Jasper String Quartet

The Jasper String Quartet rose quickly among U.S. chamber ensembles and has a long series of prestigious prizes and residencies to its credit. The group has commissioned numerous new works and has a strong commitment to education and the publicizing of chamber music. The members of the Jasper String Quartet -- violinists J Freivogel and Karen Kim, violist Andrew Gonzalez, and cellist Rachel Henderson Freivogel -- formed the group in 2004 when all were students at Oberlin College in Ohio. The members earned a joint master's degree from Rice University in 2008 and a doctoral degree from Yale University two years later. Early in its career, the Jasper String Quartet held a residency in Banff, Alberta, Canada, where it performed "guerrilla chamber music" in diverse locations. The nearby Jasper National Park lent the quartet its name. The quartet experienced teaching and mentorship from the Tokyo String Quartet, James Dunham, and Norman Fischer. The Jasper String Quartet earned an impressive series of awards in the late 2000s and early 2010s decades, beginning with a first prize at Chamber Music Yellow Springs in 2008 and culminating in 2012 with the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award. The group was quartet-in-residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and Arts in New York state from 2009 to 2011 and held the same position at Oberlin College from 2010 to 2012. In 2011, the group recorded its first album for the Sono Luminus label, The Kernis Project: Beethoven; "Kernis Projects" based on the music of Schubert and Debussy followed. Since 2016, the quartet members have been artistic directors of Philadelphia's Jasper Chamber Concerts, with concerts held in the new Chestnut Hill Skyspace. The Jasper String Quartet has commissioned new music from Patrick Castillo, Reinaldo Moya, and, in 2015, Aaron Jay Kernis' String Quartet No. 3 ("River"), which the group performed widely at co-commissioning venues around the U.S. The group has often performed and recorded contemporary music. The Jasper String Quartet has recorded six albums for the Sono Luminus label. In 2021, the quartet moved to Marquis Classics for a recording of music by Mendelssohn (the Octet, Op. 20, with the Jupiter String Quartet), Dan Visconti, and Osvaldo Golijov, but it returned to Sono Luminus in 2023 for Insects & Machines: The Quartets of Vivian Fung. With a strong commitment to educational outreach, the Jasper String Quartet has received several Picasso Project grants from Public Citizens for Children and Youth to support its work with students in Philadelphia's public schools and has served as ensemble-in-residence at the Temple University Center for Gifted Young Musicians.
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