Kickstarter

Become an invaluable partner in the creation of our debut album of Brahms and Mozart piano quartets!

We are Ensemble Made in Canada- Elissa Lee on violin, Sharon Wei and viola, Rachel Mercer on cello and Angela Park on piano. We all knew each other from the time we were kids playing music for fun. Elissa, Rachel and Sharon were part of the Young Artists program at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto and we would meet Angela at various Kiwanis Music Festivals. In later years, Sharon and Angela collaborated at the University of Western Ontario and recently won Prairie Debut and Debut Atlantic tours. Angela is now a visiting assistant professor at Indiana University and Sharon is on faculty at Stanford. Rachel went on to live and work in Amsterdam, Paris, and Tel Aviv before heading back to Toronto. She is the current winner of the Canada Council’s Musical Instrument Bank Competition, playing the 1696 Bonjour Stradivarius cello. Elissa moved to Germany and was second concertmaster of Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and WDR Sinfonietta Orchester. She is now freelancing throughout Europe. Our love of chamber music has brought us together and we are excited to create our first CD!

We gave our debut concert as Ensemble Made in Canada at the Banff Centre in 2006 where we were awarded at CBC Galaxie Stars award for up and coming artists. In 2008 we were featured in Canada’s Chatelaine Magazine’s 80 women to watch as an ensemble that is leading the next generation of musicians.

From the start, we've been an independent group taking care of the musical and business side of things. There have been many days where we have spent equal numbers of hours rehearsing as we do in front of the computer compiling new programs, working with presenters, figuring out our travel plans and budget. It is a lot of work and our budget is pretty tight, but we really think it is about time we produced a cd, and we can't do it without your help.

This past year has been so inspiring for EMIC! We had our first tour of British Columbia and Alberta and got to meet young musicians through outreach concerts and masterclasses. We always love to answer the many questions the next generation of musicians have about life after graduation! We also got to premiere a piece written especially for us by Juno winner John Burge. In the coming weeks we will be at Ottawa Chamberfest and Festival of the Sound working and performing around the clock, so we will be super inspired for our recording session!

Everything is ready to go: We have hired amazing audio engineer Ron Searles, and booked the sweet sounding Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. All we need is a little help from you! Every dollar will go towards the album. We are asking for your help to make this recording a reality. The album will be released independently and the money we hope to raise will be used exclusively to offset studio rental, production, CD art design, and manufacturing. Any extra funds that we raise will go towards promotion and marketing. We are deeply grateful for your support! We can't wait for you to hear our first album!!

with sincere thanks,

Elissa, Sharon, Rachel and Angela

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This is an ALL OR NOTHING campaign, which means that if Ensemble Made in Canada doesn't meet their $8000 goal, they will get none of the money raised. This is where YOU come in.

*When you back Ensemble Made in Canada, your credit card will not be charged. You'll just be saying that you believe in them, want their album and/or the other fun rewards they are offering.
  *When the campaign is over, you will only be charged IF the campaign is successful and they reach $8000 or more.
*If Ensemble Made in Canada doesn't reach their $8000 goal, they get 0% of what was raised, so this is why it's important to get the word about about their campaign. and this is where you come in...

*There are more ways to support Ensemble Made in Canada than to contribute money. Spread the word about this project by sharing a link to this project on:

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Thank you for your support. We can't wait for you to hear our take on Brahms and Mozart!