Jupiter Chamber Players – March 3, 2013

Purcell Chacony in G minorArshak Andriasov Piece for String Quartet, Op. 7 Iosif Andriasov Spring, Op. 32 for String QuartetStephanie Webster El Ultimo SuspiroDmitri Shostakovich Two Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 36Puccini Crisantemi, Elegy for String Quartet Gershwin Lullaby for String Quartet Schubert Quartett-Satz in C minor, D. 703 Beethoven Quartet No. 10 in E-flat major, Op. 74In 1997, two veteran freelancers, violinist Michael Jones and Juilliard-trained violist Steve Levintow, recruited BBC Orchestra violinist Andrew Davies and ‘cellist Paul Hale of the Oakland Symphony to found the Jupiter Quartet which later became the Jupiter Chamber Players. The quartet had the good fortune to connect with Marvin Sanders, director of Live Oak Concerts at the Berkeley Art Center, just as the Center’s previous ensemble-in-residence, the Cypress Quartet, left to launch their international career. The Art Center remained the Quartet’s “home” venue for 10 years. Paul Rhodes replaced Hale in 2000, bringing his years of experience in numerous orchestras and as soloist with the Carmel Bach Festival. Two years later, Davies left to pursue other projects, and San Francisco Symphony member Victor Romasevich took over as first violinist. Romasevich brought deep fascination with Russian chamber music, including masterworks by such composers as Sergei Taneyev, Georgy Catoire, and Iosif Andriasov (with whom Romasevich studied violin and viola)—all links in a tradition going back to Tchaikovsky through Moscow Conservatory. The Jupiter Chamber Players take pleasure in introducing wider audiences to the work of these composers, while continuing to present more familiar Russian and European repertoire. Their program will include string quartet miniatures spanning five centuries of music (XVII–XXI) from Purcell to Andriasov, and Beethovens Op. 74 string quartet.