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Les grâces is pleased to announce that we have received a grant from the SF Friends of Chamber Music to make a recording, which will be produced by Grammy-winning producer David Bowles. We began recording on June 3, 2010, and are now keeping a blog of our recording experiences. Please
visit the blog to keep track of our progress.
- June 4, 2010
Les grâces is keeping a travel blog of our European competition experiences. Please
visit the blog to keep track of our ongoing adventure.
Thanks to all our donors who made this trip possible!
- October 28, 2009
Les grâces received a very flattering review in last week's issue of the San Francisco Classical Voice. Last weekend's concerts were described there as radiating "elegance and restraint without falling prey to overrefinement." We were praised for our "evident chops," were complimented for our "consciously graceful performance style," and were vaunted as an "assemblage of equals, all masters of their instruments." When we got finished blushing, we decided to share a link to the very nice review:
Grace notes: Review of Sept 27 concert
- October 4, 2009
Les grâces is pleased to announce that we are one of twelve ensembles selected to compete in this year's Van Wassenaer International Competition in Amsterdam. We are flattered to have made it to the semifinals for this prestigious early music event. Now, for the next step: no American ensemble has ever won first prize in the competition, and we hope to change that statistic!
As you know, travel to Europe is quite expensive, especially considering the current exchange rate. Les grâces needs your help! Please consider donating to our Europe travel fund. Because of your donations, we have already raised around $1,300. Thank you! But we're not quite there yet. We have a travel budget of $3,500, and still have a ways to go!
We have partnered with an artists' representative company, Fractured Atlas, so that your donations will be tax deductible. In addition to this benefit, we would like to offer a free gift for those willing to donate $15 or above: a copy of our demonstration CD, the very disc that we submitted for the competition's preliminary screening. The disc is around 40 minutes long, and has some beautiful artwork on its case design, as well as featuring wonderful music. We hope that you will enjoy it as much as we have! Of course, we will accept donations in any amount. Whatever contribution you feel comfortable offering will help us toward our travel costs. No donation is too small!
In order to donate, please visit this website and follow the instructions there: https://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/contribute/donate/2345. Remember that all donations made through this site will be tax deductible, and we'll get your thank you gift to you just as soon as we can get to the post office!
- September 19, 2009
The Baroque ensemble Les grâces formed in Berkeley, California in the spring of 2008 in order to explore seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music. The ensemble’s performances are equally inspired by the four young performers’ passionate musicianship, as well as their collective study of historical performance practices at leading conservatories in Europe and the US.
The name Les grâces stems from a long literary and artistic tradition. The number of graces varies in different depictions, but there were usually three. Daughters of Zeus and Hera, they were representations of brightness (Aglaia), joyfulness (Euphrosyne), and bloom (Thalia). Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century artists frequently depicted them as nude females, united by a sash, representing harmony. Taken as general symbols of love, beauty, and fertility, they are often accompanied by Cupid or Mercury, their male counterparts.
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