Considered “the state’s finest chamber ensemble” by Oregon Arts Watch, the Delgani String Quartet presents exciting performances of both classic and contemporary repertoire in intimate concert settings. The quartet curates their own subscription series in Portland, Salem, Corvallis, and Eugene while regularly appearing as guest artists throughout the state. Delgani has also performed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC and at Charles University in Prague.
Committed to community engagement, Delgani provides educational opportunities to students throughout the Willamette Valley. The quartet’s Classical Spark program brings the string quartet to third grade classrooms in Lane and Benton Counties to foster an early interest in music. Delgani holds an annual residency with student composers at the University of Oregon, workshopping and premiering new works for the quartet. In previous seasons the quartet has held residencies at Umpqua Community College and the Springfield Academy of Arts and Academics. Each summer, Delgani manages a Summer Quartet Academy for middle and high school students. Delgani also hosts biannual Adult Chamber Music Workshops for amateur enthusiasts and curates an adult education series prior to each season performance.
Delgani was formed in 2014 with a mission to cultivate an appreciation for chamber music through distinctive performance, innovative programming, educational engagement, and collaboration. The organization operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and has received foundation support from the Oregon Cultural Trust, Oregon Community Foundation, Oregon Arts Commission, Lane Arts Council, Springfield Arts Commission, and Springfield Education Foundation. Delgani is the recipient of consecutive Cultural Development Grants from OCT and consecutive Creative Heights Grant from OCF.
The musicians of Delgani are violinists Anthea Kreston and Jannie Wei, violist Kimberlee Uwate, and cellist Eric Alterman. They have performed throughout the United States and internationally. Collectively they hold twelve degrees in performance from various schools of music and conservatories across the nation.
Violinist Anthea Kreston sometimes just needs to pinch herself. How did she get so lucky? She was the first American violinist to be a member of a major European string quartet, Germany’s Artemis Quartet – and she travelled the world, performing on some of the most legendary stages a person could dream of, from Carnegie Hall to London’s Wigmore – from the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam to Seoul. She loves to write – penning a classical music blog on the London-based Slipped Disc which was one of the top-5 most read music blogs internationally, as well as founding and curating the Fortnightly Music Book Club.
She was a Professor at the Universität der Kunste Berlin, where Clara Schumann and Bruch taught, a Master Teacher at the Queen Elizabeth Chapel in Brussels, and teacher at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her mentors include Ida Kavafian, the Emerson Quartet and Isaac Stern. She toured for years with Yo-Yo Ma as a part of his Silk Road Project, landing in places as exotic as Las Vegas and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and everywhere in between.
She is the executive and artistic director of Majestic Chamber Music Series as well as Inside Music Academy, a ground-breaking virtual music school. As a recording artist for Warner Classics, she has received both the Echo Award, Europe’s Grammy Award, and the Diapason D’Or, France’s highest award from music critics. She has hosted her own podcast from the Boulez Hall in the heart of East Berlin and has played in the Berlin Philharmonic, and as concertmaster of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. But most of all, she loves being with her family – two hilarious and generous daughters and a super-duper husband, growing tomatoes, and petting guinea pigs.
The San Diego Reader said of her “… Anthea is a soloist of the Heifetz-Shaham-Vengerov caliber, whose musical instincts could make even a mere bagatelle thrill the soul and stir the senses to a frenzy.”
Jannie Wei has lived many places but it’s Eugene, Oregon, that stole her heart. Born in Taiwan, raised in Vancouver, B.C., lived in Baltimore, LA, and New York - why did she choose Eugene to raise her family of two little girls with Delgani Executive Director Wyatt True? She feels at home here - people welcome her as if she is a part of their own extended family, and she loves the down-to-earth vibe. She wants her girls to grow up here, surrounded by a supportive community that values happiness and the arts.
She met Wyatt at the University of Oregon - that’s where she got her Doctorate (earlier degrees are from the Mannes School of Music in NYC and Peabody in Baltimore). They started Delgani together - and she also digs into other facets of music in Oregon and beyond - you can see her all around Oregon - on stage with the Eugene Symphony, happily guiding young students in her private teaching studio - and while not holding her violin - hiking and gardening. Her gorgeous violin is David Gussett’s Guarneri “Panette” copy.
While out and about, she has been seen playing solo recitals in Taiwan, performing alongside Joshua Bell in summer festivals, and featured at the University of Oregon’s Emerging Artist Series. She feels fortunate to have been mentored by amazing musicians such as Shirley Givens, Albert Markov, Marylou Churchill, Peter Winograd, and Fritz Gearhart.
Violist Kimberlee Uwate finds that music offers an ever-expanding richness to life - whether as a performer or educator. She grew up on the ocean and loves all things from the water. She even thinks sea invertebrates are way more interesting than their brothers on land. Maybe that’s why she also loves the string quartet genre - are quartets the less glamorous but more interesting siblings of the orchestra and opera world?
If anyone knows - it’s Kim. She’s been there, done that - from orchestras in Carnegie Hall, quartets in Lincoln Center, contemporary ensembles at the historic Chicago Cultural Center, and even as a soloist at the legendary Krannert Center in Urbana, Illinois. In the end, it’s string quartet that wins the day, and with her desire to dig deep, Kim has brought a depth of message to Delgani - delving into subjects such as the Japanese Internment camps in the USA, and honoring the children of World War II.
As a faculty member at Willamette University, she draws on her training at the Manhattan School of Music, the University of California at Davis, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Every time she picks up her late eighteenth-century viola, she feels fortunate to have chosen the underdog of the string family - the warm, rich viola - whose role as supporter and backbone of any ensemble reminds her of the grace and versatility of her spirit animal - the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis).
What does cellist Eric Alterman love the most about playing cello? It’s the versatility - bouncing back and forth between providing the rhythmic and harmonic foundation, then jumping up to take a ravishing solo. That and playing in a string quartet made this multi-instrumentalist and composer fall in the love with the cello in high school, and he has been devoted to it since.
A native New Yorker, Eric feels grateful that the cello has taken him around the world, and helped him combine his passions for music and travel. After completing studies at Brandeis and Boston Universities, he left for Rio de Janeiro to perform as Assistant Principal Cello with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra. 5 years later, Eric moved to Oregon and joined the Delgani String Quartet. A busy performer in Eugene, he holds positions with the Eugene Symphony and Oregon Mozart Players, and has been a guest performer at the University of Oregon, Shedd Institute, and Chamber Music Amici.
Thrilled to call the Pacific Northwest home, Eric takes every opportunity he can get to explore its outdoors, through backpacking, skiing, and rock climbing. On quieter days, you can find him at home reading, roasting coffee, and trying fermentation experiments.