Missing Piece is a south side Chicago-based musical duo: violinist Dan Galat and cellist Kelly Quesada, who endeavor to commission new musical works and works from other artistic disciplines on the themes of collaboration, community, environment, and social justice. We believe presenting these works can unite and organize various communities for the benefit of all. In our first project as Missing Piece in June 2022, called Tonewood, we commissioned four new works for violin and cello from four composers relating to with the natural materials of our instruments. Our concert program was a 10-page zine with commissioned poetry and artwork. Subsequent concerts have included a sold out performance in New Orleans in collaboration with violist and composer Sixto Franco, a concert on the south side of Chicago featuring composed and improvised trio music in collaboration with LA-based violinist Myra Hinrichs and Chicago composer Ben Zucker. In addition to performing and collaborating in the new music scene, Galat and Quesada co-direct the orchestra program at Urban Prairie Waldorf School, grades 3-8. They presented on their unique curriculum at the 2023 American String Teachers Conference in a talk entitled “Orchestra for Everyone”. Fall 2023 projects include commissioning of music for violin, cello, and flower pots (created by Dan Galat and other potters in the Bridgeport pottery community), a concert on the intersections of jazz and classical music, and a concert featuring two premiered works on the subject of climate change in collaboration with pianist Cacie Miller.