We're happy to say that we kicked off the season with a full house and an explosive standing ovation for our first concert this past Sunday, featuring pianist George Li and the Boston premiere of Harold Meltzer's Air and Angels, a Winsor Music Commission. Many, many thanks to George, Harold, Gabby Diaz, Noriko Herndon, Rafi Popper-Keizer, and everyone who helped to make September 14th a night to remember. But we're only just getting started, and even between Winsor Music concerts, our Artistic Director Peggy Pearson is on the road again, following our Winsor commissions wherever they may lead her (did you know she played in Rome this summer?).

Peggy and Eric Nathan at the American Academy in Rome

This week, Peggy is in NYC with composer Eric Nathan, violinist Samuel Rhodes, pianist Mei Rui, and the Momenta Quartet. On Friday, they will be performing a concert of Eric Nathan's music at Tenri Cultural Institute, and on Saturday, they head to the studio to record Eric's debut Portrait CD, which will be released in the fall of 2015 by Albany Records. The CD will be produced by Grammy Award-winning engineer Judith Sherman, and will include a performance of the Winsor Music commission Quartet for Oboe and Strings featuring Peggy and the Momenta Quartet.

You can help make this exciting project a reality by considering a donation to the Hatchfund Campaign that Eric has launched to fund the recording. Although we're sure that you're familiar with other crowd-funding platforms like Kickstarter, Hatchfund is an exciting new innovation in the industry, and one that benefits artists and non-profits more directly than any of its competitors. In Eric's own words:

Hatchfund is different from other crowd-funding organizations (such as Kickstarter) in that it is a non-profit focused entirely on the arts and every cent that you donate is tax deductible. Please note that if you donate to the campaign you must also contribute an additional percentage to Hatchfund – as little as 5% (be sure to select a percentage otherwise the default setting is 15%). Other crowd-funding companies take the same percentage or more out of your pledge, but with Hatchfund the artists receive your full pledge. The extra percentage goes to support services Hatchfund provides to help ensure its very high, 75% success rate of its campaigns.

We'll keep you posted as the project continues, and you'll be the first to know when the recording is available!

Winsor fans in NYC, you won't want to miss this concert on Friday! It's free with a suggested donation of $20, and if you haven't heard Eric's Quartet for Oboe and Strings yet, this is your chance to see Peggy perform it in person. Full information about the concert can be found here.