtaking décor, eventually reduced the seating capacity to 500 and compromised the legendary acoustics. “Nearly all the major French composers of the nineteenth century passed through the Conservatoire, with its faculty of a half-dozen active composers who provided entrée to the best opportunities in the capital…. The Prix de Rome in composition (sojourns in Rome and sometimes Germany, major public performances, and a handsome multiyear stipend) drew ambitious young composers to the Conservatoire from the beginning.” The Société des Concerts (a philharmonic society) held weekly concerts. “The orchestra was soon made up almost entirely of famous-name professors and premiers prix, almost without exception French and graduates of the Conservatoire…. For more than half the nineteenth-century, every concert was technically sold out, with the only hope of admission for others being to take, at the last minute, seats left empty by the subscribers. Subscriptions were passed from fathers to sons (but not wives or daughters…)…. The orchestra boom lasted until the 1920s, when such competing allures as the motorcar, tennis, cycling, and the very concept of the weekend began to compete for leisure time each Sunday afternoon.”

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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 ~ Reservations 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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concert information and the latest news


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...

The New York Times
“...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...

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.

Please send any correspondence to

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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