Agarita and Pablo Sainz-Villegas

Agarita

An innovative chamber ensemble dedicated to producing bold, collaborative musical events, Agarita offers a new way to experience classical and contemporary music. Founded by Daniel Anastasio (piano), Marisa Bushman (viola), Ignacio Gallego (cello) and Sarah Silver Manzke (violin), Agarita nourishes the local community through artistic collaborations, education, community engagement, and free, adventurous programming. With concise, eclectic performances that are “splendid – unified, spirited, [and] well prepared” (Greenberg, Incident Light), the young chamber group offers a new, open-armed experience for listeners.  

Rooted in San Antonio, Texas, Agarita works intimately with local artists of various genres to weave cross-artistic narratives for each concert. One program with lighting artist Chuck Drew turned the Granary at historic Mission San Jose into a kaleidoscope of color set to music; another with PharmTable chef Elizabeth Johnson paired musical selections with dishes for the audience; another with the educational arts institution SAY Sí wove students’ spoken word into the program. Other partnerships and collaborations have included the McNay and San Antonio Art Museums, bass singer Cameron Beauchamp from the Grammy Award-winning vocal group Roomful of Teeth, poet Laura Van Prooyen, sculptor Danville Chadbourne, members of the Escher String Quartet, jazz pianist Aaron Prado, writer and Guggenheim fellow Oscar Casares, San Antonio poet laureate Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson, the Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival, glassblower Gini Garcia, composer Nadia Botello (for a concert experienced inside of a pool), Clementine restaurant, the City of San Antonio, Opera San Antonio, and more. These concerts have taken place in 41 unique venues across all 10 San Antonio districts, all free of charge, making the music accessible to the whole of the San Antonio community.

In its 5th year, Agarita continues to expand its scope, reach, and impact. Between large-scale community concerts, outdoor shows with its portable concert stage the Humble Hall, and its new educational program Agarita Inspires!, Agarita is giving 46+ concerts across the year, including 30 educational programs for more than 15,000 young students— all free of charge. 

As a nonprofit organization, Agarita believes that the arts should be accessible to everyone in its community. Agarita presents free public concerts, performs at local schools, and offers opportunities for other artists through its collaborations. Follow Agarita’s upcoming projects and future performances at www.agarita.org

Cecilia Bercovich

Born in Madrid, Cecilia Bercovich is a versatile violin, viola and viola d'amore performer. With a very enriched musical path, Cecilia has performed as concertmaster and section leader under Maestri such as Pierre Boulez, Riccardo Chailly, Matthias Pintscher, Heinz Holliger and Krysztof Penderecki at the Lucerne, Salzburg and Wagner Bayreuth festivals, among others. Chamber music and improvisation play an important role in her artistic journey, sharing stage with Maria João Pires, Sabine Meyer, Cristina Montes or Lucy Shelton. A true enthusiast of our times’ ideas, her concert programs are undoubtedly creative and often include premières and arrangements. Cecilia studied always with Victor Bercovich and graduated with Highest Distinction from Musikene, as well as being advised by Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman. Currently performing as Associate Artist of the Meitar - Tel Aviv, Variances - Paris and Quantum - Teneriffe ensembles, Cecilia’s recordings can be heard both as soloist and as a chamber music partner on Naxos, Deutsche Grammophon and IBS. This season, she is a co-curator of the Lucerne Festival Forward, plays at the Mizmorim Basel Festival and the Juan March Foundation. On 2022, she made her debut as musical director at the Teatro de la Zarzuela, leading and arranging El Sobre Verde’s production for Proyecto Zarza. Cecilia Bercovich is the viola Professor at the Murcia Higher Conservatory of Music and is closely engaged with a large number of educational orchestral projects.