http://www.MarinusEnsemble.com | http://www.josephkuipers.com Marinus Project | Opening Concert for "Ensemble in Residence" at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA. ARTISTIC DIRECTORS | RACHEL KUIPERS YONAN | JOSEPH KUIPERS The Marinus Ensemble is an international chamber music collective striving for excellence in music making. This fellowship of artists is united by a spirit of collaboration and guided by a search for quality and expression of the human spirit through solo, chamber music, and conductor-less orchestra performances of the past and evolving musical heritage. The Marinus Project was founded in 2010 by siblings Rachel Kuipers Yonan and Joseph Kuipers. The ensemble is committed to invigorating new audiences for classical music through excellence, authenticity and personal engagement. It is a group of young soloists offering knowledge of music and knowledge through music. "People often complain that music is too ambiguous, that what they should think when they hear it is so unclear, whereas everyone understands words. With me, it is exactly the opposite, and not only with regard to an entire speech but also with individual words." -Felix Mendelssohn Even in words Felix Mendelssohn reveals the delicacy and humanity of his being. Once praised by the composer Robert Schumann, for his ability to "reconcile the contradictions" of his age; his music contains the clarity and transparence of Mozart while incorporating the grandeur of Beethoven, the formal creativity of Bach and the lyric beauty of Schubert. His music finds resolution to the tension of the classical influence of the past and the surging Romanticism of his present. He was a musical prodigy in his day and was equally renowned as a conductor, pianist, composer, composing masterpieces for nearly every available genre.