NEWS

Making 'magic' through music

Rebecca Burylo
Montgomery Advertiser

For the four members of the Jasper String Quartet, striking the bows of their instruments to create sound and melody is a “magical” experience — one that brings their families together and allows them to share their passion with the world.

Although the “up-and-coming” quartet members boasts numerous awards, including the CMA Cleveland Quartet Award, and is well traveled, they don’t allow the hype to invade the pureness of their performance. A usual practice involves sitting on sofas and chairs in one of their Pennsylvania family rooms, where the group is based out of. Their children scramble underfoot.

Jasper String Quartet

They practice relentlessly to create the “magic” audiences have come to expect on stage. Montgomery had the opportunity to witness that masterful blend of determination and talent Tuesday night as the Jasper String Quartet and pianist Gilles Vonsattel kicked of the 56th season of the Montgomery Chamber Music Organization in the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.

Gilles Vonsattell

Violinists Sam Quintal, Sae Chonabayashi, J. Freivogel and cellist Rachel Henderson Freivogel performed Mozart, string quartet in D Major, Barber, string quartet in B Minor, Op. 11 and Brahms, piano quintet in F Minor, Op. 34 during their Montgomery concert.

The next morning they also visited Baldwin Arts and Academic Magnet school and performed in front of 550 students, staff and faculty as part of their education outreach. They have visited more than 200 schools since they began as a group.

Rachel Henderson Freivogel

This was the first time any of them had visited the capital city of Alabama. They arrived late Monday night and the Freivogels, who are married, even brought their two children along. As a family, they visited the Riverfront on Tuesday morning and stopped by the historic markers downtown.

“We’ve heard so much about Montgomery and the history here with the civil rights movement that we’ve only read about in books,” J. Freivogel said. “It’s remarkable to get to come and share our music and share this universal language with people in an environment that we’ve learned about for years.”

J Freivogel

The Freivogels and the other members of the group met while studying at the Oberlin Conservatory and then later at Rice University nearly a decade ago. They’ve been together ever since.

Quintal is the founding violinist of the Jasper String Quartet and was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, in a small log cabin with wood heat and no running water. He was inspired by the great musicians of the past and is now inspired by his fellow quartet members.

Sam Quintal

“To get to play this incredible repertoire with musicians we know extremely well, coming to work today with four other people with such sensitivity and such trust is really magical,” Quintal said. “Together, we have a shared purpose.”

Along with earning degrees at Oberlin and Rice, he attended Yale School of Music before joining the quartet and currently lives in Philadelphia with his wife and daughter.

Sae Chonabayashi

Chonabayashi is the second violinist of the Jasper String Quartet and was born in Ibaragi, Japan, where she began playing violin at 3 years old. She attended Toho Gakuen School of Music in Japan and came to the United States in 2001 to study at the Cleveland Institute of Music and now lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Shun, and her son, Hideki.

For Chonabayashi the music is like an old friend. A friend that she never grows tired of.

“Each time I play a classical piece I see it through new eyes — filtered by life experiences, children and friendships,” she said.