Jasper String Quartet with Maria Brea, soprano
Sunday, April 23, 4:00PM
Saint Anthony Park United Church of Christ
View Program Notes
About the Artists
Celebrating its seventeenth anniversary in 2023, the Jasper String Quartet is recognized as one of the leading American string quartets on the performance stage today. A recipient of Chamber Music America’s prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award, the quartet has been hailed as “sonically delightful and expressively compelling,” (The Strad) and described by Gramophone as “flawless in ensemble and intonation, expressively assured and beautifully balanced.” The New York Times named their album Unbound as one of the 25 Best Classical Recordings of 2017.
This year, the quartet releases their premiere recording of Vivian Fung’s String Quartets 1-4 for the Sono Luminus label, presents premiere performances of new commissions by Ingrid Arauco and Reinaldo Moya, and has residencies with string and composition departments at Michigan State University, Swarthmore College, Haverford College and Shenandoah Conservatory.
The Jasper String Quartet is the Professional Quartet-in-Residence at Temple University’s Center for Gifted Young Musicians. In addition, the Quartet is the Founder and Artistic Director of Jasper Chamber
Concerts. The Jasper Quartet is committed to celebrating the diverse array of compositional voices writing for string quartet on every program.
Formed at Oberlin Conservatory, the Jasper Quartet launched their professional career in 2006 as Rice University’s Graduate Quartet-in-Residence. In 2008, the Quartet continued its training with the Tokyo String Quartet as Yale University’s Graduate Quartet-in-Residence. In 2008, the Jaspers won the Grand Prize and the Audience Prize in the Plowman Chamber Music Competition, the Grand Prize at the Coleman Competition, First Prize at Chamber Music Yellow Springs, and the Silver Medal at the 2008 and 2009 Fischoff Chamber Music Competitions.
The Jasper String Quartet is named after Jasper National Park in Alberta, Canada.
For more information, please visit www.jasperquartet.com. The Quartet is represented by Artist Manager Marianne LaCrosse of Suòno Artist Management ([email protected]).
Photos by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco
Maria Brea, soprano, is a native of Caracas, Venezuela. Praised for “very classy Venezuelan soprano” by The arts desk and “versatile soprano” by Tampa Bay and “luxiourious soprano”. Maria sang Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale with The Barn Opera and was praised for “with a voice that mixes brilliance and richness” Maria makes her debut at The Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall with the Cecilia Chorus of New York singing the Soprano Solo in Orff’s Carmina Burana under the baton of Maestro Mark Shapiro.
Ms. Brea most recently won the Metropolitan Opera District of Philadelphia 2022. Later this season, you can catch Maria singing Gilda in Rigoletto in Pittsburgh under the baton of Maestra Maria Sensi Sellner at Resonance works. This summer 2022 Maria covers the role of Margaret Herschel in Southern Crossings by Syrian award winner composer Zaid Jabri.
Ms. Brea’s other awards and honors include the Mae Zenke Orvis Scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music where she received her Bachelor’s in Vocal Performance and a Kovner Fellow at the Juilliard School of Music where she received her Master’s. Maria was a proud recipient of a Novick Career Advancement Grant. Maria’s current teachers, mentors and coaches include Manny Pérez, Martina Arroyo, Pablo Zinger, Arlene Shrut, Colby Charnin, Javier Arrebola, Isabel Arraiza and Rachelle Jonck. Brea’s father, a music teacher and Cuatro player, taught her Venezuelan folk music from an early age. Maria is a co-founder of the instagram platform Latina Women in Opera and a Spanish Diction expert at DictionBuddy.com
