Behind ECHO
Welcome to the 2024-25 East County Harmonics Organization (ECHO) Chamber Music Series at Cuyamaca College. Founded in 2017 by Sam and Lyndie Ersan, ECHO brings internationally acclaimed musicians to Cuyamaca College in East County, San Diego. From its inception, ECHO was envisioned to bring great concerts to East County, making those performances available to all by keeping prices low. Ticket revenues go to Cuyamaca College for scholarships for music lessons, raising an average of $20,000.00 annually. Over many years, the Ersans have helped transform the Southern Californian musical landscape through advocacy, leadership and philanthropy, and we are grateful for their vision and leadership in bringing renowned artists to East County.
The Samuel M. Ciccati Theatre, named in honor of Dr. Samuel M. Ciccati, former president, philanthropist and generous supporter of Cuyamaca College, is the only music venue in East County appropriately designed for musical performances of this caliber. Each academic year, Cuyamaca College presents more than 25 concerts in a variety of genres. These concerts are open to the public as part of our commitment to serving the East County community.
Patrons of the Arts
Sam Ersan began sponsoring musicians in the 1980s, and together with his wife Lyndie, supported many classical music organizations including the San Diego Symphony, the Colburn School of Music, La Jolla Music Society, San Diego Early Music Society, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, Soka University Performing Arts, UCSD Artpower, Mainly Mozart, Bravo! Vail, Kingston Chamber Music Festival, Art of Elan and the Aspen Music Festival. They have also supported the following outstanding ensembles: Ehnes Quartet, Dover Quartet, Modigliani Quartet, Danish String Quartet, as well as the following accomplished musicians: Augustin Hadelich, James Ehnes, Ayano Ninomiya, Mayumi Hirasaki, Che-Yen Chen, David Bruce, Clancy Newman, Reiko Uchida, Orion Weiss, Joyce Yang, Natalie Zhu, and George Li. They created the Myriad Trio and Camera Lucida ensembles, as well as several chamber music concert series.