Arts Alive San Antonio

Q & A with DANIEL ANASTASIO- Agarita Chamber Players

How do you go about deciding on the season’s programs, and, specifically, for the 2025-26 season?

The process of deciding the season’s programs is multi-step. First, the four members of AGARITA share ideas about artists we feel would be exciting to collaborate with, narrowing it down to those that would also help create a well-balanced season. We aim to give our audiences a variety of artistic experiences, and with every new collaborator, we gain an opportunity to create a new type of event. After we’ve secured our artistic collaborators and feel we have a well-rounded season ahead of us, I meet with them individually as our artistic director, and we have a conversation. I try to learn about the artist’s intentions and about the person’s current projects and thoughts. These ideas inspire discussion, and together we come up with an overall theme. After that, I spend quite a bit of time selecting music that fits the theme.

How many programs will you present?

We have seven large-scale community concerts in our season featuring a variety of collaborators, including singer-songwriter Azul Barrientos, clarinetist Stanislav Chernyshev, composer Katherine Pukinskis, guitarist Pablo Sainz Villegas and others. While these 7 concerts are the bedrock of our season, we have many more events that offer a more personal way to experience us: 13+ intimate loft concerts, 10+ Humble Hall concerts (with a portable stage}, concerts in all ten city districts; ducational shows in schools and libraries and more. The best way to stay connected to our events is by signing up for our newsletter through our website www.agarita.org.

Any guest players?
We have many throughout the year, aside from the collaborators already mentioned.

Are you personally playing in all the programs?

All four of us are involved in our seven community concerts – these are pillars in our year, and an opportunity to create a unifying and inspiring artistic experience for our community.

What are you most looking forward to?
While the energy and excitement of producing large concerts, like our collaboration with Pablo Sainz Villegas at the Tobin is something we always look forward to, we most cherish the more intimate experiences that we have throughout the year in smaller spaces.

Talk a bit about the venues in San Antonio?
We enjoy performing in a variety of venues. It keeps our concerts fresh and gives us the opportunity to program depending on the unique qualities of each space.

What do you enjoy most about Chamber Music?
I enjoy conversing without words. Words can be both definite and imprecise, and I am often frustrated with the inadequate way I express myself linguistically. Music, on the other hand, involves a different kind of expressive energy. Through chamber music, I can give and receive more subtle expressions, nuanced suggestions and deeper emotions.

Will you be travelling to play elsewhere, together or individually?

Yes, together we will be travelling to Pittsburgh in October for a residency that highlights the work of one of our collaborators, composer Katherine Pukinskis, and we returned to Spain in May for Pablo Sainz Villegas’ La Rioja Festival. We also have small residencies in Texas, including Lubbock and Fredericksburg. Personally, I travel to New York City frequently to perform with my contemporary music group, the Unheard-Of Ensemble.
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