San Antonio Chamber group Agarita has been around for six years, and violist and founding member Marisa Bushman said that they’re staging a return to where it all began.
“We are excited to be returning to the McNay Museum of Art. It's actually where we had our first concert in 2018,” she said. “We will be having an immersive experience in all the galleries there on Sunday afternoon, and then at 3:15 p.m. we'll be getting sort of a more formal concert in the Leeper Auditorium.”
Agarita is known for putting on concerts all around town, and all for free. Their concert on Sunday — their first in December — is no exception.
“We are lucky to partner with them on one of their free Sundays. You know, first Sunday of the month, McNay is always free and open to the public, and we thought this was a perfect opportunity to bring in people,” Bushman said.
She noted that there are likely friends and family in town for Thanksgiving, and by Sunday they might be feeling a little cabin fever.
“They could bring their family and friends with them that are in from out of town, and come see not only the wonderful collection, but hear some great classical music that is collaborating with the museum and the artwork itself,” she said.
Another attribute that Agarita has brought to their events is collaboration, oftentimes with artists in other media. This particular performance will feature another musician playing along. They’ll be joined by accomplished violinist Ye Jin Min.
“Yes, we are going to have Ye Jin Min from the New World Symphony joining us. We're actually grant recipients this year of a New World Symphony Blue grant, and we'll be inviting in New World Symphony fellows throughout the year and working with them on some of our programs,” Bushman said. “And she's actually going to be performing a piece that she wrote in one of the galleries as well, called 'Four Moons.'”
Agarita is rounded out by Daniel Anastasio on piano, Ignacio Gallego on cello and Sarah Silver Manzke on violin. The group has added a mobile concert unit called Humble Hall, allowing them to set up and perform in a variety of locations, including out of doors. This performance will all be inside the McNay Art Museum’s facility at 6000 N New Braunfels Avenue.
She says the playing will start at about 2 p.m. at various settings in the museum and then finally move into the Leeper auditorium at 3:15 for a sit-down concert.
