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Jupiter to open string quartet cycle
The Jupiter String Quartet will perform the first two concerts in the six-concert Slee/Beethoven String Quartet Cycle.
The Jupiter String Quartet will open the 2011-12 edition of the Department of Music’s annual Slee/Beethoven String Quartet Cycle with a concert at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 in Lippes Concert in Slee Hall, North Campus.
The Jupiter is the first of three visiting quartets that will present a pair of concerts in this year’s cycle, as well as a master class that is free and open to the public.
The Jupiter’s second concert will take place at 3 p.m. Oct. 16 in Lippes Concert Hall; the master class will be held at 1 p.m. Oct. 15 in Baird Recital Hall, 250 Baird Hall, North Campus.
The quartet’s program for the Oct. 14 concert consists of “Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 127”; “Quartet in F Major, Op. 18, No. 1”; and “Quartet in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3.”
On Oct. 16, the quartet will perform “Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 74” (“The Harp”); “Quartet in G Major, Op. 18, No. 2;” and “Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131.”
Established in 2001, the Jupiter String Quartet is a particularly intimate group, consisting of violinists Nelson Lee and Megan Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel (the older sister of Meg) and cellist Daniel McDonough (husband of Meg, brother-in-law of Liz). The Freivogel sisters grew up playing string quartets with their two brothers, Ben and J. Lee also comes from a musical family—both of his parents are pianists (his father also conducts) and his twin sisters, Alicia and Andrea, play clarinet and cello.
Lee, McDonough and Meg Freivogel met at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and when searching for a violist, Meg suggested they consider her sister, Liz, who was at nearby Oberlin College.
The four musicians finished their schooling together at the New England Conservatory of Music, where they were in the Professional String Quartet Training Program. They currently reside in Boston.
They chose Jupiter as their name because it was the most prominent planet in the night sky at the time, and the astrological symbol for Jupiter resembles the number four.
The quartet has received several recent chamber music honors, including first prize in the Banff International String Quartet Competition, grand prize in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, membership in Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society Two and Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award, which “honors and promotes a rising young string quartet whose artistry demonstrates that it is in the process of establishing a major career.”
The group also won the 2005 Young Concert Artists International auditions and most recently, was the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Advance tickets for the two concerts are $12 for the general public; $9 for UB faculty, staff, alumni and senior citizens; and $5 for students. At the door, tickets are $20, $15 and $8. Tickets can be purchased at the Slee Hall box office, at the Center for the Arts box office and at all Ticketmaster outlets, including Ticketmaster.com.
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