Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival Presents Two Performances of Jupiter and One Jon

Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival (CCCMF) celebrating its 40^th anniversary season as Cape Cod’s premiere presenter of summer chamber music, presents two performances of its concert Jupiter and One Jon on Monday, August 5, 7:30 pm at First Congregational Church: 650 Main Street, Chatham; and on Tuesday, August 6, at Cotuit Center for the Arts: 4404 Falmouth Road (Route 28), Cotuit.

The 40^th season’s second concert Jupiter and One Jon features The Jupiter String Quartet performing works by Mendelssohn and Shostakovich. A highlight of the evening is the closing piece, when the four artists become five performing Robert Schumann’s “Quintet in E-flat Major for Piano and Strings” featuring CCCMF Artistic Director and pianist Jon Nakamatsu.  The work, with its own unique history, is a composition that established music for piano and string quartet as a significant, chamber music genre.  Prior to this the Quintet had a role occupied by the double bass in place of a second violin.  Composed in 1842, the work inspired other writers of that period to invest in duplicating the concept.  Dedicated to his wife Clara, Schumann’s beloved spouse and pianist, the work premiered without her appearance due to illness.  Their peer, Felix Mendelssohn himself served as her replacement, making an impressive debut, while opening the door for suggested alterations to the piano part, which Schumann later incorporated.

Known for its “Positively celestial playing” by The Washington Post, Jupiter String Quartet features violinists Nelson Lee and Meg Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel (Meg’s older sister), and cellist Daniel McDonough (Meg’s husband, Liz’s brother-in-law). Now enjoying their sixteenth year together, this tight-knit ensemble is firmly established as an important voice in the world of chamber music. The quartet has performed in some of the world’s finest halls and  major music festivals. Honors and awards include the grand prizes in the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition; the Young Concert Artists International auditions in New York City; the Cleveland Quartet Award from Chamber Music America; an Avery Fisher Career Grant; and a grant from the Fromm Foundation. They have served as artists-in-residence at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana since 2012, where they maintain private studios and direct the chamber music program. The ensemble’s music can be heard in numerous recordings, with a next release of contemporary works with Australian pianist Bernadette Harvey to be released in 2019.

American pianist Jon Nakamatsu continues to draw unanimous praise as a true aristocrat of the keyboard, whose playing combines elegance, clarity, and electrifying power. A native of California, Mr. Nakamatsu came to international attention in 1997 when he was named Gold Medalist of the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the only American to have achieved this distinction since 1981. Mr. Nakamatsu has performed widely in North and South America, Europe, and the Far East, collaborating with such conductors as James Conlon, Marek Janowski, Raymond Leppard, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Osmo Vänskä and Hans Vonk. He also performed at a White House concert hosted by President and Mrs. Clinton.

Program:  Jupiter String Quartet

Nelson Lee, violin; Megan Freivogel, violin; Liz Freivogel viola, Daniel McDonough, cello

CCCMF Co-Artistic Director Jon Nakamatsu, piano

Mendelssohn:  String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Opus 13

Shostakovitch:  String Quartet No. 11 in F Minor, Opus 122

Schumann:  Quintet in E-flat Major for Piano, and Strings, Opus 44

For more information about Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival’s 2019 season, performers, mission and venues, visit capecodchambermusic.org, or follow Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival on Facebook and Twitter.