WHO IS THE MARINI-JOAMETS DUO?

AJ Marini (a native of Rochester, NY) and Liis Joamets (a native of Tartu, Estonia) met at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland in December 2010. In the following year, we discovered that not only did we make a cute couple, but we also were a killer duo. We looked into repertoire together, and discovered the duo sonata by Eugene Ysaye, which we subsequently brought to the Järvi Summer Festival in Pärnu, Estonia. Since then, we have set our sights on taking our duo beyond Scandinavia, and this tour is the best way to start! More info about us can be found from violinduo.tk!

WHAT'S THE PLAN?

We have planned for five concerts in four different locations, in an attempt to cover the east coast of the US. The concerts are as follows (more info available from violinduo.tk):

• June 15, 2012 at 5:30pm: Private concert in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 
• June 16, 2012 at 6:00pm: Private concert in Jacksonville, FL 
• June 24, 2012 at 4:30pm: Public concert at St. Mary's Catholic Church in South Amboy, NJ 
• July 1, 2012 at 3:00pm: Public concert at Catholic University's St. Vincent de Paul Chapel in Washington, DC
• July 6, 2012 at 7:00pm: Public concert First Congregational UCC in Fairport, NY

The costs of the project are primarily travel based, due to the wide range of locations that we plan to visit. But it will also be used for creating programs, advertising, and the creation of a CD of the program that we presented. The recording will be a "best of", taking the best performance of each piece and using them for the final recording.

We are pursuing several methods of funding for this concert, including (but not limited to): this Kickstarter project, donations at the door, and individual or corporate sponsorship. The final cost of this trip will definitely exceed our $2000 goal (in fact, our plane tickets to the US alone are above that), but we have set the limit as such to ensure that we are able to cover a part of the trip. So please, still consider helping to fund our project, even if we reach the $2000 goal! This Kickstarter is a great way to make a single pledge make a HUGE difference!

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE MEET OUR GOAL?

Aside from world-wide parties and jubilation, we will have a successfully funded tour, which will hopefully pave the way for more tours like it in the future. We will get working immediately on delivering all of our rewards to you before the summer is out, and you will soon have a piece of the Marini-Joamets Duo's beginning successes for your very own! As mentioned above, this Kickstarter project is one of several ways that we are funding this project, and exceeding the goal will make us less reliant on volatile ticket sales. In addition, any extra funds will be reserved for the next US tour that we make! So please, if we meet the goal, still consider backing our project!