Since its inception in 1994 in San Diego, California, The Chamber Music Ensemble Camarada, has been committed to creating, performing and commissioning concerts of chamber music from a vast spectrum of musical styles, eras, and aesthetics. Performing in intimate, alluring venues in the San Diego area such as museums, artists' lofts, and private salons, Camarada has also created partnerships with artists in visual art, dance and theatre. These partnerships have contributed to a unique view of the collaborative possibilities of Camarada's musical performance, further enhanced by alluring environments, gourmet food, wine and camaraderie.

Camarada is strongly dedicated to the compositions of living composers and has commissioned Southern California composers to write specifically for its unique combination of voices and instruments. In the 2001-2002 season, Camarada was the proud recipient of the Ackerman Foundation Grant which enabled it to commission and perform two new works in its Spring, 2002 concert: THE NEW RULE, by John Lorge, and I AM THE WIND by David Ward-Steinman. Both pieces were enthusiastically received by local audiences, and a CD of this performance has been recorded. In addition, in Fall, 2001, Camarada created and performed TANGO II: The Music of Astor Piazzolla which included several specially-arranged tangos for the unique instrumental and vocal personnel of Camarada. This concert was hugely successful and completely sold out.

Commissioning works for children has also been a priority for Camarada with the formation of its KAMARADA KIDZ, an extension of Camarada which offers concerts for children and families. Composer John Lorge was commissioned to compose CRITTERS for narrator and wind quintet as well as A LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME...for narrator, flute, harp and percussion, which were both highly received in concerts presented for schoolchildren throughout San Diego. In the 2001-2002 season, local composer Curtis Glatter was commissioned by KAMARADA KIDZ to write DON QUIXOTE RIDES AGAIN based upon the classic story by Miguel de Cervantes. In addition to the above commissioned compositions, KAMARADA KIDZ has also presented MANY MOONS, a fully-staged musical fable by Celius Dougherty and PETER AND THE WOLF for narrator and wind quintet by Sergei Prokofiev.

Camarada has offered a wide variety of concerts, the themes of which are reflected in its titles: AN AMERICAN QUILT, a patchwork of American music, with music of Copland, Bernstein, Rorem, Ives, Sondheim; TAPAS, tastes of Spanish music with music of deFalla, Rodrigo, Piazzolla, Villa-lobos; RECORDADO; JOAQUIN RODRIGO REMEMBERED, celebrating the life and music of Rodrigo exclusively; IL DOLCE MOMENTO, Italian masters Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Pergolesi, Casella; SOIREE, an evening of French chamber music, music of Faure, Debussy, Ravel, Delibes, Saint-Saens; TANGO I and TANGO II, performing the music of Astor Piazzolla and Albert Ginastera, as well as several other chamber music concerts.

The artistic vision of each Camarada concert involves first and foremost the choice of the highest quality chamber music. The personnel for each piece are drawn from the very talented pool of musicians in the greater San Diego community, most of whom are members of the San Diego Symphony. Mary Barranger, pianist, Beth Ross-Buckley, flutist, and Ann Chase, soprano are the founding members and form the nucleus of Camarada but collaborate in most concerts with many other San Diego musicians in creating colorful and innovative concerts.

Camarada's vision for the future entails an amplification of what it is currently providing for its community: even higher quality concerts in acoustically-enhancing environments, more technical assistance in creating visual auras for its concerts, larger audiences, more media exposure, more commissions from American composers, further collaborations with artists in other media, at the same time maintaining camaraderie and genuine passion of making music together.