about del sol
left to right: Hannah Addario-Berry, Charlton Lee, Kate Stenberg and Rick Shinozaki
photo by Jim Block
The Del Sol String Quartet, two-time national winner of the Chamber Music America/ASCAP First Place Award for Adventurous Programming, stands out as a group of pure invention, exploring new ways for a string quartet to interact with audiences, composers and other artists. Del Sol's riveting concert performances and critically acclaimed recordings have led one reviewer to describe the ensemble as "a San Francisco foursome steeped in imagination and bravery."
How They Began
Del Sol began at the renowned Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, after which they were awarded a residency at San Francisco State University, in association with the Alexander String Quartet. For individual artist biographies, click here.
Innovative Performances
Del Sol often collaborates with other artists and across art forms. In 2008 the Quartet's multifaceted collaborations included world premieres of StringWreck, choreographed and directed by Janice Garrett and Charles Moulton, and Divide Light, a multi-media opera by visual artist Lesley Dill and composer Richard Marriott, based on the poetry of Emily Dickinson and presented by the Montalvo Arts Center. In July 2007 Del Sol performed Tan Dun's Ghost Opera at the Santa Fe Opera's new music series with Wu Man, pipa soloist. In all three of these full-scale productions the Quartet members integrate their string playing with additional vocal and percussion roles while moving around onstage.
In October 2007, at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., Del Sol premiered Spiral X: "In Memoriam" (for amplified string quartet) by Grawemeyer Award-winning composer, Chinary Ung, co-commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation. The program, performed on Stradivarius instruments from the Library's collection, also included works by Kui Dong and Gabriela Lena Frank, as well as Peter Sculthorpe's stunning Quartet No.16 for string quartet and didjeridu, in which guest artist Stephen Kent accompanied the Del Sol musicians.
Collaborations with Composers Worldwide
Del Sol's successful history of collaborating with living composers from around the world has captured media attention. In 2007 PBS affiliate, KQED-TV, profiled the group on the Bay Area's acclaimed arts and culture show, "Spark." Del Sol's 2006 performance of Daniel Bernard Roumain's complete string quartets, with the hip-hop inspired composer/violinist onstage, was featured nationally on the "CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer." The Quartet has partnered with composers Duo Huang, Kui Dong and Melody of China, the Bay Area's internationally acclaimed, traditional Chinese music ensemble, to perform new works written for the combination of Chinese instruments and string quartet. Del Sol also has collaborated with Hyo-shin Na and five other contemporary women composers from South Korea, premiering their work in Seoul and San Francisco.
Upcoming Activities
Upcoming activities include an invitation to perform at the "Palaces of St. Petersburg International Chamber Music Festival" in Russia and world premieres of Tania León's first string quartet, commissioned for Del Sol by the Fromm Foundation; the piano and quartet version of Michael Harrison's Revelations, being rewritten by the composer for Del Sol as "Tone Clouds"; and new works from Linda Catlin Smith, co-commissioned by the Canada Council for the Arts, and Ronald Bruce Smith, commissioned by the Barlow Endowment. The Quartet also will perform at Candlelight Concerts in Maryland and at The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. In addition to its own self-presented Home Season concert series, Del Sol is featured annually at the Other Minds Festival in San Francisco, next held in March 2009.
Definitive Recordings
Ring of Fire (2008), Del Sol's latest CD, features music by eight composers from regions along the Pacific Rim. Critics have praised the recording as "a powerful and diverse compilation" and an "ear-opening new album…performed with sensitivity and flair."
Del Sol's 2005 CD, the definitive first recording of The Complete Works for String Quartet by 20th century American composer, George Antheil, garnered international attention.
The Quartet's 2002 CD, Tear, won highest accolades from critics praising Del Sol's "passionate virtuosity" and calling their performance "emotionally riveting," "immediately engrossing and consuming," and "first rate."
A Commitment to Outreach
The members of Del Sol are deeply committed to educational outreach for youth, creating and performing inventive programs in schools that have reached thousands of students. For more than a decade, quartet members have lectured and performed by invitation at schools and other community venues, playing at least 300 concerts for more than 30,000 audience members to date. They have worked closely with student composers, musicians, and faculty artists at the University of California, Berkeley, MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and other institutions. Past lecture and performance residencies include:
- the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque (2007)
- Northeastern University, Boston (2007)
- Walden School in New Hampshire (2006)
- Lake Tahoe Festival Academy in California (2006)
- Hot Springs Music Festival in Arkansas (2005 & 2004)
Del Sol created their unique QuartetFest program to expose young string players to contemporary chamber music and improvisation, in addition to the great classical repertoire. It has become a nationally regarded model for coaching students in chamber music performance.
Support
The Del Sol String Quartet is is sponsored by the Del Sol Performing Arts Organization, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, supported, in part, by the generosity of numerous individual and institutional donors.