Spanish clarinetist José Franch-Ballester will play solo and with the Jupiter String Quartet at Friday’s show.
When the members of the Jupiter String Quartet joined up in 2001, they knew they were in for the long haul — literally.
With cellist Daniel McDonough living in New York while the other three members—violinists Nelson Lee and Meg Freivogel, and Meg’s sister, violist Liz Freivogel — lived in Boston, the two parties switched off traveling by bus to one another’s home cities for weekend rehearsals.
Though able to joke about it now, McDonough said the three-hour bus rides, which traveled to and from Boston and New York’s respective Chinatowns, weren’t exactly the safest commute.
“It was very sketchy,” he laughed. “There were many incidents where it seemed like laws were being broken while we were riding on it. We were always a bit afraid.”
The miles logged and hours in the practice room paid off, however. Soon after McDonough joined his mates in Boston in 2003, the quartet began sweeping up awards at music festivals and contests, including top honors at the prestigious Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York in 2005.
The group, today considered one of the nation’s premier up-and-coming young quartets, performs at the Clark Center on Friday. Spanish clarinetist José Franch- Ballester will perform separately during the show and join the quartet for the concert’s second half.
In their performances, McDonough said the quartet strives to convey to audiences the deep emotions embedded in the pieces they’re playing.
“Our goal is for people to come to the concert and be moved in some way,” he said. “Whether it’s sadness or ecstasy or whatever it is, we want people to come hear us play and feel like they’re alive. We want them to feel like they’re a part of what being human is.”
The quartet will open Friday’s concert with the last piece ever written by Ludwig van Beethoven, “Opus 135 in F major.” Dealing with the prospect of his death when writing the piece in 1826 (he died the following year), Beethoven asks the question through the music, “Must it be?”
McDonough said the piece’s slow movement is some of the most beautiful and personal music ever written by Beethoven.
“It has almost a bittersweet quality,” he said. “It’s almost like he’s smiling through tears.”
For the last half of the concert, the quartet will join forces with Franch-Ballester and perform the “Mozart Clarinet Quintet.”With the clarinet taking a solo role in the piece, McDonough said it is representative of some of the folk music of Mozart’s day.
“It’s a totally different kind of sound,” he said. “Mozart does a really amazing job of blending the five instruments. It’s a really fun piece. Audiences always love it.”
The Jupiter String Quartet is truly a family affair. Aside from Meg and Liz being sisters, Mc- Donough and Meg were married last May. Though he’s grateful that as a traveling musician he’s able to see his wife everyday, McDonough said he and Meg have learned to give one another some space on the road.
“It’s a very close-knit thing, being in a quartet. It’s like being married,” McDonough joked. “I’m married twice.”
But being in a group with his wife and sister- in-law also has its performance perks. McDonough said the deep bonds the quartet shares with one another translate well into the music.
“People have said to us after concerts that they can really tell that we like each other onstage,” he said. “I think there’s a sense between us and the audience that we really love what we’re doing and that we’re really happy to be playing with each other and for the audience.”
Though he enjoys listening to Bob Dylan and Radio-head during his off time, Mc- Donough said there’s a special feeling performing music that’s moved people for generations.
“It’s always really cool to think about how long this music has been around,” he said. “This is music that was written 200 years ago, and we’re still playing it all the time. It’s not a one-hit wonder.”
Reach Josh Krane at 781-7864.
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