Chamber Music Program

Chamber Group applications will open on 2/15/24 (for the fall 24 – spring 25 season) on our audition page here.

Established in 2012, DAAYO’s chamber program is geared toward enthusiastic, dedicated young string performers seeking to develop their chamber music skills. Our founding coach James Song sought to instruct students in chamber playing and foster an environment where young musicians could learn from and challenge each other in a collaborative environment. Deep, long lasting friendships were formed from those first groups. That spirit lives on today.

Our coaches are national-level musicians with a love of chamber music and extensive experience working with strings students. In addition to the formal season concerts, this group also often gets opportunities to perform at various community events in the DFW area.

Coaches

Nathan Olson, co-concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, former adjunct faculty at SMU and UNT, member of Baumer String Quartet.
Jenna Barghouti, Dallas Symphony Orchestra first violin, former Houston Symphony member, concertmaster of the Palestine National Orchestra

Highlights of program

Personalized, individual instruction from national-level musicians
Develop chamber music skills and comradery with other dedicated student musicians.
Increase confidence in your playing while also learning the art of give and take, as you listen to other perspectives to build something greater than the simple sum of its parts.
Experience the exhilaration, intimacy and immediacy that is unique to the chamber musical experience.

DAAYO Chamber rehearses on Saturdays, 1-3PM at 420 Maplelawn Dr. Plano TX 75075. (2 quartets, each quartet has 1 hour of rehearsal time during this block with one coach. Thus rehearsal time for a specific student would be either 1-2PM or 2-3PM)

Brief history of the program:

DAAYO’s Chamber program was founded by master coach James Song in 2012 (other coaches: Jenna Park and Edward Song). From 2012 to 2020 the group performed at multiple venues, including the Charles. W. Eisemann Center, St. Andrew UMC, and Dallas City Performance Hall. The group also performed at various events including large scale professional conventions and award ceremonies, local nonprofit events, as well as lobby concerts for professional orchestras such as the Plano Symphony Orchestra. In 2022, Nathan Olson and Jenna Barghouti assumed leadership of the group after DAAYO operations resumed after the pandemic.

Musicians on chamber music:

I might have to be a soloist one moment, a humble accompanist the next, and at other times a team player in a joyous three-part harmony. That is in essence what chamber music is: some of the greatest music ever written that challenges a player’s technique, muscianship and social skills on the highest level.

-Arnold Steinhardt, violin. Guarneri String Quartet; Colburn School of Music faculty

Growing up, chamber music was always the most fun form of music-making. It had everything: improvisation, solo playing, intense listening, stacking harmonies and playing off of one another, and the social and intimate element of human connection.

-Milena Pajaro-Van De Stadt, viola. Dover Quartet (winners of the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition)

For the performers, it is a shared journey to develop intellectually, emotionally, and musically, and often leads to a lifetime of friendships. In this process, one learns when to stick up for what one believes, when to be gentle, when to bend or remain firm, and how to discipline one’s ego while respecting the perspectives of others.

-Paul Coletti, viola. Colburn School of Music faculty

Quotations from Strings Magazine, Why I Play Chamber Music, February 5, 2015.