Formed at Oberlin Conservatory in 2003, the quartet has participated in many of the elite summer festivals for string quartets. The Jaspers attended the Aspen Music Festival’s Advanced String Quartet Program from 2004-2006, the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival in 2007, and will participate in the Norfolk Festival and the Emerson International String Quartet Workshop this summer.
The Jasper String Quartet is dedicated to studying and performing the core quartet repertoire, as well as new music. Highlights include appearances at the Kennedy Center, Harris Hall (Aspen, CO), the Vigeland Museum (Oslo, Norway), Lake Louise (Canada), and on the Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music and Santa Fe Pro Musica Series. They have performed quartets by Pierre Jalbert, Martin Bresnick, John Zorn and will perform Osvaldo Golijov’s Dreams and Prayers of Issac the Blind when they return to the Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music series next season.
The Jaspers are committed to relating to a broad audience through performance and outreach. Last summer, as representatives of the 9th Banff International String Quartet Competition, the quartet embarked on “guerilla chamber music”, popping up around Alberta Canada to perform short concerts. In addition, during their time at the Shepherd School of Music, the quartet collaborated with the Houston Friends of Chamber Music to bring quartet programs into local high schools.
The Jasper String Quartet’s members hold degrees from Oberlin Conservatory, Oberlin College, Rice University and the New England Conservatory. At Rice, they were mentored by James Dunham, Norman Fischer, and Kenneth Goldsmith.
The quartet is named for Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada.
J Freivogel, violin, is from St. Louis, Missouri. The youngest in a family of musicians, he began playing violin at the age of two. In 05-06 J was the winner of the Oberlin concerto competition, performing Bela Bartok's Violin Concerto No. 2 with the Oberlin Orchestra. He
also performed the world premier of Lewis Nielson's Violin Concerto and Alban Berg's Kammerkonzert at Merkin Hall in New York City. He was named Northern Ohio Live's "best and brightest" in 2004 and won the Hurlbutt prize for most outstanding violinist at Oberlin in 2006. His principal teachers have been Marilyn McDonald, Sylvia Rosenberg, and, currently, Cho-Liang Lin.
Sae Niwa, violin, was born in Ibaragi, Japan and began playing violin at age three. She attended the prestigious Toho Gakuen School of Music in Japan from the age of fifteen, where she completed her studies with Koichiro Harada, a founding member of the Tokyo String Quartet. In 2001, Sae came to the United States to study with Donald Weilerstein at the Cleveland Institute of Music. As a full scholarship student, she continued her studies with Mr. Weilerstein at the New England Conservatory, where she received undergraduate and graduate diplomas. Last year she won third prize in the Swedish Duo International Competition with pianist So Oyama. At Rice University she is a student of Cho-Liang Lin.
Sam Quintal, viola, was born and raised in Fairbanks Alaska. He began playing the violin at age six and viola at the age of 11. He earned his B.M. in violin performance studying with Marilyn McDonald at Oberlin. He currently studies viola with James Dunham at Rice, pursuing a Master's degree.
Rachel Henderson, cello, holds a B.M. in cello performance and a M.M. in baroque cello and viola da gamba from Oberlin Conservatory, where she studied with Darrett Adkins and Catharina Meints. She began her musical training with her mother, also a cellist, in her hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. In addition to the quartet, she performs regularly as a baroque cellist with Apollo's Fire, Cleveland's baroque orchestra. Currently in her second year of graduate work at Rice University's Shepherd School, Rachel is a student of Norman Fischer.