“In response to the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the southwestern U.S., the ETHEL string quartet is planning an online premiere of Strings on the Rez on June 21 to benefit the Navajo-Hopi COVID-19 Relief Fund,” writes Sarah Shay in Tuesday’s (6/16) Musical America (subscription required). “The Navajo Nation currently has the highest per capita infection rate in the country. ETHEL… is a frequent collaborator with Native American communities. As part of the Grand Canyon Music Festival’s Native American Composer’s Apprentice Project for 10 years, the quartet reached almost 18,000 students, premiered over 150 works by Native American children, and touched more than 15 schools throughout Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.… Directed by Molly McBride, the [Strings on the Rez] documentary captures the quartet’s work with high school students in the Navajo Nation from 2006 to 2008, and has previously been shown at the Grand Canyon Music Festival and the Black Bear Film Festival. The online premiere will take place at 5:00 pm on June 21 on ETHEL’s YouTube page.… Funds will be administered by the Rural Utah Project and used to purchase bulk food, food from supermarkets, water, medical and PPE, and other items necessary to keep the beneficiaries socially distanced.”
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