The American String Project will celebrate our seventh year with our concerts in May 2008. We are proud to continue our tradition of unique musical presentations. "Unique" is a word best used infrequently-but indeed, no other known ensemble performs the standard string quartet and quintet literature, from Bach to Bartók, in an enlarged and expanded form as the Project does, and so we claim our uniqueness. Beginning with our first concert in 2002, we have performed over fifty different quartet arrangements for our fifteen-member ensemble. We strive to maintain the integrity of all the works we play while turning a string quartet into a "string symphony." One hearing of the Project's live recordings - to say nothing of attending one of our concerts - convinces most listeners that this is a new and vital way to hear this music.

As co-artistic director with my wife, Maria Larionoff, newly appointed concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony, it is my very pleasurable duty to listen to many pieces in order to choose each year's programs. This year we return to some of the Project's favorite composers, Haydn, Shostakovich, and Dvorak, among others. We will also for the first time repeat one of our first-year works, the Janacek Idylla. It is one of my "desert island" pieces, and I have long looked forward to performing it again with the Project.

It is also my pleasure to have the opportunity to invite new players to Seattle and the Project. The personnel of the Project have never been the same year to year and most likely will not ever be. All of our performers are in great demand as chamber music musicians, orchestral musicians, and teachers, and juggling everyone's schedule in order to create the Project's schedule is my tallest task. We are very happy to include among our new musicians Elisa Barston, Seattle Symphony principal 2nd violin, and two members of the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, Arnaud Sussmann and Lily Francis.

Our support and fan base continues to grow and the Project remains financially healthy as a not-for-profit organization whose primary goal is to present the concerts you will hear in May. We hope you will submit your name and contact information (info@theamericanstringproject.org) so you can receive our periodic news about the players, repertoire, and more for our 2008 season.

We hope to see you at our concerts.