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,

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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Monday, February 17 ♦ 2 PM & 7:30 PM
Getaway to UK
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)​​​

Avery Gagliano piano
Winner of the First Prize and Best Concerto Prize at the 2020 National Chopin Piano Competition, other winnings include the Audience Prize at the 2019 Cliburn Junior Piano Competition, and First Prize at both the Aspen Concerto and MostArts Piano competitions ~ “...a compelling presence at the piano. She immediately draws you in… She has the technique and the musicianship, which is the ultimate combination of a young artist.” National Public Radio ~ From the Top

Hao Zhou viollin
Grand Laureate of the 2019 Montreal competition ~ as a member of the Viano String Quartet, which he cofounded, he has also won First Prize at the 2019 Banff, Grand Prize at the ENKOR, and Third Prize at the Wigmore Hall competitions ~ described as “dynamic” and “striking” by the Los Angeles Times

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

Cara Pogossian viola
2022 winner of the Borromeo String Quartet Guest Artist Award, First Prize winner of NEC’s 2023-2024 Lower Strings Concerto Competition

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”

Gabriel Polinsky double bass
Associate Principal Bass of the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 23 ~ winner of the 2019 Philadelphia Orchestra Allen Greenfield Competition, and fourth prize at the Irving Klein 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

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

Susan SPAIN-DUNK  Phantasy Quartet in D minor
   ~ in one movement for string quartet, it was written for the prestigious Cobbett Competition

The Cobbett Competitions, designed to encourage the younger generation of British composers to write chamber music, was sponsored by the industrialist Walter Wilson Cobbett, a chamber music aficionado. He also wished to revive the Elizabethan fantasy form of a single movement that includes a variety of moods and structural elements usually found in 3 or 4 movements. Spain-Dunk’s Phantasy has 4 distinct sub-movements within the larger one, from a bold opening through pastoral and fugal sections, and ending with a chordal version of the theme.

Almost forgotten today, Spain-Dunk enjoyed the spotlight in the 1920s. Born in Folkestone in 1880, she played her first concert at the age of 13 and participated with enthusiasm in the flourishing musical life of the town. In 1900 she performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, and passed her music exams with honors. She then attended the Royal Academy of Music, where she studied violin with Alfred Gibson (she married his nephew Henry). She also was a pupil Stewart Mcpherson in harmony and won the Charles Lucas Medal for composition. After several of her early compositions were published, she achieved her breakthrough in 1924 when Sir Henry Wood included her “Suite for Strings” in one of his Promenade Concerts. From then till 1927 her works were featured annually at the Proms. Spain-Dunk was also the first woman to conduct a regimental band, and she became the second woman to conduct at the Proms (Dame Ethel Smyth was the first). She later taught harmony and composition at the Royal Academy of Music and at Trinity College in the 1930s. She died in 1962.

Sir Charles Villiers STANFORD  Serenade in F Major Op. 95
   ~ an uplifting nonet for strings and winds that radiates a buoyant spirit and fun—by the influential musician who contributed to the renaissance in British music

Written in London the same year he was composing his 6th Symphony as well as basking in the success of his Requiem in Düsseldorf, the Serenade premiered at a Broadwood Concert in London’s Aeolian Hall on 25 January 1906. Enthusiastically received, The Times noted its “spontaneity, charm, and classical purity of structure.” Sir Hubert Parry, Stanford’s severest critic, was also impressed, and when he heard it again in March 1913 at a performance by a student ensemble at the Royal College of Music, he described it as “a nice specimen of his [Stanford’s] work.” Professor Jeremy Dibble further stated that it “reveals a side of Stanford’s style in which formal craftsmanship is combined with an enchanting chemistry unique to the composer—Brahmsian adroitness united with Mendelssohnian felicity.”

Born to a musical family, Stanford left Dublin at the age of 18 for Cambridge, where he distinguished himself. He also studied in Leipzig (with Reinecke) and in Berlin (with Friedrich Kiel, at the urging of Joachim). An illustrious career then ensued; he composed prolifically, conducted, and taught at the Royal College of Music, which he cofounded. Among his pupils were Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, John Ireland, and Frank Bridge, to name a few. The New Grove Dictionary summarizes his achievements and influences: “First, he swept away the empty conventions and complacencies which had debased English church music since Purcell.... Second, he set a new standard in choral music with his oratorios and cantatas.... Third, in his partsongs, and still more in his solo songs with piano he reached near perfection both in melodic invention and in capturing the mood of the poem.... [Fourth, he] exercised the most powerful influence on British music and musicians, that of the paramount teacher of composition....” Stanford was knighted in 1902; he died in 1924 and his ashes were buried in Westminster Abbey.

BEETHOVEN  Scottish, Welsh, and Irish Songs
   ~ arranged by the genius for soprano and piano trio

The tunes are winsome and the accompanying piano trio occasionally sounds unmistakably like vigorous echoes of his muscular style. Between 1806 and 1818 Beethoven collaborated with a Scottish collector of folk music by the name of George Thomson in arranging more than 100 folk songs for an estimated £550.

Frank BRIDGE  Piano Quintet in D Minor
   ~ dense, richly melodic masterwork, cast in a rhapsodic post-Romantic English style—colored by the French music of the era and a solid dose of Brahmsian flair—with a yearning theme in the slow movement

First written when Bridge was in his mid-20s, the Quintet was radically revised just after he turned 30. The refined version premiered on 29 May 1912 with pianist Harold Samuel and the English String Quartet.

Bridge was considered one of the most gifted figures on the British music scene, wearing multiple hats well. He was a composer of poetic insight and consummate technique, an excellent violist, an outstanding conductor and chamber musician, and a remarkable teacher. Born in the seaside resort of Brighton in 1879 to a working class family, Frank was the 10th of a dozen children. His father was a lithographic printer, but was passionate about music; in middle age he switched professions, becoming music director of the Empire Theatre and a violin teacher. From childhood, Frank learned the violin and played in the orchestra, began composing, and substituted for his father as conductor at the Theatre. In 1899 he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, where he studied composition with the famously dismissive Charles Villiers Stanford in addition to the violin. When Bridge left RCM in 1903, he took up the viola and played in string quartets, most notably as a member of the English String Quartet, founded officially in 1908. While composing, he earned his income from long hours of playing all over London. He was also called upon to conduct as he was a phenomenal score reader. And he supplemented his income with teaching. Bridge was the private tutor of Benjamin Britten, who later championed his teacher’s music and paid homage to him in Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge. He died in 1941 in Eastbourne.

Monday, March 3 ♦ 2 PM & 7:30 PM
The Franck Connexion
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)​​​

Chelsea Wang piano
Winner of many awards including prizes at the Seoul, Washington, and New York International Piano competitions; a two-year Fellow of Ensemble Connect ~ praised by the New York Times as an “excellent young pianist”

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”

Fiona Khuong-Huu violin
Recipient of the 2022 Arkady Fomin Scholarship Fund, along with the prestigious career grant award from Salon De Virtuosi. Additional accolades include first prize at the 2017 Grumiaux Competition; second prize at “Il Piccolo Violino Magico” in San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy; and third prize and best virtuoso interpretation at the 2019 Louis Spohr Competition.

All 4 French composers on this program knew César Franck—“the dominating musical force of the period in France, both as a composer and as teacher, and he gathered unto himself a group of pupils who did everything but put a halo over him and worship [Harold Schonberg].” Although Saint-Saëns could not tolerate Franck’s music (the gulf between them was enormous), both men were original members of the Société Nationale de Musique, whose purpose was to promote contemporary French composers. Among them was Lalo, who was offered the opportunity to compose orchestral music, including the Symphonie espagnole written for Sarasate. Chausson, a disciple and close friend of Franck, was one of two of the honored teacher’s most famous pupils (the other was Vincent d’Indy). And Widor was also influenced by Franck and succeeded him as professor of organ at the Paris Conservatoire in 1890. At Franck’s funeral mass held at the Basilica of Sainte-Clotilde, Saint-Saëns, Widor, and Lalo were amongst the large congregation paying their respects.

Camille SAINT-SAËNS  Caprice brillant in B minor
   ~ a virtuosic duo for both the violin and piano, composed in his 20s as a tribute to the Spanish violinist Pablo Sarasate, age 15 at the time

The Caprice is, in effect, a “first draft” that evolved into the finale of his Violin Concerto No. 3 two decades later (and dedicated to Sarasate). The major themes of the Concerto first appeared in the Caprice, which contains more episodic material and a richer harmonic palette than the Concerto. The 2 instruments are equal partners, with cadences embellished in a Lisztian manner, a frequent use of rubato, and a variety of textures. In the 1850s, Saint-Saëns became acquainted with Sarasate, a fellow musical prodigy who made his concert debut at age 8, and began studying at the Paris Conservatoire in 1856 at age 12. In addition to the Caprice, Saint-Saëns wrote his Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Major for Sarasate in 1859.

Saint-Saëns was born in Paris in 1835. Although he was frail and tubercular as a child, he lived till the age of 86, when he died in Algiers. His body was brought back to Paris where he was buried in a state funeral at the Montparnasse Cemetery. The child prodigy was first taught the piano at the age of two and a half years old by his mother’s aunt. Following studies with other teachers, he entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1848. After attending organ classes and winning a second prix in 1849 and a brilliant premier prix in 1851, he began formal composition studies with Fromental Halévy, a protégé of Cherubini. In 1857 he became organist at the Madeleine, a post he held for 20 years.

For those interested in Saint-Saëns before age 11, read on. “It is not generally realized that Saint-Saëns was probably the most awesome child prodigy in the history of music. His I.Q. must have soared far beyond any means of measurement. Consider: at 2 1/2 he was picking out tunes on the piano. Naturally he had absolute pitch. He also could read and write before he was three. At three he composed his first piece…. At five he was deep in analysis of Don Giovanni, using not the piano reduction but the full score. At that age he also gave a few public performances as a pianist. At seven he was reading Latin and interesting himself in science, especially botany and lepidoptery. He also collected geological specimens. His formal musical training started at seven, and he made his official debut at ten. As an encore at his debut recital he offered to play any of Beethoven’s thirty-two sonatas from memory. …an item in the Boston Musical Gazette…states that ‘there is a boy in Paris, named St. Saëns, only ten and a half years old, who plays the music of Handel, Sebastian Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and the more modern masters, without any book before him.’ Saint-Saëns had total recall. If he read a book or heard a piece of music it was forever in his memory [Harold Schonberg].”

Ernst CHAUSSON  Andante et Allegro
   ~ carefree and facile lyricism in the Andante give way to melodrama and pyrotechnics for clarinet and piano

Completed on 28 April 1881, Chausson’s choice of the clarinet is adventurous for its time when the instrument was rarely featured in the salons and concert halls. At age 22, he had a late start at the Paris Conservatoire. Nevertheless, he “experimented with all of the expressive and technical possibilities of the clarinet, bringing into play the colours of its different registers, its lyricism and virtuosity, its brightness and mellowness of tone. If the Andante and Allegro reflects the influence of his two professors—Franck’s density of texture and Massenet’s refined lyricism—it also reveals an individual style characterized by abundant modulations, numerous seventh-chords on the piano, and a fusion of binary and ternary rhythms [Jean Gallois].”

Chausson (1855–1899) was one of the founders of the modern symphonic school in French music. He earned a law degree upon his father’s insistence before he studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where his teachers were Jules Massenet and Cèsar Franck. He also visited Germany to hear Wagner. “Although he absorbed traditional harmony as taught at the Conservatoire, Chausson was clearly influenced by Wagner and ‘Franckism’.... Indeed, Chausson was to become...one of the most prominent and influential members of the Franck circle...[and a] Wagnerian [New Grove Dictionary].” He later developed his own sumptuous late Romantic style, which influenced Claude Debussy and Gabriel Fauré, among others. Born in Paris into an affluent bourgeois family, Chausson died tragically at the age of 44 from injuries sustained in a bicycle accident while staying in Limay at one of his country retreats. He was buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery.

Edouard LALO  String Quartet in Eb Major Op. 45
   ~ unique, and dramatic at times, the quartet impresses with soaring melodies, a flair for rhythm and color, and a Scherzo of Spanish origin

Stephen Hefling is of the opinion that “this work unquestionably marks a significant moment in the history of the genre in France. Lalo’s score, concise and animated with an intense rhythmic life, includes a slow movement whose density and harmonic daring baffled listeners at its first public hearing in 1859 [Nineteenth-Century Chamber Music].” It was dedicated to his father.

After several years working as a string player and teacher in Paris, Lalo formed the Armingaud Quartet with friends in 1848, playing viola and later second violin. The Quartet, in vogue for many years, gained a reputation for technical perfection and the musical beauty of its performances. It popularized the works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Mendelssohn, and also played Lalo’s compositions, including the Eb Major String Quartet, which was rewritten in 1884 and published in its new form in 1886. When Lalo died, the journals did not print any eulogies, but nearly all the musicians of French renown were present at his burial at Père Lachaise, in tribute to a composer of great talent and character.

Charles-Marie WIDOR  Piano Quintet No. 1 in D minor Op. 7
   ~ unveiling romantically appealing melodies and a lively imagination, with a gorgeous Andante movement to wallow in unhurriedly

The knowledgeable and discerning critic, the late Fred Kirshnit, wrote in the New York Sun that “this quintet showcases a white-hot, passionate side. The work is Franckian in character…and even somewhat Lisztian in emphasis. [And]…there was a definite Wagnerian feel.” The Chamber Music Journal noted, “In his chamber music Widor displays a melodic elegance that is characteristically French. There is delicacy of texture and of tonal color, and yet, there is also much vigor and passages of great power.” The Quintet was dedicated to Charles Gounod, who had lobbied for Widor’s appointment as organist at the Église Saint-Sulpice.

Widor (1844–1937)—the preeminent organist in Paris at the turn of the 20th century and one of the most noted organ composers—was the son and grandson of organ builders. For 64 years he was the organist at Saint-Sulpice in Paris and he taught at the Conservatoire, succeeding César Franck as professor of organ in 1890 and Théodore Dubois as professor of composition in 1896. Among his organ pupils were Louis Vierne and Marcel Dupré, as well as Albert Schweizer, with whom he annotated an edition of the organ works of Bach. His composition pupils included Arthur Honegger and Darius Milhaud. While Widor’s oeuvre includes operas, symphonies, concertos, and chamber music, he is remembered mostly for his 10 symphonies for solo organ, a form he pioneered, and most especially for the ripping Toccata finale of his Organ Symphony No. 5. Widor was laid to rest at Saint-Sulpice, in the burial crypt below the nave.

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

“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 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...

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