In a guest recital sponsored by Stetson University’s School of Music and the Artists and Lecturers program, the internationally known Jupiter String Quartet will perform Thursday, Feb. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in Lee Chapel inside Elizabeth Hall, 421 N. Woodland Blvd., on Stetson’s DeLand campus. The program will feature works by Ravel, Bartok and Mendelssohn. For more information about the Quartet, visitwww.jupiterquartet.com. They will be joined that evening by a guest second violinist, Karen Kim, from the Parker Quartet (www.parkerquartet.com/biography/).

The Jupiter String Quartet formed in 2001, is a particularly intimate group, consisting of violinists Nelson Lee and Megan Freivogel, violist Liz Freivogel, and cellist Daniel McDonough. The quartet chose its name because Jupiter was the most prominent planet in the night sky at the time of its formation and the astrological symbol for Jupiter resembles the number four. As they enter their 10th year of making music together, this tightly knit ensemble has firmly established itself as an important voice in the world of chamber music.

The Jupiter Quartet concertizes across the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. They have enjoyed playing in some of the world’s finest halls, including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Mexico City’s Palacio de Bellas Artes, Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center and Library of Congress, and Seoul’s Sejong Chamber Hall. They have also been received at several major music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, the Caramoor International Music Festival, Music at Menlo, the Honest Brook Festival, the Skaneateles Festival, the Yellow Barn Music Festival and the Seoul Spring Festival.

In addition to its formal concert schedule, the Jupiter String Quartet places a strong emphasis on developing relationships with future classical music audiences through outreach work in the school systems and other educational performances. They believe that chamber music, because of the intensity of its interplay and communication, is one of the most effective ways of spreading an enthusiasm for “classical” music to new audiences.

The Jupiters have received several chamber music honors and recognitions. In 2008 they received an Avery Fisher Career Grant and, in 2007, they were given the Cleveland Quartet Award from Chamber Music America. Before that, the Jupiters were awarded first prize in the Banff International String Quartet Competition, where they also received the Szekely Prize for best performance of a Beethoven quartet, and grand prize in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. The quartet’s career began to take off after being selected in the Young Concert Artists International auditions in 2005. From 2007-2010, the Quartet was in residence at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Two and, in 2009, they received a grant from the Fromm Foundation to commission a new quartet from Dan Visconti for a CMSLC performance at Alice Tully Hall.

The quartet has recorded works by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Britten for Marquis records. American works by Barber, Seeger, and Gershwin were also recorded for iTunes in conjunction with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Deutsche Grammophon.

Admission is $10 general public, $8 senior citizens and $5 area students. More information, contact Stetson University’s School of  Music (386) 822-8950; Concert Line (386) 822-8947;www2.stetson.edu/music.