Dear friends and neighbors:


Many of you will recall the exquisite and intimate chamber music festivals presented in 2003 and 2004 in our Forest Hill Club House by our neighbors, Mari Kodama Nagano and Kent Nagano. Due to the overwhelming response from the community, the Naganos have agreed to do it again in 2006!

The festival will again include four concerts: evening performances on Saturday July 1st, Sunday, July 2nd, and Monday July 3rd, and a matinee performance on Sunday.

This year’s program will feature performances by world acclaimed baritone Dietrich Henschel and San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow soprano Melody Moore. We will once again hear two-piano duets performed by concert pianists, Mari Kodama and her sister, Momo Kodama, and we will hear Tokyo-based pianist and composer Ichiro Nodaira performing his own works. The matinee will be geared to children (though adults will love it too!). It will feature Debussy’s Children’s Corner and Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland. Ms. Chin’s work will have its world premier with Kent Nagano in Munich in 2007, but we will hear it a full year in advance in Forest Hill!

This is an opportunity for the Forest Hill neighborhood to experience a rare musical tradition, one previously reserved for musicians and their closest friends, and in earlier times for European royalty. A small group of neighbors and friends is helping to coordinate this effort and we are asking for your financial support.

All of the musicians will be performing as friends of the Naganos and for the love of music. They will be staying with host families in the neighborhood. While their performances will be a gift to the Forest Hill community, there are still expenses to be covered. These include airfare, program and ticket printing, piano rental, delivery and tuning, and post-performance refreshments. Without the donations of time and talent, the ticket cost for these concerts would be in the range of $250 each, per performance.

For the two previous festivals, there was a full house for each of the four performances. We are offering contributors the opportunity to be assured of seats based on the following levels:

Contribution Value

$50 Single ticket to any event

$250 4 tickets (a single event or 2 tickets for 2 events) + a quarter page ad or greeting in the program*

$500 2 tickets for each event + a half-page ad or greeting in the program*

$1000 4 tickets for each event + a full-page ad or greeting in the program*

*Ads and greetings must be camera-ready art and must be received by Friday, June 9th.

Please complete the ticket order form and return it with your contribution and a stamped, self-addressed envelope as soon as possible to be assured of tickets.