Insects and Machines
Quartets 1-4 of Vivian Fung

JUNO Award-winning composer Vivian Fung is renowned for her virtuosic and arresting compositions. The Jasper SQ releases an album this fall of her string quartets, which span the totality of her career - the first quartet completed in 2003 (shortly after completing her doctoral degree at the Juilliard School) and the fourth completed in 2019. Though there is a clear compositional evolution in Fung’s four quartets, her fearlessness and mastery of string writing are on display in each work. The four string quartets together in one program inspire a totality of experiences, from mystery and anguish to unbridled and wild joy.

Repertoire:
Vivian Fung | String Quartet No. 1
Vivian Fung | String Quartet No. 2
Vivian Fung | String Quartet No. 3
Vivian Fung | String Quartet No. 4 “Insects and Machines

“…a rewarding new album covering [Vivian Fung’s] four string quartets, played with a beautiful sense of color and SUBSTANCE by the Jasper String Quartet.”

- Classical Modern Music

“… a precise, energetic, technically unimpeachable performance by the Jasper String Quartet.”

-All About the Arts

“If you want to get a good snapshot of composer Vivian Fung’s chamber music, this excellent recording by the Jasper String Quartet will reveal exactly how talented Fung is.”

-Cultural Attache

Jasper String Quartet and Jupiter String Quartet
This collaborative album with the Jupiter String Quartet, released on Marquis Classics and produced by Grammy-winner Judith Sherman, features the world premiere recording of Dan Visconti's Eternal Breath (2011); Felix Mendelssohn's Octet in E-flat, Op. 20 (1825); and Osvaldo Golijov's Last Round (1996). Visconti's Eternal Breath was commissioned by family of members of the Jasper and Jupiter Quartets, and targets the album's underlying theme of friendship, family, and joy. 

Repertoire:
Felix Mendelssohn | Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20
Dan Visconti | Eternal Breath
Osvaldo Golijov | Last round

Released: February 5, 2021