Happy Year of the Ox!

1. Other Minds Festival 14
2. Blitzstein CD: "First Life"
3. Chamber Music America
4. "Composing Together" Schools Program
5. Rave Reviews for Ring of Fire
6. Commissioning Joan Jeanrenaud
7. Your Support is Crucial

1. Other Minds Festival 14

Del Sol plays the music of Chinary Ung, Michael Harrison, Dobromila Jaskot, and Linda Catlin Smith at the Other Minds Festival 14 on March 5-7, 2009 at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. Three of the composers wrote their works specifically for Del Sol, and the Quartet will be performing on all three nights of the Festival, including two world premieres and one U.S. premiere. Check out the remarkable tuning system of Michael Harrison, who will play his specially tuned, “just-intonation” piano with the Quartet in his piece, "Tone Clouds," on the Festival’s closing night. The Quartet’s participation in the Festival is supported, in part, by a generous grant from the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation.
The Trio con Brio Copenhagen and the Amsterdam Cello Octet are also coming to town for the three-day Festival, along with a host of other performers and composers. Concerts take place March 5-7: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. The specific programs for each evening’s concert are listed at www.otherminds.org. For tickets, call the JCCSF Box Office at (415) 292-1233 or order online.

2. Blitzstein CD: "First Life"

This April, Other Minds Records will release "First Life," a CD featuring world premiere recordings of rarely-played early works by American composer, Marc Blitzstein (1905-1964), performed by the Del Sol String Quartet and pianist Sarah Cahill. Del Sol recorded Blitzstein's complete string quartet repertoire--Quartet for Strings "The Italian" (1930) and the Serenade for String Quartet (1932)--and Cahill plays the Piano Sonata (1927), Piano Percussion Music (1929), and the Scherzo "Bourgeois at Play" (1930).
"First Life" will be available for sneak-preview purchase at the Other Minds Festival this March, or online.


3. Chamber Music America

In January, Del Sol violinist Kate Stenberg performed with pianist Eva-Maria Zimmermann in New York City at the closing "American Masterpieces" concert of the 2009 Chamber Music America National Conference. This concert honors chamber groups that have been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts in the past year. The duo played Ruth Crawford Seeger’s violin Sonata in the beautiful Saint Luke’s Church, on a program shared with the Harlem String Quartet, The Parker Quartet and the String Trio of New York. A few years ago Del Sol played Crawford Seeger’s masterful 1931 string quartet and have recorded the Andante movement on their “Tear” CD (2002).
Violist Charlton Lee also attended the CMA Conference, joining Del Sol’s booking agent, Peter Robles of Serious Music Media, to meet with presenters on whose concert series the Quartet will perform in the coming seasons. They also enjoyed Kate’s and Eva-Maria’s concert from the audience. Charlton later spent a beautiful, snowy day with composer Michael Harrison, discussing and working on Del Sol’s upcoming premiere of his “Tone Clouds” piece for string quartet and piano. While in New York, the land of composers and food, Charlton also shared meals with two other composers writing works for Del Sol--Tania León and Paul Lee-- whose quartets will be premiered at our Home Season concerts in May.
photos from left to right: Kate Stenberg, Eva-Maria Zimmermann, Charlton Lee – photos by Charles Amirkhanian

4. "Composing Together" Schools Program

Del Sol collaborated with local composer and educator, Katrina Wreede, in a highly successful educational program last fall reaching traditionally under-served students in three public middle and high schools in San Francisco and the East Bay. In several classroom visits during the semester the Quartet members and Katrina provided students with hands-on mentoring to compose their own music through a process tailored to their varied musical experience, understanding and skill levels. At the end of the project the Quartet performed the students’ works in concerts at each school, which was recorded on CDs for the participants. In evaluating last year's program, one participating teacher commented: "I would do this project every year. This is a superb project for school musicians." We hope to continue and expand the program to five schools this fall if we can raise the required funding from foundations and other supporters.
Washington High School students - photo by Jill Hendricks

5. Rave Reviews for Ring of Fire

Del Sol’s new CD, “Ring of Fire: Music of the Pacific Rim,” released in 2008 on the Other Minds label, has been praised by critics from San Francisco to the UK as “ear-opening” and a “bracing sampler, performed with sensitivity and flair.” (The Boston Globe). The December 2008 issue of Gramophone magazine published a glowing, half-page review with color photos, calling the Quartet “masters of all musical things they survey on this disc, playing with a combination of ferocious attack, riveting interplay and silken splendour.” See our website for complete reviews and to buy the CD.

6. Commissioning Joan Jeanrenaud

This year we are beginning a new project with San Francisco composer, Joan Jeanrenaud, to write her first string quartet for Del Sol. The Quartet members are excited to work with Jeanrenaud, a new music champion and acclaimed former cellist of the Kronos Quartet. This project is supported by foundation grants awarded to us by the American Composers Forum and The San Francisco Foundation, along with generous matching gifts from several of our individual donors. We expect to premiere the new work at our 2010 Home Season concerts.

Left to right Kate Stenberg, Rick Shinozaki, Hannah Addario-Berry, Joan Jeanrenaud, Charlton Lee – photo by Frank Addario

7. Your Support is Crucial

We appreciate so much the generous response of donors to our 2008 Year-End solicitation. Because of the recession, like many other nonprofits, we began cutting costs last fall and have cut our 2009 budget further. We depend on the generosity of individuals like you to continue making contemporary chamber music accessible to the public through the Del Sol Quartet’s work. Your gifts support continuing our “Composing Together” collaboration in public schools this fall, our Home Season concerts in May, and two new multi-media projects that we hope to begin this year, plus our ongoing operations. You can donate online. Thank you to all of you who have continued to support us through hard times, and we hope that others also will give as generously as they can.

Happy Summer!

1. "You Are Hear": Music at SFO
2. Ring of Fire CD
3. Memories of "Lines of Listening" Project
4. Memories of Quartetfest
5. Memories of Garden of Memory Summer Solstice
6. New Grants
7. Donate

1. "You Are Hear": Music at SFO

On August 1 the Quartet will inaugurate a new music series, "You Are Hear," presented by Tarmac Music at San Francisco Airport. We will play three sets of music from the Del Sol repertoire for travelers arriving, departing and waiting for flights in the International Terminal.





2. Ring of Fire CD

It’s here! After six months of intensive work, we have released our new CD, “Ring of Fire: Music of the Pacific Rim” (on the Other Minds Records label). It includes “Spiral X: In Memoriam” by Chinary Ung, which Del Sol premiered at the Library of Congress this past fall, and pieces by other contemporary Pacific Rim composers such as Gabriela Lena Frank, Hyo-shin Na, Kui Dong and Jack Body. You can buy it through our website or from Other Minds. It will also be available from retailers later this summer.

3. Memories of "Lines of Listening" Project

In collaboration with psychiatrist/filmmaker Laura Schwartz, on July 7 the Quartet was filmed and recorded at Skywalker studio in Marin County for an experimental, multi-media project exploring the creativity and psychology of sound and music making. Hannah recalls, "Laura presented us with a Glazunov string quartet, for which the scores had been severely disfigured. Our heads spun as we attempted to make sense- and music- out of the displaced notes, extra staff lines or lack thereof, and absence of clef. I've never been so relieved to see a 'normal' sheet of music as when we finally played through the piece with real, properly notated scores, and discovered what a lovely piece of music it is! All this in front of a team of camera crew and microphones. I'll be excited to see the final documentary!" Rick remembers, "We take for granted that music notation will be written in a format we are familiar with. What happens when the rules of notation are subtly or not-so-subtly twisted, and we are left to our own devices to decipher this newly-deformed sheet music? In front of a battery of video cameras? At the end of the day, we were able to reconstitute an obscure quartet by Glazunov, but only after a full day's effort and and an interesting adventure in problem-solving and group dynamics."

4. Memories of Quartetfest

For years, Del Sol has been leading a fabulous program for young chamber musicians, that has been the center-pin of their educational outreach in the Bay Area. Four groups meet for an intensive seminar of mainly modern quartet music coached by the Del Sol, which ends with a final public performance followed by a potluck dinner. The newly expanded 4-day QuartetFest workshop for kids (ages 10-18) was a refreshing experience for all who attended. They were excited to tackle the various challenges of this new music with its extended techniques and complex rhythms. The additional 2 days gave the Del Sol ample opportunity to expand the QuartetFest experience in several ways. Kate and Charlton expertly led morning classes in Chen Style Taiji to help the students relax and get their focus. Violinist and special guest artist Jeremy Cohen led the group in three intensive sessions on the Blues and Tango music, with it’s own extended instrumental techniques, leading up to an exuberant performance of the "Del Sol Blues" composed collaboratively by the entire class! The four student quartets also performed works of Shostakovich, Mozart, and Zhou Long. Deepest thanks to Steve and Sara Kahn, for allowing us use of their Pacific Heights house for QuartetFest!
Photos by Rick Shinozaki. Clockwise from left: Hannah Addario-Berry, James Pak; Andrea Chung, Tara Sola, Kate Stenberg, Aku Sorensen, Erica Wong; Gabriella Smith, Eli Wirtshafter, Leon Truong, Charlton Lee. Not pictured: Dylan Mattingly.

5. Memories of Garden of Memory Summer Solstice

On June 21, one of the hottest days so far this year, the Quartet performed at the Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland for the annual “Garden of Memories” concert. Stephen Kent, famed didjeridu player, collaborated with the quartet on a couple of pieces. The all-day concert series included more than 30 different musicians and ensembles playing in various intriguing spaces within the famed Art Deco Columbarium building (designed by architect Julia Morgan). Kate Stenberg took flight down the stairs on her breaks to play one of Amirkhanian’s solo pieces “Rippling the Lamp” that he wrote for her to perform at the Other Minds “New Music Séance” last year. Rick recalls: "Throngs of music lovers lined the halls and milled around the Chapel of the Chimes for this annual event. Del Sol sweated it out in the aptly titled 'Chamber of Effulgence' for a warm audience (literally), in friendly competition with the widest variety of musical acts that the Bay Area has to offer. The positive energy and enthusiastic participation by all made 'Garden of Memories' a natural fit for Del Sol. 

Photo by Charles Amirkhanian. Left to right Stephen Kent, Kate Stenberg, Rick Shinozaki, Charlton Lee, Randy Fromme (substitute cellist)

6. New Grants

The San Francisco Foundation awarded us $10,000 for "Composing Together," an arts education program we begin this fall to introduce public school kids in three Bay Area counties (SF, Contra Costa, and Alameda) to composing their own works, in collaboration with composer/educator Katie Wreede. We also received $500 in June from BMI Foundation, Inc. for general operations and the first installment of $9,600 on our grant awarded by the SF Arts Commission Cultural Equity Program for our 2009 Home Season concert next spring.

7. Donate

You can help support our mission to advance the classical music tradition by making a donation online!

Happy Summer!

1. Ring of Fire CD

2. Quartetfest

3. Memories of Ring of Fire Concert

4. Memories of Leakey Event

5. Spring Fundraising Drive

1. Ring of Fire CD

It’s here! After six months of intensive work, we have released our new CD, “Ring of Fire: Music of the Pacific Rim” (on the Other Minds Records label). It includes “Spiral X: In Memoriam” by Chinary Ung, which Del Sol premiered at the Library of Congress this past fall, and pieces by other contemporary Pacific Rim composers such as Gabriela Lena Frank, Hyo-shin Na, Kui Dong and Jack Body. You can buy it through our website or from Other Minds. It will also be available from retailers later this summer.

2. Quartetfest

June 30th – July 3rd

Del Sol String Quartet will be presenting an expanded 4-day intensive QuartetFest this summer, June 30th through July 3rd. It will take place at the beautiful Pacific Heights home of Steven and Sara Khan in San Francisco that they are so generously donating for the event.

As one of San Francisco's premier string quartet training workshops for young chamber musicians, QuartetFest is a great opportunity for young string players to immerse themselves in the art of rehearsal and performance of the string quartet repertoire. One of Del Sol’s delights is to expose the students to a variety of contemporary music and improvisation during the course of the workshop. Often the students not only perform on their stringed instruments but also demonstrate their talent as composers or improvisers or both!
This year, jazz violinist Jeremy Cohen joins the members of the Del Sol String Quartet as their special guest artist, offering his expertise in coaching improvisation and various jazz and tango styles. A fun event for all, the QuartetFest ends with a concert presented by the students followed by a festive potluck dinner. We even have QuartetFest t-shirts, designed by artist Kris Yenney, for participants, friends and family. Contact Kate Stenberg for more info.

left to right: Grace Lu (violin), James Stoner (violin), Edwin Lai (cello), Hannah "Bing" Addario-Berry photo by Rick Shinozaki

3. Memories of Ring of Fire Concert

It was a fabulous experience to finish this big project with our May 2008 Home Season concert and CD release party, with our commissioned composer—Chinary Ung—in attendance. The San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s intimate Recital Hall, in their new building at Civic Center, was a perfect venue for the concert. Our new CDs (received hot off the press just days before the concert) were available to purchase at the party afterwards. In honor of Chinary we served delicious Cambodian food from Angkor Borei Restaurant as we mingled with the audience. And, of course, we could not have done all of this without your support--our audience, donors, board members and volunteers--and your continuing interest in hearing new music written now by composers still living and breathing! Thank you!

4. Memories of Leakey Event

On May 30 Del Sol performed at the Jewish Community Center of SF for The Leakey Foundation, in collaboration with The California Academy of Sciences. The event featured a fascinating lecture, “The Musical Instinct,” by cognitive archaeologist, Dr. Steven Mithen (University of Reading, UK). He made a compelling case for the evolutionary value of music and why humans evolved as a musical species. The Quartet enlivened the lecture and demonstrated his points by playing various short pieces, from Bach to Blitzstein and other music from Del Sol’s contemporary repertoire.

left to right: Hannah Addario-Berry, Charlton Lee, Dr. Steven Mithen, Kate Stenberg and Rick Shinozaki
photo by Jane Kumin

5. Spring Fundraising Drive

Individual contributions to the Del Sol Performing Arts Organization made up 20% of our total revenues last year and are critical to our continuing operations as a nonprofit organization. It’s never too late or too little to donate—we greatly appreciate support at whatever level. Gifts from donors like you enable the DSPAO to continue bringing new chamber music to the Bay Area by funding composer commissions and expanding our educational outreach programs like QuartetFest (see above). Please return your tax-deductible contributions as soon as possible. For more information, or if you prefer to donate online, please visit our website and click on the link to a secure site for credit card contributions. We are extremely grateful for your support!

Happy Spring!

1. Music at Kohl Mansion

2. Temecula Presents

3. CD Release and Concerts (May)

4. Quartetfest

5. Memories of Switchboard Music Festival

6. Memories of Stringwreck

7. Grant

8. Future Recording

1. Music at Kohl Mansion

We are in the midst of our "Music at Kohl Mansion: Music in Schools" program in Burlingame and Millbrae. For our school version of " Music of the Pacific Rim," the 3rd-5th graders are introduced to our puppets Emu and Crow, and everyone participates in an aural volcanic eruption! During April and May, we will visit 9 schools and perform for more than 1000 students.

2. Temecula Presents

For our Southern California fans, we will be making a stop at Old Town Temecula Theater. Come and hear repertoire from our "Ring of Fire" Other Minds album release!

3. CD Release and Concerts (May)

It’s here! Come get a copy of our new CD, “Ring of Fire” (released on Other Minds

Records) and hear the music live at our concerts on May 2 (SF with reception following the concert) and May 4 (Pt. Reyes Station). Included is “Spiral X: In Memoriam” by Chinary Ung, which we premiered at the Library of Congress last year. Pieces by other contemporary Pacific Rim composers such as Hyo-shin Na, Kui Dong, and Jack Body are also on the program. Composer Chinary Ung will attend the SF concert on May 2 for the West Coast premiere of his piece. These concert are funded in part by grants from the Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund, Meet The Composer’s MetLife Creative Connections program, San Francisco Arts Commission Cultural Equity Grant Program, San Francisco Grants for the Arts/Hotel Tax Fund, and the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation.

4. Quartetfest

June 30th – July 3rd
Del Sol String Quartet will be presenting their new expanded version this summer starting June 30th continuing through July 3rd. It will take place in a beautiful Pacific Heights home in San Francisco. This is one of San Francisco's premier training workshops for young chamber musicians and it is a great opportunity for young string players to immerse themselves in the art of rehearsal and performance of the string quartet repertoire. Jeremy Cohen joins QuartetFest as their special guest artist offering his expertise in improvisation and various jazz and tango styles. Contact Kate Stenberg for more info.

5. Memories of Switchboard Music Festival

March 30
There was such a diverse crowd, eager to appreciate the spontaneity and intense creativity of the festival. Rick Shinozaki, Del Sol violinist – “Del Sol had a blast at the inaugural season of the Switchboard Music Festival. Our two collaborations could hardly have been more contrasting: A really neat uncategorizable quasi-improv with Amy X Neuberg, segueing into the spiritually expansive music of Osvaldo Golijov with the masterly Jeffrey Anderle. There's a special excitement to be in on the inauguration of a new annual festival, and to see the fruition of our friends' dreams. May the Switchboard Festival continue to flourish and grow.” Read the CatSynth blog posting.

6. Memories of Stringwreck

April 10 - 13

Our collaboration with Janice Garrett and Dancers and choreographer Charles Moulton culminated in four performances earlier this month. It was a great success, receiving ovations each night and a flood of positive feedback all around.

"A delight from start finish...a continually thoughtful, surprising and even touching journey.”- San Francisco Chronicle

Kate Stenberg, Del Sol violinist- “What a joy to play the "Adagio" from Bach's Solo violin sonata as the rest of the quartet and dancers gracefully moved through the space. Janice Garrett and Charles Moulton did a wonderful job of working with gamut of temperaments as well as all the problems of dancing while playing something as difficult as a stringed instrument. In the end, we had a lot of fun!.”

Hannah Addario-Berry Del Sol cellist- “From the first rehearsal to the last performance this project was thrilling and challenging. Janice, Charles, and each of the dancers brought something really new and special to our quartet, and I very much hope that we will continue our work together.”

Dance Review Times review: “…a deliciously entertaining, slightly wacky evening of music and dance that could charm a turnip.”

SF Chronicle review: "A delight from start finish...a continually thoughtful, surprising and even touching journey."

7. Grant

FAC notified us that they are awarding us a $12k grant for our May 2009 Home Season (premiering Tania Léon’s first string quartet, commissioned by the Fromm Foundation).

8. Future Recording

We are preparing for our next recording, the music of Marc Blitzstein. This will be our third release on the Other Minds label, following our George Antheil album and "Ring of Fire." More details to come later!

Happy Spring!

1. Switchboard Music Festival

2. StringWreck
3. Memories of Other Minds 13
4. CD Release & Concerts (Ring of Fire)
5. Strings Magazine mention
6. New Board Member: Steve Pacheco

1. Switchboard Music Festival

Genre-bending! Convention-breaking! Eclectic! Get ready for an 8-hour, non-stop music festival where musicians push the boundaries of their respective genres. Del Sol’s cellist, Hannah Addario-Berry, says “I think that co-directors Jeff Anderle, Ryan Brown, and Jon Russell have done a fantastic job of creating an 8 hour marathon program which is wildly diverse in style. The only common thread that I see across all the sets is that it will be of high quality, exciting, and indefinable. I think it's a great chance for the fans of each of these groups to cross-breed and discover music they may not have had a chance to hear. I'm very excited to have yet another opportunity to perform Osvaldo Golijov's masterpiece ‘The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind’ with clarinetist Jeff Anderle.” More information at switchboardmusic.

2. Stringwreck – April 10 through 13

World premiere! Experimental interaction! Don’t miss this dance theater performance where traditional roles are abandoned. Together with Janice Garrett & Dancers and choreographer Charles Moulton, the Del Sol String Quartet will surprise you yet again. “Dancers become music stands that take flight with the sheet music. A violist is lifted high in the air and is soon at the tumultuous center of a fast moving dance routine. Competition, compassion, communication, misunderstanding, rivalry, harmony – the performers experience all of these as they encounter each other on the stage.”

3. Memories of Other Minds 13

Del Sol String Quartet returned to the Other Minds Festival again this year, performing works by Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith, Elena Kats-Chernin, and Keeril Makan. “This is the best environment for the Del Sol Quartet,” says Kate Stenberg, violinist with Del Sol, “since we get to work directly with the composers. It was great to work with Elena (from Australia) and Leo Wadada Smith (from LA) and his percussionist Anthony Brown (from the Bay Area) for the first time and also with Keeril Makan again and new percussionist David Shively (from NY) for the piece. Plus, we got to explore the Estaciones de Luz, environmental maze sculpture by Mark Reeves (1984), out at the Djerassi. Ranch.”

Read the reviews: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ce00b37c-ef88-11dc-8a17-0000779fd2ac.html & http://www.sfcv.org/2008/03/11/meeting-of-the-minds/

4. CD RELEASE AND CONCERTS (MAY)

Mark your calendars now. Our new CD, “Ring of Fire,” will be released soon. Come hear the music live at our concerts on May 2 (SF) and May 4 (Pt. Reyes Station), which include the “Spiral X: In Memoriam” piece by Chinary Ung that we premiered at the Library of Congress last year. Pieces by other contemporary Pacific Rim composers such as Hyo-shin Na, Kui Dong, and Jack Body are also on the program. Composer Chinary Ung will attend the SF concert on May 2 for the West Coast premiere of his piece.

5. Strings Magazine mention

Strings Magazine, April 2008 "News & Notes" column, page 23
Awards & Accolades
Eleven chamber-music ensembles, festivals, and presenters were honored for their adventurous programming by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers at the annual Chamber Music America (CMA) National Conference in January. Among the recipients were the DEL SOL QUARTET (first place, Mixed Repertory), the SEATTLE CHAMBER PLAYERS (first place, New Music) and EARPLAY (2nd place tie, New Music).

6. New Board Member: Steve Pacheco

Steve Pacheco has joined the DSPAO board of directors, assisting with PR and Development. His day job is as a mobile software developer in Silicon Valley. He is always seeking out new live and recorded music and plans to take a music tour of Turkey in May. His meditation is his artwork, where he loses himself in watercolors.

Happy Year of the Rat

1. Preparing for Other Minds Festival 13
2. Rehearsals with Janice Garrett and Dancers
3. CD Release & Concerts
4. Report from CMA Conference in January
5. Review from 1/29 “Coming Together” concert

1. Preparing for Other Minds Festival 13

Other Minds Festival 13 is next week. Del Sol will be playing on Thursday and Saturday, March 6th and 8th. We are premiering a new string quartet by free jazz legend, Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith, with trumpet and percussion. Smith’s piece, “Taif: Prayer in the Garden of the Hijaz,” suggests a beautiful painting of the sun with colorful spots and ribbons. We have made a recording of an interpretation of a section of this piece and will be playing alongside it during the live performance on Thursday. On closing night, Saturday, March 8, we play works by two other composers — Keeril Makan’s “Static Rising” with percussion, and works by Elena Kats-Chernin with the composer at the piano.

2. Rehearsals with Janice Garrett and Dancers

We have already begun rehearsals with choreographer Charles Moulton and Janice Garrett & Dancers in preparation for our April 10-13 joint performance. We are being choreographed into the live production and learning how to dance and play our instruments at the same time -- not an easy task!



3. CD Release and Concerts (May)


Our new CD, “Ring of Fire,” will be released soon. Come hear the music live at our concerts on May 2 (SF) and May 4 (Pt. Reyes Station), which include the “Spiral X: In Memoriam” piece by Chinary Ung that we premiered at the Library of Congress last year. Pieces by other contemporary Pacific Rim composers such as Hyo-Shin Na, Kui Dong, and Jack Body are also on the program.

4. Report from CMA Conference in January

Charlton, Hannah, Jane (Board President), and Peter Robles (our new Bookings & Publicity agent from NYC-based Serious Music Media) attended the 2008 CMA conference, going to concerts, workshops, and networking with other musicians, presenters, composers, and publishers over four action-filled days. At the CMA/ASCAP awards ceremony, Hannah, Jane and Charlton accepted the First Prize for Adventurous Programming on behalf of Del Sol.

Charlton participated in a panel discussion with Frank Oteri, editor of New Music Box. Charlton explained, "New music is anything that hasn't been heard before by whoever's hearing it! Haydn can be new music as much as anything written yesterday." Hannah joined the San Francisco-based group, Melody of China, for a performance of Yuanlin Chen's Wandering in the Journey for the CMA Commissions showcase concert.

5. Review from 1/29 “Coming Together” concert

Our January 29 “Coming Together” performance in Berkeley, presented by Berkeley Chamber Performances, drew a capacity crowd and was reviewed glowingly in San Francisco Classical Voice.

Happy Holidays!

Our holiday season has been merry, especially since we have been receiving good news every week.

1. CMA/ASCAP First Prize for Adventurous Programming
2. Argosy Foundation Grant Awarded
3. Welcome Patrick Flaherty
4. Happy Holidays

1. *** CMA/ASCAP First Prize for Adventurous Programming ***
CMA/ASCAP awarded Del Sol First Prize for Adventurous Programming, Ensemble-Mixed Repertory. Thanks to the generous support from our fans that enables us to concentrate on producing quality new music,this is the second time in three seasons that Del Sol has won this top, national award. Given annually, the award recognizes ensembles, presenters and festivals that have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to 20th- and 21st-century music, especially works written in the past 25 years. In addition to considering originality, the independent panel of judges looked for innovative presentation and audience-development strategies. The prizes will be given out at the Chamber Music America National Conference in New York City on January 5, 2008, which will be CMA’s 30th Anniversary. The awards are given jointly by Chamber Music America and ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers).

2. *** Argosy Foundation Grant Awarded ***
The Argosy Foundation’s Contemporary Music Fund has awarded DSPAO a generous grant of $12,000 for our Pacific Rim project (CD recording and May 2008 concerts). We will be working closely with our recording engineer during the next few months to edit the raw material we recorded at Skywalker Studios this past fall in time for a May 2008 release of the new CD. Donors have been critical for this project; contributors of $1,000 or more by February 2008 will be recognized as a sponsor in the CD liner notes.

3. *** Welcome Patrick Flaherty ***
This month DSPAO welcomed Patrick Flaherty to our board of directors. Mr. Flaherty is a 30 year broadcasting veteran with producing experience at the national and local level. Most recently he produced KQED TV’s “Spark,” the award winning local PBS program about arts and culture in the Bay Area. Last year he produced the Del Sol String Quartet story for “Spark,” first aired in April 2007 and rebroadcast this past October. Mr. Flaherty has a long standing commitment to the arts.

4. *** Happy Holidays ***
As the year draws to an end, we want to pause and thank you for your interest in and support of our work. We are thrilled to have such an educated, generous and excited public that inspires us to continue our vision to move new music forward. Thank you so much for your financial support that has been crucial to our success!
May the special gifts of health, peace, and happiness be yours throughout the upcoming year.