How can I participate?
For any donation of $20 or more, you will receive a copy of the CD as soon as it is finished.  A donation $500 or more will also get a house concert.  The money will go toward recording/mixing/mastering/pressing the CD and some travel expenses.

The process is simple. 

1. Submit the form below with your information so we know where to send your CD as soon as they are available.   
2. Contribute by clicking on the Donate button above to use PayPal or a credit card — Or mail a check to the address provided when you submit your information below.

The story 

Over the last year, Frances and Daryl have expanded Sopa Sol on occasion from a duo to a trio by including cellist Nathan Bontrager in performances around Lancaster County.  The results of this collaboration have been of great interest to all three of us and it didn’t take long until we began to think of larger projects to engage in together.  

Since Nathan lives in Germany, a recording project seemed the logical next step since regular live events would be more or less impossible.  But what to record?  And, in a musical landscape overpopulated with recordings, why?  

A few strong, important commonalities have become clear to us as we spend more time playing and talking together.  First, improvising lies at the heart of what each of us does musically.  While we each approach improvisation from different experiences and sources, we all value it highly and it greatly informs the conversational way we play together.  Second, we are all curious fans of the many forms of traditional music the world has to offer.  None of us is particularly expert in any specific global style, but we seek to honor and learn from many different traditions.  Third, and most important for this project, we have all spent significant parts of our lives surrounded by hymns and sacred songs, primarily in a Mennonite faith community context.  

It soon became clear that we each, as individuals, had an interest in exploring hymnody in a new and personal way but didn’t know quite how to begin.  Suddenly, we had the perfect opportunity:  three musicians with similar backgrounds, aesthetic leanings and a common geographic center.  And, so, that’s exactly what we plan to do, but we need your help! 

Nathan Bontrager is returning from Germany in early October, and we will spend a long weekend in the studio, recording some of our favorite hymn tunes from many different places and traditions.  We will inflect each with our personal, musical influence.  Already as we have been playing together in August many interesting and new directions have appeared.  It is safe to say that these tunes will have never been heard in this way before.     

We will be partnering with local recording engineers we know and trust and who also know our music.  Some of the material has already been chosen and worked on, some is yet to be decided.  If needed, we will have another session or two in the Spring of 2016, with the goal to have a CD finished by summer.   

Your contribution will help us pay upfront for the costs involved.  Of course, we welcome donations of any size, but for a contribution of $20 or more you will receive a copy of the CD as soon as it is finished.  The other option, for those able and motivated to do so, is a house concert in your home for anyone contributing $500 or more (and a CD, of course).  The money will go towards recording, mixing/mastering, pressing the CD and some travel expenses.   

We are not doing a fancy online crowd-sourced campaign – no bells and whistles, no promises of handmade doilies if you give enough that never get delivered anyway.  We want to keep it simple and reach out to the community we think will enjoy and benefit from this project.  Thank you!