Del Sol Quartet / Del Sol Performing Arts Organization

San Francisco’s Del Sol Quartet believes that music can, and should, happen anywhere – screaming out Aeryn Santillan’s Makeshift Memorials from a Mission District sidewalk or a rural high school, bouncing Ben Johnston’s microtonal Americana off the canyon walls of the Yampa River or the hallowed walls of Library of Congress, bringing Huang Ruo’s Angel Island
Oratorio home to the island detention barracks or across the Pacific to the Singapore International Arts Festival. Del Sol’s performances provide the possibility for unexpected discovery, sparking dialogue and bringing people together.

Del Sol has commissioned or premiered hundreds of works by composers including Terry Riley, Gabriela Lena Frank, Tania León, Huang Ruo, Frederic Rzewski, Vijay Iyer, Mason Bates, Pamela Z, Chinary Ung, Chen Yi, Andy Akiho, Erberk Eryilmaz, Theresa Wong, and Reza Vali. Many of these works are included on Del Sol’s critically-acclaimed albums. New recordings released in 2023 include The Resonance Between, a collaboration with North Indian musicians Alam Khan, sarode & Arjun Verma, sitar and SPELLLING and The Mystery School with Oakland magical-futurist pop phenomenon SPELLLING. Huang Ruo – A Dust in Time, Del Sol’s eleventh album, was released in 2021 by Bright Shiny Things, and was described in the New York Times as “excavations of beauty from the elemental.”

Huang Ruo’s ANGEL ISLAND – Oratorio was commissioned by the Del Sol Quartet to shine a light on local history with global implications. Performances of ANGEL ISLAND in the current season include a New York City premiere directed by Matthew Ozawa and presented by Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival and Beth Morrison’s Prototype Festival in January 2024. Supported by a Hewlett Foundation 50 Commission, the work came to life in 2021 through numerous community programs, culminating in performances on Angel Island inside the immigration station detention barracks. This project has grown into new musical collaborations that allow Del Sol to amplify the voices of the Asian-American community including neighborhood pop-ups with Angel Island descendents “The Last Hoisan Poets,” an ongoing concert series at the Angel Island Immigration Station, and an upcoming podcast series.

The Quartet has performed at prestigious venues and festivals worldwide, including the Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Esplanade Singapore, National Museum of Asian Art, National Gallery of Art, Symphony Space, Miller Theater, Other Minds Festival, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Clefworks Festival, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Santa Fe Opera, and Chautauqua Institution. Every spring, Del Sol and Holiday Expeditions lead five-day musical whitewater adventures along the Yampa River. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Del Sol initiated The Joy Project, an ongoing series of outdoor pop-up concerts featuring short commissioned works inspired by the theme of joy. These pieces reached thousands in public spaces around the Bay Area— parks, sidewalks, open-spaces — where people could enjoy the music in the open air.

Deeply committed to education, Del Sol enjoys working with young composers. Over the years, talented students they first met through workshops, coaching and residencies have often grown into valued colleagues. Recent residencies include Universities of California at Berkeley, Dartmouth, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Cruz. They especially value their ongoing relationship with the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music in Boonville, California. Their love of sharing the joy of music-making extends into their annual workshop "Chamberfest" and activities with non-professional musicians.

Benjamin Kreith & Hyeyung Sol Yoon, violins
Charlton Lee, viola
Kathryn Bates, cello