Human, Inclusive, Excellence, Inspiring, and Current
ensembleNEWSRQ strives to manifest the creativity of the current generation and inspire audiences to participate in musical culture in a profound way, through high-level curated concert experiences that sustain and transform the relevance of contemporary classical music.
Founded in 2015 by violinist Samantha Bennett and percussionist George Nickson, ensembleNEWSRQ (enSRQ) is a versatile chamber music ensemble in Sarasota, FL, dedicated to playing and advocating for the music of contemporary composers. Through thoughtfully curated and innovative programs, enSRQ demonstrates how contemporary music is a reflection of our world and cultural experience. The ensemble strives to manifest the creativity of the current generation and inspire audiences to participate in musical culture in a profound way.
Artistic Directors
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Samantha Bennett
Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as a violinist “full of subtlety and poise”, Samantha Bennett is an active and varied performer around the globe. Ms. Bennett is a violinist in The Dallas Opera Orchestra, having previously served as the Principal Second Violin of the Sarasota Orchestra from 2016-2022. She was a member of the Fort Worth Symphony and The Florida Orchestra. She performs frequently with the Fort Worth Symphony, the Dallas Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra and the Boston Symphony. Alongside her husband, percussionist George Nickson, Ms. Bennett is the founder and Co-Artistic Director of ensemblenewSRQ (enSRQ), a new music collective based in Sarasota, FL. Dedicated to innovative programming and thoughtfully curated concerts, enSRQ’s 2022/23 season comprises five programs of contemporary classical chamber music in Sarasota, including multiple commissions and world premieres. As Co-Artistic Director of enSRQ, Ms. Bennett is known for her performances of some of the most challenging contemporary repertoire, and has premiered works by Gunther Schuller, Toshio Hosokawa, Oliver Knussen, John Cage, George Benjamin, Augusta Read Thomas, and Philip Glass. Born in Ames, Iowa, Ms. Bennett completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees at the New England Conservatory in Boston studying with Donald Weilerstein and Malcolm Lowe.
Samantha Bennett
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George Nickson
A percussionist and conductor of great versatility and virtuosity, George Nickson holds the Margie and William H. Seay Chair as Principal Percussionist of The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, serves as Chair of the Percussion Department and Professor of Practice at Southern Methodist University, is Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of ensemblenewSRQ and heads contemporary chamber music studies at SMU, including the musical collective SYZYGY. George received the Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School where he studied with Daniel Druckman and completed his undergraduate studies at the New England Conservatory with Will Hudgins. In addition to his position with the DSO, George has performed with many of North America’s orchestras. Recent highlights include concerto performances at Tanglewood, solo performances at The Spoleto Festival, and solo recording projects for NAXOS, Bridge, and Albany Records. George has appeared as conductor in many notable performances of ensemblenewSRQ, including numerous world premieres, U.S. Premieres and Florida Premieres, including Sebastian Currier’s WAVES, Wuorinen’s New York Notes, Boulez’ Le Marteau sans maître, and Sofia Gubaidulina’s Lyre of Orpheus.
George Nickson
enSRQ Artists
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Bharat Chandra
Bharat Chandra is a clarinetist whose earnest passion for music and live interaction with audiences has taken him across the world as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. After undergraduate work at Southern Methodist University, Bharat attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. From Boston, Bharat joined the New World Symphony in Miami.
Bharat serves as Principal Clarinet of the Sarasota Orchestra in Florida, and of the Nordic Symphony Orchestra in Tallinn, Estonia, led by Anu Tali. Always a powerful proponent of living composers, Bharat is proud to become an inaugural Artist of enSRQ. During the summer he serves as Principal Clarinet of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, appointed by Marin Alsop and currently directed by Cristian Macelaru. At Cabrillo, Bharat gave the United States premiere of Mark Anthony Turnage’s clarinet concerto, Riffs and Refrains, to unanimous critical acclaim with Alsop and the Festival Orchestra.
Bharat is a Yamaha Artist and D’Addario Artist, performing exclusively on Yamaha Custom CSG Clarinets and D’Addario clarinet reeds.Bharat Chandra
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Natalie Helm
Principal Cello of the Sarasota Orchestra, Natalie Helm enjoys a dynamic career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, and educator. She spends her summers on faculty at the Interlochen Arts Camp and National Music Festival. The founder of Upward Notes INC., Ms. Helm brings musicians together to perform and create opportunities to bring positive social change to underserved communities throughout the United States. She plays on a Raphael di Blasio cello from 1803.
Natalie Helm
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Jennifer Best Takeda
A native of North Carolina, violinist Jennifer Best Takeda currently serves as the Assistant Concertmaster of the Sarasota Orchestra, as well as violinist of the resident Sarasota Piano Quartet. Prior to joining the Sarasota Orchestra in 2005, Jennifer served as a Concertmaster of the New World Symphony, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.An active chamber musician, Jennifer has performed with the Chroma Quartet, a string quartet she co-founded in 2008 that has enjoyed great success and performed throughout Florida to critical acclaim. She also enjoys performing many new music works with EnsembleNewSRQ. During the summer season, Jennifer performs in the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. She received a High School Diploma and Bachelor of Music degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts and a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Her principal teachers have included Elaine Richey, Mitchell Stern and Sylvia Rosenberg. Jennifer performs on a 1697 Giovanni Rogeri violin, generously donated to the Sarasota Orchestra by Ernest and Alisa Kretzmer.
Jennifer Best Takeda
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Betsy Hudson Traba
Betsy Hudson Traba has served as Principal Flutist of the Sarasota Orchestra since 1993. Prior to that, she served as Principal Flutist of the Hofer Symphoniker in Hof, Germany. A native of Mentor, Ohio, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Baldwin-Wallace College, followed by a Master of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Traba has been heard frequently as a soloist throughout Florida, including guest artist performances with the La Musica International Chamber Music Festival, Artists Series of Sarasota, ensembleNEWSRQ, Charlotte Symphony, and in multiple performances with the Sarasota Orchestra. From 2008-2018 she performed every summer at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, CA. Ms.Traba is an active teacher working locally with flutists of all ages and has served multiple terms as a leader/member of the Sarasota Orchestra Musicians’ Committee. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning and serves as a moderator in their popular Music Mondays series. Ms. Traba is married to Sarasota Orchestra Principal Bassoonist Fernando Traba, and they have 2 college-aged daughters.
Betsy Hudson Traba
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Marcelina Suchocka
Born in Bialystok, Poland, Marcelina Suchocka is the Principal Percussionist of the Sarasota Orchestra and Britt Festival Orchestra. Ms. Suchocka enjoys a diverse career spanning orchestral, chamber, new music, and solo playing. She was a fellow at the New World Symphony and has performed as an extra/substitute percussionist with the Chicago Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Center, Pacific Music Festival, the Music Academy of the West, National Repertory Orchestra and Spoleto Festival. Ms. Suchocka has performed as a concerto soloist with the Chicago Symphony performing the Koppel Marimba Concerto. She is a founding member of Excelsis Percussion Quartet and Pathos Trio.
Marcelina Suchocka
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Thea Lobo
Hailed as "excellent", "impeccable", "limpidly beautiful", "impressive", "stunning", and "Boston's best", Grammy-nominated mezzo-soprano Thea Lobo's upcoming and recent engagements include performances with Bach Vocal Artists, Contemporary Art Music Project, Key Chorale, DeSota Baroque, True Concord, Emmanuel Music, Opera Huntsville, Sarasota Rising, Boston's Symphony Hall and more. Ms. Lobo has previously appeared under conductors Harry Christophers, Gunther Schuller, Stephen Stubbs, Joshua Rifkin, Lidiya Yankovskaya, and Andris Nelsons, and has been featured by the Firebird Ensemble, Boston Baroque, Naples Philharmonic, Boston Early Music Festival, Artist Series of Sarasota, Carmel Bach Festival, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Europäisches Musikfest Stuttgart. In addition to her performing career, Thea Lobo serves as artistic and executive director of the initiative Indictus Project (www.indictus.org), which amplifies the overlooked classical art music of historically excluded composers of all eras. She is also a Classical Host on WSMR (Tampa, Sarasota, wsmr.org).
Thea Lobo
Guest Artists
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Han Chen
Since winning the Gold Medal at the 2013 China International Piano Competition, Han Chen has emerged among the new generation of concert pianists as a uniquely fearless performer in a wide variety of musical settings. Praised by Gramophone as "impressively commanding and authoritative" and further cited by The New York Times for his "graceful touch," "rhythmic precision," and "hypnotic charm," Chen's virtuosity is enriched by a probing commitment to new and lesser-known works, as well as the great cornerstones of the piano repertory. This vision is clearly evident in his three solo Naxos CDs focusing on Franz Liszt, Anton Rubinstein, and more recently, Thomas Adès. An upcoming 2023 release will feature Gyorgy Ligeti's Complete Piano Études in commemoration of the composer's centenary year.
As soloist with orchestra, Chen's appearances include the Calgary Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, National Taiwan Symphony, China Symphony, Xiamen Philharmonic and his forthcoming Lincoln Center debut with Riverside Symphony at Alice Tully Hall in December 2022 performing Mozart's early masterwork, the Piano Concerto No. 9 le Jeunehomme. In addition, he has performed as recitalist throughout Europe, North America, China, and Taiwan.
Much in demand as a chamber musician, Chen is a core member of Ensemble Échappé and PinkNoise Ensemble while regularly collaborating with The Metropolis Ensemble and other adventurous groups in performances here and abroad. In 2021, Chen launched Migration Music, an ongoing series of interviews and performances featuring immigrant composers.Han Chen
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Conor Hanick
Pianist Conor Hanick is regarded as one of his generation’s most inquisitive interpreters of music new and old whose “technical refinement, color, crispness and wondrous variety of articulation benefit works by any master.” (New York Times) Hanick has recently been presented by The Gilmore Festival, the New York Philharmonic, Caramoor, Cal Performances, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Park Avenue Armory, and performed with the Seattle Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. A fierce advocate for the music of today, Hanick has premiered over 200 pieces and collaborated with composers ranging from Pierre Boulez, Kaija Saariaho, and Steve Reich, to the leading composers of his generation, including Nico Muhly, Caroline Shaw, Tyshawn Sorey, Matthew Aucoin, and Christopher Cerrone. In the 22-23 season, Hanick premieres a new piano concerto by composer Samuel Carl Adams with the San Francisco Symphony and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen; appears with soprano Julia Bullock at the Aix en Provence Festival in Olivier Messiaen’s Harawi; and performs recitals at the Library of Congress, Hancher Auditorium, Ensemble Music Society of Indianapolis, the 92nd Street Y, and elsewhere. With the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), Hanick will serve as an artistic director of the Ojai Festival in 2022. He is the director of Solo Piano at the Music Academy of the West and serves on the faculty of the Peabody Institute and The Juilliard School.
Conor Hanick
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Lucy Fitz Gibbons
Praised for her “dazzling, virtuoso singing” (Boston Globe), soprano Lucy Fitz Gibbon believes that creating new works and recreating those lost in centuries past makes room for the multiplicity of voices integral to classical music’s future. As such, Ms. Fitz Gibbon has given U.S. premieres of rediscovered works from the Baroque through the mid-20th century, including recording seminal Yiddish song cycles. She has also collaborated with notable composers of her own time, among them John Harbison, Kate Soper, Sheila Silver, Katherine Balch, Reena Esmail, Roberto Sierra, and Pauline Oliveros.
Ms. Fitz Gibbon has appeared in such venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Park Avenue Armory, and Merkin Hall; Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center; London’s Wigmore Hall; and Toronto’s Koerner Hall. She has also appeared as a soloist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Richmond Symphony, and American Symphony Orchestra, among others. Operatic engagements this season include Alexander Tcherepnin’s The Nymph and the Farmer (Nymph) and the premiere of Sheila Silver’s A Thousand Splendid Suns (Laila, cover) with Seattle Opera. Her discography with her husband and collaborative partner Ryan McCullough includes the labor of forgetting (November 2022), Descent/Return (May 2020), and Beauty Intolerable (February 2021).
A native of Davis, California, Ms. Fitz Gibbon has spent summers at the Tanglewood Music Center and Marlboro Music Festival. She is on the faculty of Bard College Conservatory’s Vocal Arts Programs, having previously served as Director of the Vocal Program at Cornell University. For more information, see www.lucyfitzgibbon.comLucy Fitz Gibbons
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Jamie Clark
Cellist Jamie Clark of Boulder, Colorado has been praised for her sensitive, imaginative, and colorful sense of artistry. She has concertized throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia as a recitalist and a chamber musician. She has performed solo and chamber music recitals in venues such as Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Boston's Jordan Hall, Eastman's Kodak Hall, New York City's American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Both an enthusiastic chamber musician and entrepreneur of collaborative outreach programs, Jamie is a Co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Flatirons Chamber Music Festival, a non- profit organization based in Colorado. The festival strives to cross cultural, geographic, and temporal divides between performers, composers, and audience members, inspiring dynamic interaction within the entire Festival community.
Her commitment to community engagement has led to collaborations with the Music For Food initiative in Boston, the Second Chance Center in Denver, and Attention Homes in Boulder. A passionate advocate for interdisciplinary collaboration between performer and scholar worlds, Jamie has written a series of scholarly papers including The Art of Rehearsing: A Multidimensional Study in Rehearsing String Quartets and *Schoenberg Quartet No. 2: Between the Twilight of Tonality and the Dawn of Early Expressionism.
An engaged collaborative partner with contemporary composers, Jamie recently received a Stetson University Summer Grant to fund “Hear Her Voice” in 2021. “Hear Her Voice” features seven solo cello commissions by outstanding, young, female composers. Each piece offers a distinct perspective of isolation experienced in the context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Jamie joined the faculty of Stetson University in the Fall of 2019 where she now serves as Assistant Professor of Cello and Coordinator of Chamber Music. Dr. Clark received her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree and Masters of Music Degree from the New England Conservatory with Laurence Lesser and Paul Katz. She received her Bachelors of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music with David Ying.Jamie Clark
Board of Directors
Joan Golub, chair
Samantha Bennett, vice-chair
Linda Buxbaum, secretary
Kat Wingert, treasurer
Members
Samantha Bennett
Brian J. Boyd
Linda Buxbaum Sara Coffou Gerald Genova
Joan Golub
Cassia Kite Jaeger
Timothy Mar
Pamela Palmer
Stephen Miles
George Nickson Marita Renner
Kat Wingert
Artistic Leadership
Samantha Bennett, artistic director
George Nickson, artistic director
Diversity Policy
A Statement of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity
ensembleNEWSRQ recognizes that in order to fulfill its mission and sustain its values it must embrace diversity in all of its activities.
The current generation of contemporary classical music creators, whether composers, performers or both, is an increasingly diverse body with the highest standards of excellence. We are inspired by and want to contribute to the development of the art that this diverse group is driving.
We will continue to seek diversity in the composers, performers, staff and board members whose efforts together support the quality, focus and artistic growth that are essential to our mission and values.
We believe in treating all people with respect and dignity and strive to create and foster a supportive and understanding environment in which all individuals realize their maximum potential within the organization, regardless of their differences. We welcome input and participation from people of different ethnicities, genders and gender expressions, languages, ages, sexual orientations, religions, socio-economic statuses, physical and mental abilities, thinking styles, experiences, and education.
We believe organizational diversity brings a wide array of perspectives to bear on the innovative and creative efforts as well as the pragmatic, behind-the-scenes activities of the organization, resulting in artistically vibrant and culturally relevant performances and community engagement.
We believe diversity is best sustained when it is an on-going, explicit organizational focus. To that end, we will continue to have intentional discussion and open conversation among artistic director(s), board members, staff, and musicians, to evaluate how we are sustaining the diversity this policy calls for and what additional actions we need to pursue.
Adopted September 14, 2021
$10,000+
The Gardener Foundation
Patterson Foundation
Community Foundation of Sarasota County
$5,001-$10,000
Appleby Foundation
Gigi and Ben Huberman Jean Pagani Pamela MacFarlane Palmer & Richard Palmer
Charlotte and Charles Perret
$2,501-$5,000
Michael and Ann Brooks
Linda Buxbaum
Edward and Annette Eliasberg
Robert and Deborah Hendel Marcella and Arthur Levin
Susan Robinson Bob and Camille Thinnes
$1,001-$2,500
Ted Atkatz Percussion Seminar
Marta Bennett
Susan Brainerd
Kay Delaney and Murray Bring
Dr. Jenne Britell
Joseph Deutsch
Joan Golub Gulf Coast Community Foundation
Gerald Genova and Robert Evans
Camilla Kilgroe
Christopher and Margo Light
Raymond Morrissey
$501-$1,000
Victoria and Brian Eckl
John T. Grant and Daniel Weiss
Pocha and Douglas Horton
The Huisking Family Fund
Stephen Miles and Kathy Killion
Marie Pogozelski and Richard Belle
Richard Russell
Anne Scott
Bonnie and Bill Sexton
Hobart and Janis Swan
Elske Vermaas
$251-$500
Pat and Bob Baer
Josh Baker
Adrian Bennett
Nancy Bennett
Helga and Jerry Bilik
Richard and Joan Boyce
William and Barbara Brian
Heather Bush
Jesse Christeson
Stephen and Sandi Cooper
Brenda Lee and Sam Digiammarino
Catherine Eaton
Calvin Falwell
Carol Gaskin
Sue Jacobson
Bruce A. Lehman
Joseph and Dede Mallof
Dean Miller
Margaret Pennington
Marita Renner
Stan Rutstein
Sharon Seager
Jeffrey Sebellca
Paul Sexton
Michael Truesdell
Fremajane Wolfson
Lynne Woodman
$1-$250
Kenneth and Diana Abraham
Sandra Abraham
Shawn Allison
Francesca Arnone
Deborah Arola
Michael Avitabile
David Bagaus
Ray Baker
John Bannon
Robyn Bell
Richard Benedum
Bruce Bennett
Samantha Bennett
Gail Berenson
Derek Bermel
Jon Bisesi
Len Booth
Brian J. Boyd
Meghan Brennan
Jenne Britell
Robert Brown
Gregory Brukhman
Sam Brukhman
Judith Burgis
Lena Cambis
Patricia Caswell
Bharat Chandra
Troy Chang
Greg Chestnut
Kirk Coelker
Laura Conrad
Robert Constable
Carole Crosby
Donna Cubit-Swoyer
Dwight Currie and
Michael Kohlmann
Jim and Wendy Damoulakis
Mark Dancigers
Paul Demers
Daniel Denton
Daniel Druckman
Brian Dunn
Larry and Arlene Dunn
Audrey Dunne
Doreen DuPont
Peggy Earnshaw
Edith Emerson
Douglas Endicott
Jan Erfert
Shirley Fein
Mary Ferrillo
Thomas Garden
Edward Gartner
Lise Lotte Gammeltoft
Nancy Geer
Marvin Geller
David Green
Eric Greenberg
Joshua Hall
Gail Harris
Renne Hamad
JeanneMarie Hamil
Sangeun Han
Jay Handelman
Conor Hanick
Lynne and David Harding
Gail Harris
Michael Harshman
Natalie Helm
Robert Hildebrand
Petie Hilsinger
Stephen Hoffman
John P. Hooten
Will Hudgins
Kat Hughes
Pat Hull
Michelle Jessogne
Trace Johnson
Eugene Jongsma
Lenora Jost
Jonathan Katz
Jon Kieffer
Yoko Kita
Carolyn Kotlewski
Alex Koutelias
Tomasz Kowalczyk
Kelsey Lamb
Neil Larrivee
James LeBas
Mark Lewis
Sallie Light
Richard Lobo
Danny Lugo
Christopher Lutz
Pamela MacFarlane
Allison Madsen
Maria Mandler
Peter McCallion
Francesca McNeeley
Theodore Medrek
Mike and Kate Meeuwsen
Alan and Nancy Milbauer
Janet Minker
Kathie Moon
Bert and Betty Morris
Thomas Nash
Lovella Naylor
Christine Nickson
Alexis Nickson and Matthew Naveda
Mark and Connie Nickson
Stan Nikkel and Ruthann Bromley
Marco Nistico
Thomas Novak
Katherine Oarr
Nancy Olson
Nathan Olson
Joel Panian
Charles and Rosalie Peirce
Laura Stephenson Petty
Andreia Pinto Correia
W. Lawrence Ream
Thomas Roberts
William Robson
Bruce Rodgers
George Rogers
Taylor Rothenberg-Manley
Howard Rust
Jane Sattler
Priscilla and Jack Schlegel
Francis Schwartz
Karen Selwyn
Cynthia Sensenig
Sue Shepard
Munro and Jeanette Sherrill
Carl and Claudia Shuster
Kathleen Singer
Ron Silver
Kerry Smith
Maria Spelleri
Christian Stakenborg
Pat Steck
Hugh Steele
Judilee Sterne
Kenneth Stephenson
Suzanne Stoltzner
Jason Strauss
Karen Stults
Michael Sweet
Matthew Symanski
David Sywak
Jennifer Best Takeda and Christopher Takeda
Vivian Tannenbaum & Nick Pocock
Scott Taylor
Rochelle Tepperman
Shaun and Madoka Tilburg
James Tolley
Pamela and Thomas Truesdell
Heather Urrlbarri
Jose Uzcategui
Daniel Van Grunsven
Andrea Verier
Shirley Verier
Justin Vibbard
Lee Vickman
Tihda Vongkoth
Shali Wade
Katherine Walstrom
Michael Warner
Clark Weigle
Louis Wells
Gail Williams
Elizabeth White
Eric Whitmer
Robert Wilk
Jared Wilson
Sheila Vincent
Kirk Voelker
Ye Young Yoon
Mike and Joan Zare
Paul Zeitz
Many Thanks to our Federal, State and Private Grant Support
The Amphion Foundation, Inc.
The Alice M. Ditson Fund Appleby Foundation Gardner Foundation
The Aaron Copland Fund for Music
Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County TDC/A Grant
Patterson Foundation
Community Foundation of Sarasota County
Corporate Sponsor
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ensembleNEWSRQ
PO Box 15372
Sarasota, FL 34277
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ensemblenewSRQ@gmail.com