Left Coast Quintet at Vanguard Culture’s Nonprofit Leadership Summit

Guests enjoy lunch and conversation while the Left Coast Quintet performs at Vanguard Culture’s Nonprofit Leadership Summit at MCASD La Jolla.

On August 27, the Left Coast Quintet had the opportunity to spend an afternoon surrounded by some of the people working to strengthen San Diego’s arts, culture, and nonprofit communities. We were invited to perform during Vanguard Culture’s Nonprofit Leadership Summit at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla, providing live music during the outdoor lunch portion of the event.

It was one of those performances that reminded us why we enjoy being part of San Diego’s creative community so much.

Music, Art, and a Room Full of Ideas

The Nonprofit Leadership Summit brought together nonprofit leaders, artists, administrators, and community advocates for a day of conversations about building stronger organizations and a stronger cultural sector in San Diego.

While much of the day was devoted to presentations and discussions, we joined everyone for lunch on the beautiful patio at MCASD La Jolla.

Our job was simple: give everyone a musical backdrop while they stepped away from the presentations, grabbed lunch, met new people, and continued conversations from earlier in the day.

Of course, "background music" for the Left Coast Quintet can cover a lot of territory.

Our repertoire stretches from classical music and jazz to Broadway, pop, movie soundtracks, and plenty of unexpected selections. For an event like this, we love being able to move between styles and create an atmosphere that is polished without feeling overly formal.

And doing it with flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, and bassoon makes the experience a little different from what guests might normally expect to hear at a luncheon or networking event.

The summit brought together leaders from across San Diego’s arts and nonprofit communities, including a “Meet the Funders” discussion on supporting and sustaining creative organizations.

Supporting San Diego's Nonprofit Community

This event was especially meaningful to us because the Left Coast Quintet isn't only a performing ensemble anymore.

Through our nonprofit organization, Left Coast Music, we're working to expand access to live chamber music while creating more opportunities for professional musicians to perform throughout San Diego County. That means we're learning many of the same things other young nonprofit organizations are learning: how to build sustainable programs, develop partnerships, find funding, communicate our mission, and turn good ideas into programs that can actually last.

So while we were there to perform, we were also very interested in the conversations happening around us.

The summit included insights from people working throughout San Diego's nonprofit and cultural landscape, including Jay Sarno and Kristen Anderson discussing nonprofit fundamentals, and Christine Jones, Rachel Laing, Alexandra Kritchevsky, and Leah Goodwin sharing perspectives on funding and supporting creative organizations.

It was also great to see art happening alongside all of those conversations. Artist Jess Cross captured the event through live drawing, creating a visual record of ideas and discussions as the day unfolded.

Not a bad backdrop for a performance! Left Coast Quintet provides live music overlooking the Pacific during the Nonprofit Leadership Summit at MCASD La Jolla.

More Than Just a Performance

One of our goals with Left Coast Quintet has always been to put chamber music in places where people don't necessarily expect to find it.

Sometimes that's a traditional concert hall. Other times it's a wedding ceremony, museum, library, university, park, corporate gathering, community celebration, or, in this case, a nonprofit leadership summit overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Each setting creates a different relationship between the musicians and the audience.

At an event like the Vanguard Culture summit, we're not asking everyone to sit quietly and watch a formal concert. The music becomes part of the environment. People can listen closely for a few minutes, recognize a familiar tune while they're talking with someone, or simply enjoy having live musicians nearby while the event continues around us.

We love that kind of performance.

It allows chamber music to be social, approachable, and part of everyday life rather than something that only happens after the lights dim in a concert hall.

One of our favorite surprises of the day! Artist Jess Cross captured the Left Coast Quintet in this live drawing while we performed during the summit.

Thank You, Vanguard Culture

A big thank you to Mahnoosh Eslahi for inviting the Left Coast Quintet to be part of the event, and to the entire Vanguard Culture team for bringing together such an interesting group of people.

We're always happy to perform, but we're especially grateful when a performance gives us the chance to connect with other people who care about building a vibrant arts and cultural community in San Diego.

We came to MCASD with five musicians, five music stands, a lot of music, and probably more equipment than anyone expected.

We left with new connections, new ideas, and even more excitement about what San Diego's creative community can accomplish together.

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Help Us Bring More Live Music to San Diego

Left Coast Quintet performs through Left Coast Music, our 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, with a mission to bring professional live music into communities throughout San Diego County and create more opportunities for local musicians to perform.

If you enjoy what we're doing and would like to help us bring more concerts and live music into the community, we'd be grateful for your support.