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The Dirt

Support Watermelon Music! Save the date for a Fundraiser Concert

Watermelon Music has announced what they hope will be the first in a series of virtual monthly concerts: an incredible performance of classical cello duets starring Mellon Music Festival musicians, Eunghee Cho and Joy Yanai. It will premiere on Watermelon’s Youtube channel on Thursday, February 4th at 8pm, and is free to watch, with donations shared between the artists and the shop.

The hope is that an ongoing series of concerts would exclusively feature Yolo County musicians of all genres, and would help to safely rekindle live music in the community and create gigs for musicians in the local scene—as well as provide a lifeline to a beloved local music shop.

February 4th at 8pm

Covid-19 has taken an incredible toll on the music industry. In-person lessons are postponed, the instrument supply chain has been radically disrupted and, of course, all live music has been shut down. For an all-purpose music shop like Watermelon Music, these changes have meant that two-thirds of their business model have been cut drastically short. Fortunately, Davis has always been eager to support the arts, and so Watermelon has survived this pandemic so far. But to continue to survive, new sources of revenue will be essential for the business.

This series of concerts offers new hope. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Watermelon has been trying to figure out how to use their currently dormant 100+ person concert hall, The Melon Ball [see The Dirt‘s previous feature on The Melon Ball]. And in December 2020, a perfect opportunity presented itself. Eunghee Cho (Cellist, Founder of the Mellon Music Festival and Davis native) reached out to Watermelon to see if they would be interested in recording a performance of himself and cellist Joy Yanai, with proceeds going to benefit Watermelon Music.

This fundraiser concert could be the first in a monthly virtual concert series. The concerts would exclusively feature Yolo County musicians of all genres and would be free to watch with donations split between the artists and the shop. The hope is that such a series would help to safely rekindle live music in the community and to create gigs for musicians in the local scene.

How To Watch

This first Watermelon Music Fundraiser Concert will be an incredible series of classical cello duets starring Mellon Music Festival musicians, Eunghee Cho and Joy Yanai. It will premiere on Watermelon’s Youtube channel on Thursday, February 4th at 8pm and it will be completely free to watch. To receive the video link, email watermelonmusicdavis@gmail.com.

Please Donate

It is of course a fundraiser as well. If you’re interested in donating, Watermelon has set up a GoFund Me with the URL gofundme.com/watermelon-music-fundraiser. The donations received will go toward kick starting the new concert series, as well as keeping the shop’s lights on and doors open.

2020 has been the biggest test the music industry has ever faced, and Watermelon counts itself incredibly lucky to have survived so far. The incredible support of the Yolo community and the hard work of the Watermelon crew has helped to keep music alive in our town, and now, with this potential concert series, there’s a new glimmer of hope on the horizon.

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