TPA 2021 Program: Kronos Quartet and Third Coast Percussion with Movement Art Is

Kronos Quartet

With Inversion Ensemble, Nikky Finney & Valérie Sainte-Agathe

At War With Ourselves – 400 Years of You WORLD PREMIERE NOV 19–20 | MCCULLOUGH THEATRE

Third Coast Percussion with Movement Art Is Metamorphosis

DEC 4 | MCCULLOUGH THEATRE

Connecting Technology, Processes and People.

So Texas Performing Arts can #FocusOnForward.

DIGITAL SOLUTIONS • PROFESSIONAL SERVICES • INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

From 2021 STOMP Performance

Proud Workplace Technology Provider of Texas Performing Arts

www.ricoh-usa.com © 2021 Ricoh USA, Inc. Ricoh® and the Ricoh logo are registered trademarks of Ricoh Company, Ltd. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

2 texasperformingarts.org

In this issue

14

Kronos Quartet With Inversion Ensemble, Nikky Finney & Valérie Sainte-Agathe Photo by Evan Neff

At War With Ourselves 400 Years of You A rhapsodic modern day paean spun from the skin of history for string quartet, chorus, and narrator

54

What Starts Here Changes the World The Texas Performing Arts educational collection of Hollywood motion picture backdrops

5

Texas Performing Arts 40th Season Calendar

10

Bass Concert Hall Renovation

46

Texas Performing Arts Fabrication Studios

texasperformingarts.org

26

Third Coast Percussion with Movement Art Is Metamorphosis Grammy Award-winning ensemble Third Coast Percussion and the groundbreaking choreography team Movement Art Is have joined forces to create an irresistible dance-music mashup that melds the captivating urgency of street dance with a fiery score of percussive invention and other-worldly electronic soundscapes.

3

Welcome back to Texas Performing Arts!

We’re thrilled to have you at the theater after this very long intermission.

We’ve been working hard to find the silver linings of this challenging time while you’ve been away.

One of those has been the opportunity to renovate parts of Bass Concert Hall with your comfort and safety in mind. During the closure, we invested $3M in rebuilding the balconies to improve sightlines and accessibility.

There are all new balcony seats as well as improved lighting. The lobbies have fresh carpet and more space to spread out.

Doing everything we can to reopen safely has been our top priority. Air ventilation and filtration have been upgraded to the latest standards.

We are now offering contactless mobile tickets and cashless payments.

Our new guest security system uses advanced technology to make your arrival more comfortable and convenient. We hope that you enjoy these improvements and that they bring you closer to great performances.

This reopening marks our 40th Season. For the anniversary, we’re offering a survey of the latest developments and leading voices in the performing arts in America today. There are established and emerging artists, revivals and new works, long-time favorites, and first-time visits. You can see some of the highest examples of artistic excellence, join artists as they engage with the past and possibilities of the future, experience unusual collaborations, and be the first to see new productions.

We are working hard to make Texas Performing Arts one of the most impactful arts organizations in the country. With visionary artists and adventurous audiences, we are rebuilding from the pandemic and unlocking the potential of Texas Performing Arts’ next 40 years. Thank you for joining us.

Bob Bursey Executive & Artistic Director

4

texasperformingarts.org

MAY

12

Kronos Quartet

with Inversion Ensemble

At War With Ourselves World Premiere Nov 19–20

Third Coast Percussion with Movement Art Is Metamorphosis Dec 4

Bill Frisell and Bill Morrison The Great Flood Jan 21

The Wooster Group THE B-SIDE: Negro Folklore From Texas State Prisons and UNTITLED TOAST

Helen Sung with the UT Jazz Orchestra Apr 9

Nathalie Joachim and Spektral Quartet Fanm d’Ayiti Apr 22

Texas Debut Jan 26–29 | Feb 4

Angélique Kidjo Remain In Light

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

May 12

(Featured above)

Mar 11–12

TICKETS ON SALE NOW TEXASPERFORMINGARTS.ORG MEDIA SPONSORS texasperformingarts.org texasperformingarts.org Austin Chronicle / Austin PBS / KAZI-FM / KMFA-FM / KUT-FM / KUTX-FM / The Texas Tribune

5 5

“Nothing prepares you for the totality of Alvin Ailey: the aural, visual, physical, spiritual beauty...

Heaven...Everywhere you looked: sensory pleasure...”

Photo by Khalia Campbell

The New York Times, Zadie Smith

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater March 11–12 | Bass Concert Hall texasperformingarts.org

MEDIA SPONSOR:

Come visit the Loewy Family Playground in Northwest Hills 7022 Hart Ln. Austin, TX 78731 loewyplayground.com

E I ON & NGAGEM

X

AS

PER

RT

TE

S

T

ED

T CA

EN

U

HOOK 'EM ARTS

FORMIN

GA

Hook ‘em Arts is the student voice of Texas Performing Arts. The purpose of the organization is to increase student engagement and awareness of Texas Performing Arts so that it becomes an integral component of campus life and to connect with other students who enjoy the arts.

LEARN MORE AT

Photo by TK

texasperformingarts.org/HookEmArts

texasperformingarts.org

9

BASS CONCERT HALL RENOVATION

During our unprecedented shutdown, we seized the opportunity to substantially renovate Bass Concert Hall.

IMPROVEMENTS INCLUDE:

10

Photo by Tom McConnell

• Balcony side sections were completely rebuilt to improve sightlines • All-new seats in both balconies • Upgrades to audio and video systems • Reconfigured lobby with more space • Improved air circulation and filtration

texasperformingarts.org

Photo by Myles Regan

“Guitarist Bill Frisell's live soundtrack of howling blues chords, Thelonious Monk hooks, country-swing and Old Man River quotes would make a fine concert without a film, too. Put the two together [and] the result moves up another creative and emotional level..” - The Guardian

Bill Frisell and Bill Morrison The Great Flood

January 21 | Bass Concert Hall texasperformingarts.org Co-presented with the UT Visual Arts Center

MEDIA SPONSOR:

TEXAS INNER CIRCLE

Support Texas Performing Arts educational programs, student employment, and $10 student tickets, all while enjoying the benefits of membership!

Members elevate their experience with access to the Texas Inner Circle Lounge, plus parking and advance notice when tickets go on sale.

TO JOIN Call: 512.232.8567 Email: support@ texasperformingarts.org Visit: texasperformingarts.org/ membership

Photo by Sandy Carson

Scan:

texasperformingarts.org

13

Nov 19–20, 2021

McCullough Theatre

World Premiere

Kronos Quartet

At War With Ourselves 400 Years of You Music by

Michael Abels Text & Narration by

Nikky Finney

Kronos Quartet

David Harrington, violin John Sherba, violin Hank Dutt, viola Sunny Yang, cello

Conducted by

Valérie Sainte-Agathe -Produced by Janet Cowperthwaite Production Management by Kronos Performing Arts Association Lighting Design Brian H. Scott Sound Design Scott Fraser

Presented in partnership with KMFA-FM

Inversion Ensemble Soprano Carol Brown Jenny Houghton Juli Orlandini Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon Jasmine Williams Erin Yousef Alto Adrienne Inglis Carmen Johnson Rosa Mondragón Harris Katrina Saporsantos Angela Tomasino Gelesa Tripps Tenor Joshua Chai Nathaniel Fomby Garrett Gerard Robbie LaBanca Holt Skinner Curtis White Bass Rick Gabrillo Gregory Hilliard Jr. Sam Kreidenweis Joel Nesvadba Tim O’Brien Emanuel Glenn Pruitt

14 texasperformingarts.org

Photos by WouterJansen, Eric Schwabel, Forrest Clonts, Joseph Fanvu

Co-commisioned by Texas Performing Arts Kronos Quartet’s residency at UT Austin is supported by funds from the O’Donnell Visiting Artist Endowment, generously provided by the College of Fine Arts.

At War with Ourselves - 400 Years of You was commissioned by the Kronos Performing Arts Association, funded in part by a Hewlett Foundation 50 Arts Commission and the MAP Fund, in partnership with ASU Gammage at Arizona State University, Hancher Auditorium–The University of Iowa, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, SFJAZZ, Texas Performing Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, the University of South Carolina, and Andrea A. Lunsford. texasperformingarts.org

15

Program At War With Ourselves - 400 Years of You Text by Nikky Finney You are given 10 square feet of space to live and 3 vertical inches of air to breathe.

Ankle iron is ordained for your frontal & temporal lobes. Their one desire: your black body in endless service & performance. You are the new country’s newest moving picture show. They will never be disinterested in what your arms, legs, lips, can do on their well-lit screens. The rest of you, the ravishing wondrous veiled interior: your vermillion quiet, your indigo jar of morning whispers, the midnight calculations of your mother, every smokey algorithm your father ever dreamed, will be, right from the start, thrown overboard with the sharks, and it will never not rise up through the waves. Your one desire: to stand beyond their brutality, in the same calendar of stars that your mother stood up in. In a flash of slave schooner moonlight, in a cotton field peculiar, alongside the invention of the TV, the automobile, the camera, the lie, the 13th amendment, the washing machine, the basketball, the blackface, they will dismiss your wailing inventive mouth, abolish any federal reconstruction projects focused on your wind and solar capacities, order and proclaim your blood to not be human, call for more federal studies that trumpet how your eyes possess no tear ducts, yes, your heart beats, but with only three-fifths of the necessary four chambers, your neck is believed to be made of leather and it will be stretched & tested before the eyes of their children. {Black} “skin is the largest organ in the {American} body — and the most erotic.”1 The ravishing wondrous innermost black islands of you, were never sunk, no matter the number of cannon balls sent to sink.

You have re-attached the legs and implanted the flying cells of millions just like you, back into your own. You have run, marched, and fought on behalf of the bones, the cerebellums, the spit, the eyelashes, of the 60 million or more swirling at the bottom of the sea. Your indefatigable zest & quiet has a 4 century strong heartbeat & pulse. With the laws and codes meant to eradicate you, you invented a clock, a better ironing 1 The Authentic Animal, (p. 5), by Dave Madden, 2011, St. Martin’s Press

16 texasperformingarts.org

board, a third traffic light, a golf tee, a blood bank that everyone but you could use. You are The Real McCoy among other McCoys, but other names have instead stuck to your black skin. Refusing to halt their haunting laughter and Wall Street minuets they reach for the chokehold of their muskets to march you back into place & position & performance every time you write Senator or President or Gold Medal or thundering original musician in front of your name. Now is the great 400th anniversary of your presence in the Republic: you, 4 feet tall in a kerchief, with a shotgun, headed back into the swamp to free more of you, you, your black and balled leather fists rising & splitting the Olympic air, you, your majestic lunations and almanacs spilling from your pockets like gold coins. The ravishing wondrous private inner bank of you never was on the auction block.

The Rhythm of Language

At War With Ourselves and bulletproof creation

By D. Scot Miller It takes a special kind of courage to confront the white supremacy and anti-Blackness woven into the fabric of American history. Many have feared that the tugging of those particular threads in our national tapestry could unravel the entire thing, but in light of the latest racial awakening that has followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020, and the subsequent protests highlighting decades of unarmed Black Americans dying at the hands of the police with zero accountability, we all must summon the courage to do so. In At War With Ourselves – 400 Years of You, Kronos Quartet joins together with composer Michael Abels, poet Nikky Finney, and choral director Valérie Sainte-Agathe to lend voice and vision to the necessary conversation every American must have.

Though At War With Ourselves is contemporary and urgent, the seeds of the project were planted a decade ago. “One night in 2011, I was watching the National Book Awards, and they were honoring the winner of the poetry award, Nikky Finney,” recalled Kronos’ Artistic Director, David Harrington. “I had never heard of Nikky. I was all by myself watching her acceptance speech, just weeping.” In her opening remarks, Finney pays homage to “the ones who longed to read and write, but were forbidden, who lost hands and feet, were killed, by laws written by men who believed they owned other men. […] If my name is ever called out,” she says, “I promised my girl-poet self, so too would I call out theirs.” Harrington knew Kronos needed to find a way to work with this voice. So, when shortly thereafter, the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland invited Kronos to create a piece commemorating the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War, Finney immediately came to mind.

texasperformingarts.org

17

“David got in touch with me, and The Battle of and for the Black Face Boy was made out of our residency with the University of Maryland,” Finney said of her 2013 poem that would eventually inspire the text for At War With Ourselves. A “radical libretto made of Civil War history, Black history, and modern American headlines,” Black Face Boy examines how “the question of who gets to move like a free person and who gets to move in chains remains ensconced in our everyday American lives one hundred and fifty years later.” Indeed, throughout the development of the project and beyond, the number of Black lives stolen by American law enforcement has continued to surge.

Harrington remembers a particular meeting in Maryland that happened to coincide with yet another police killing of a young Black man: “Just as we were right in the middle of thinking about how this project would take shape as an experience, it seemed like, ‘Here our society goes again and again…’” An urgent matter continually becoming more urgent still. * David Harrington founded the Kronos Quartet in Seattle in 1973, in part to address and protest the Vietnam War. Since relocating to San Francisco in 1977, Kronos has remained committed to social justice and protesting war and inequality, while tackling a broad range of musical genres through more than 1,000 commissioned works written specifically for them. Now, even with almost 50 years of boundary-pushing collaborations behind them, Harrington still sees this partnership with Abels, Finney, and Sainte-Agathe as one of the quartet’s more momentous achievements.

“I’ve said before that I want to create bulletproof music,” reflected Harrington. “I would love to be able to make a piece of music that we could wrap around those that we love, those that need protection in any way that they need protection. Well, we haven’t succeeded yet, but I will say that At War With Ourselves feels, to me, like it will be the closest Kronos has ever come.” * After the initial planning phase, the project went into hibernation as the University of Maryland stepped out and the Kronos Performing Arts Association (KPAA)—the non-profit that manages all aspects of Kronos’ work—took over as producer. Years went by, but KPAA’s Executive Director Janet Cowperthwaite kept in touch with the collaborators, each one committed to someday bringing the project to life. Finally, in 2017, it was moved off the backburner when KPAA was awarded a significant grant from the Hewlett Foundation, enabling the piece to move forward. Nikky Finney had since published The Black Face Boy in Oxford American in 2015, but when the group came together again, she condensed and reimagined the poem into the smaller piece, At War with Ourselves – 400 Years of You. “The first version was so long but also deeply cinematic,” Finney says. “As I wrote, I kept falling into this desire to speak in long, punctuated waves about neglected and

18 texasperformingarts.org

Photo by JayBlakesberg

profound American history. My history. I wanted to catch and ride the electricity that was and is the African American presence in America for 400 years. There are movements in that longer piece that you don’t have time for when you’re trying to do a 90-minute concert production. It needed a compression of all of that energy.” It’s always easier, Finney explained, to go on and on and fall in love with all the words you’ve written, but as James Baldwin teaches us, “You want to write a sentence as clean as a bone. That is the goal.” * “The poem is only a single page long. How do I turn this into a complete song cycle?” composer Michael Abels wondered. “I broke down the lines and found the rhythm of Nikky’s language, and in doing so, I found myself turning to Google to learn about the references in her lines about ‘traffic lights’ and ‘ironing boards’ to find elements of Black American history I didn’t know before.” By going line-for-line, Abels was able to compose music that captured the spirit of each one. “It incorporates Dixieland and Jimi Hendrix, and I was especially drawn to the sounds of The Great American Songbook coming out of Broadway, Hollywood, and the music writers of Tin Pan Alley in the 20th Century.”

As a Black male composer, Abels exists in a rarefied space that made composing music for Finney’s text a personal experience. “When Nikky used the word ‘indefatigable,’ I thought it was the whitest word I’d ever seen,” he said, “but I had a better understanding of her excavation too. Right now, some Americans are trying to make history illegal in the guise of being against critical race theory. There’s an anger that

texasperformingarts.org

19

needs to be addressed, but I feel the piece is rooted in hope and change. Looking directly at 400 years of white supremacy and anti-Blackness is an uncomfortable conversation, but necessary if we ever expect this nation to heal.”

Mirroring David Harrington’s dream of “bulletproof music,” the ideas of healing, protection, and confronting an uncomfortable and brutal history was echoed by all of the artists. Finney’s poem, however, is also focused on the causes—both physical and metaphysical—that have created the conditions which allow for anti-Blackness and white supremacy to continue to thrive today. “As Black people in the 21st century, some of us love to say it was so long ago and none of this terrorism exists anymore,” Finney said. “Some of us join the chorus of, ‘Why do we have to talk about this? We don’t study it. We haven’t been taught it. Why do you keep talking about it?’ And the answer is: because it’s still happening.” * For choral director Valérie Sainte-Agathe, the project took on a scope that reached beyond America’s shores. Paired with her primary role working with young voices at the San Francisco Girls Chorus, At War With Ourselves has inspired her to reflect on her youth, the global Black struggle for equality, and her personal history.

“This project actually pushed me to look for more Black history in the Caribbean,” she said. “I was born in France, and my parents are from Martinique. I lived in Martinique when I was a teenager, and we did not learn of slavery in Martinique or the history of resistance behind Aimé Césaire. We didn’t learn any of that. In Martinique, looking at that history is still really new. I think that with projects like this, people are encouraged to look and search and make sure they know what really happened and what is really happening. It’s difficult to face that history and I understand that for probably the previous generation, it was easier to just not talk about it.”

“Everybody needs to know this history,” Sainte-Agathe continued. “It’s not only for African Americans or white people. It’s not about accusing anybody. We need to have the knowledge to share with future generations, not just to show what happened, but to say that we can do better. It’s not about placing blame or accusation. There is something very hopeful about recognizing it and acknowledging it, and then asking what can be done about it. You must begin by looking at a history of victimization without walking through it feeling like a victim. You’re not, you never have been, you’re powerful.”

D. Scot Miller is the Managing Editor of the East Bay Express, author of The AfroSurreal Manifesto, and Founder of The Afrosurreal Arts Movement. He lives in Oakland, CA. Edited by Reshena Liao The World Premiere of At War With Ourselves – 400 Years of You takes place at Texas Performing Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, November 2021.

20 texasperformingarts.org

BIOGRAPHIES Kronos Quartet For more than 45 years, San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet – David Harrington (violin), John Sherba (violin), Hank Dutt (viola), and Sunny Yang (cello) – has combined a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to continually reimagine the string quartet experience. In the process, Kronos has become one of the world’s most celebrated and influential ensembles, performing thousands of concerts, releasing more than 60 recordings, collaborating with countless composers and performers, and commissioning over 1,000 works and arrangements for string quartet. The group has won over 40 awards, including three Grammys, and the prestigious Polar Music, Avery Fisher, and Edison Klassiek Oeuvre Prizes.

The nonprofit Kronos Performing Arts Association manages all aspects of Kronos’ work, including the commissioning of new works, concert tours and home season performances, education programs, and the annual Kronos Festival.

In 2015, Kronos launched Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire, an education and legacy project that is commissioning— and distributing online for free—50 new works for string quartet written by composers from around the world. kronosquartet.org Michael Abels Michael Abels is best-known for his scores for the Oscar-winning film GET OUT, and for Jordan Peele’s US, for which Abels won the World Soundtrack Award, the Jerry texasperformingarts.org

Goldsmith Award, a Critics Choice nomination, an Image Award nomination, and multiple critics choice awards. The hip-hop influenced score for US was short-listed for the Oscar, and was even named “Score of the Decade” by online publication The Wrap. Abels is co-founder of the Composers Diversity Collective, an advocacy group to increase visibility of composers of color in film, gaming and streaming media. As a concert composer, Abels has received grants from the NEA and Meet The Composer, and his orchestral works have been performed by the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and many others. As conductor of GET OUT IN CONCERT, Abels has led orchestras like the National Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony. Several of his orchestral works have been recorded by the Chicago Sinfonietta on the Cedille label, including “Delights & Dances,” a work commissioned and premiered by the Sphinx Organization. Recent projects include the ballet FALLING SKY for Butler University, the opera series DESERT IN for Boston Lyric Opera, the docu-series ALLEN v. FARROW for HBO, and the film NIGHTBOOKS for Netflix. michaelabels.com Nikky Finney Nikky Finney was born by the sea in South Carolina and raised during the Civil Rights, Black Power, and Black Arts Movements. She is the author of On Wings Made of Gauze; Rice; The World Is Round; and Head Off & Split, which won the National Book Award for Poetry in 2011.

Her new collection of poems, Love Child’s Hotbed of Occasional Poetry, 21

was released from TriQuarterly Books/Northwestern University Press in 2020. nikkyfinney.net Valérie Sainte-Agathe Valérie Sainte-Agathe is the artistic director of the San Francisco Girls Chorus, which she has conducted since 2013, including in performances with renowned artists such as Deborah Voigt, Laurie Rubin, Philip Glass, Gustavo Dudamel, and Michael Tilson Thomas. She has also performed with the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Kronos Quartet, Magik*Magik Orchestra, Tenet Ensemble, Philip Glass Ensemble, The Knights Orchestra, and Brooklyn Youth Chorus, as well as Taylor Mac and DJ Spooky.

After five years in the United States, her first recording as SFGC’s Music Director, Final Answer, was released on Orange Mountain Music in February 2018. SainteAgathe served as Music Director for the Young Singers program of the Montpellier National Symphony and Opera in France from 1998-2011. She participated in eight recordings with the Montpellier National Orchestra and The Radio France Festival.

She is a recipient of Victoires de la Musique, and a two-time recipient of the Orphée d’Or award. sfgirlschorus.org/ valerie-sainte-agathe Inversion Ensemble Inversion, led by artistic director Trevor F. Shaw, is a collection of four vocal ensembles dedicated to commissioning and performing new works by living composers. Since its inception in 2017, Inversion has presented over 100 world premieres of choral & vocal repertoire. Each

of Inversion’s ensembles present themed concerts on myriad topics, including LGBTQIA+ rights, racial justice, immigration, climate change, space exploration, philosophy, and the natural sciences.

Inversion is a fierce advocate for inclusion and diversity, not just through its artistic output, but also in its outreach with local public schools & college partners, and through its annual emerging composer contests. “At War With Ourselves - 400 Years of You” features Inversion’s primary professional group, Inversion Ensemble. inversionatx.org Trevor F. Shaw, Artistic Director Trevor Shaw is an Austin-based composer, and the Artistic Director of Inversion Ensemble. Trevor’s choral and instrumental compositions have been performed on five continents. He has directed choirs of all ages, at virtually every skill level from youngest beginners to experienced professionals, and has led many choirs on tours throughout the US and the UK. Under his leadership, Inversion Ensemble has premiered many dozens of brand-new choral works and the organization has expanded to include CODA, a group of singers exclusively aged 55+, as well as Da Capo, for treble voices only. Trevor is the co-founder and principal arranger for Tinsel, a professional a cappella jazz-oriented Christmas caroling company. He also serves as the Director of Worship Arts for First United Methodist Church in Pflugerville, TX and is active as a music teacher, clinician, instrumentalist, and singer.

22 texasperformingarts.org

SOLOISTS Jasmine Williams, Soprano Soprano Jasmine Williams is a performer, educator, and young artist program coordinator based in Austin, TX. Jasmine completed her masters in voice performance at Southern Methodist University (2021), studying with Dale Dietert.

She also received her BA in music education at Huston-Tillotson University (2018) studying under Dr. Gloria Quinlan. Jasmine currently serves as the Greg Easley-Bryant young artist program coordinator and voice teacher with Austin Artists Project. Additionally, she has her own private studio teaching piano and voice to students in the Dallas area and Austin metroplex. Jasmine has performed on many occasions throughout the Austin area including the Austin Opera chorus and was the inaugural insight fellow to Grammy award-winning choral ensemble Conspirare. Her singing background is versatile as she studied and performed in many styles: operatic, jazz, gospel, and musical theatre.

Passionate about her art, Jasmine currently studies with Mela Sarajane Dailey and is excited about future performances. When Jasmine is not singing or teaching, she enjoys learning how to cook and spending time with her friends and family.

Carmen Johnson, Mezzo-Soprano Austin-based vocalist Carmen Johnson is known for singing in a wide variety of styles, from choral, opera and jazz to blues and reggae.

She is a member of the Grammynominated Chorus Austin Chamber Ensemble, Inversion Ensemble, and texasperformingarts.org

in addition to being a sustaining member, was recently selected to serve on the inaugural board of One Ounce Opera company.

She received a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of Texas at Austin in 2010, and has since spent most of her career in software technology at several Austin tech companies, currently working as a Technical Product Manager at WP Engine. When she’s not working or singing, she’s busy cultivating a love of music in her two daughters, Marley and Ivy, along with her loving and supportive husband, Hass.

Curtis White, Tenor Curtis E. White is a conductor, composer, and tenor from Wichita Falls, Texas. He holds an M.M. in Choral Conducting from the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where he studied with Dr. John Dickson. Curtis also holds a B.M. in Voice Performance and a B.S.A. in Biochemistry from the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently pursuing an EC-12 Music Teaching Certification from the Texas State University in San Marcos. He has previously performed as a featured soloist and chorus member with numerous Austin ensembles: Chorus Austin, Conspirare Symphonic Chorus, Austin Cantorum, Ars Longa Ensemble, Amphion Youth and Chamber Choruses, the Butler Opera Theatre, Cohen New Works Festival, and all University of Texas Choirs. Curtis has participated in many masterclasses and studied voice privately from primary teachers Donnie Ray Albert, Dr. Steven Brennfleck, and 23

Dr. Brandon Hendrickson. He has also studied music composition privately with Dr. Donald Grantham and Dr. Russell Podgorsek and received multiple world premieres with a new commission by the Minneapolis Madrigal Singers in 2020. Curtis has also served as a guest conductor and clinician for many small ensembles. He served as Artistic Director and Conductor for Collegium Musicum for three years starting in 2015. Curtis also served as the Assistant Director for the UT Summer Choral Society in 2016 and served as a Conducting Fellow for the Ars Longa Conducting Fellowship Program in 2017.

Curtis currently resides in Austin, Texas, where he works with the community as a private tutor.

Gregory Hilliard Jr., Baritone Gregory A. Hilliard Jr. is a conductor and vocalist based in the Austin/San Antonio, TX corridor.

He has performed with and was

a recurrent soloist of the Festival Singers of Florida (Orlando, FL), Sine Nomine Singers (Valdosta, GA), Tallahassee Community Chorus, and Tallahassee Civic Chorale.

As a vocalist relatively new to Texas, he is frequently called to appear in new projects curated

by San Antonio-based composer Nathan Felix, most recently in his chamber opera Ribas-Dominicci in 2021. He has also premiered solo works by new composers, including Montana-based Marshall D. Jones, and Los Angeles-based Joseph Sabatino. Gregory recently earned his Master of Music in Choral Conducting at Texas State University under Drs. Joey Martin, Jonathan Babcock, and Craig Hella Johnson. His Bachelor of Music Education and Specialized Study Certificate in Sacred Music were earned at Florida State University.

Gregory was also a member of the University Singers, appearing as a soloist in their Southern Region

24 texasperformingarts.org

conference of the American Choral Directors Association in Miami, FL. He maintains an active schedule as a vocalist, conductor/clinician, and adjudicator. Gregory is in his 9th year of teaching K-12 music, currently serving as a choral director in Manor ISD, and as Music Director at First United Methodist Church in Lockhart, TX and the Austin Harmony Chorus.

Reshena Liao, Creative Projects Manager

For the Kronos Quartet/Kronos Performing Arts Association:

Brian H. Scott, Lighting Designer

Janet Cowperthwaite, Executive Director, KPAA / Manager, Kronos Quartet Mason Dille, Development Manager Dana Dizon, Business Manager Sarah Donahue, Operations Manager

Brian Mohr, Sound Designer, Technical Manager Kären Nagy, Strategic Initiatives Director

Contact: Kronos Quartet/Kronos Performing Arts Association P. O. Box 225340 San Francisco, CA 94122-5340 USA kronosquartet.org facebook.com/kronosquartet instagram.com/kronos_quartet twitter.com/kronosquartet The Kronos Quartet records for Nonesuch Records.

Photo by Wouter Jansen

Scott Fraser, Senior Sound Designer

Nikolás McConnie-Saad, Artistic Administrator

texasperformingarts.org

25

Dec 4, 2021

McCullough Theatre

Third Coast Percussion with Movement Art Is Metamorphosis Third Coast Percussion Sean Connors Robert Dillon Peter Martin David Skidmore featuring

Choreography by

Stage Direction by

Performed by

Lighting and Video Design by Joe Burke

Ron Myles & Quentin Robinson

Leslie Buxbaum Danzig

The creation of Metamorphosis was supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and by Meany Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Washington and the Pablo Center at the Confluence, with additional support from the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation and the Julian Family Foundation.

Presented in partnership with KMFA-FM 26

Photo by Landon Akiyama

Movement Art Is (Lil Buck and Jon Boogz)

texasperformingarts.org

27

Program Aguas da Amazonia “Metamorphosis” (1988/1999/2020)

Philip Glass (b. 1937)/ arr. Third Coast Percussion

Perspective (2020) “Obscure” “Dissonance”

Jlin (b. 1987)

Aguas da Amazonia “Amazon River” (1993/1999/2016)

Philip Glass/arr. TCP

Perspective “Paradigm” (1993/1999/2016)

Jlin

Sunny X (2019)

Tyondai Braxton (b. 1978)

Perspective “Embryo” “Fourth Perspective” “Duality” “Derivative”

Jlin

28 texasperformingarts.org

Program Notes Collaboration and Transformation This performance is a meeting of fearless and generous collaborators from unique artistic backgrounds, creators deeply rooted in their own tradition but whose branches reach curiously into the broad expressive world surrounding them. Lil Buck and Jon Boogz founded Movement Art Is to explore how their virtuosic street dancing abilities, rooted in popping and Memphis jookin’, could tell the important stories of modern life. Third Coast Percussion has carved its own special place in the cultural landscape by showing the incredible flexibility of percussion chamber music to give voice to expressions from a diverse range of artists.

At the heart of this collaboration is a celebration of each individual’s expressive language and the experiences that shaped it, as well as a curiosity to see each artist’s energy translated into the vocabulary of another. Just as the choreography created by Buck and Boogz is set onto different bodies — their proteges Ron Myles and Quentin Robinson — for performance, tonight’s program highlights how music is also transformed as it is passed from one artist to another. The innovative producer Jlin (whose roots are in Chicago’s “Footwork” style of dance music) composed her Perspective as a series of electronic tracks, with the intent that Third Coast Percussion would reimagine this music on acoustic instruments for live performance. The music of minimalist icon Philip Glass that appears on this program is an arrangement of an arrangement, music finding its third incarnation in TCP’s distinctive sound world.

In 2020, a year of isolation, the opportunity to make art together took on a new value.

The full creative team — MAI, TCP, stage director Leslie Danzig and lighting designer Joe Burke — had planned to come together in Seattle for a residency in the summer of 2020 to build this project on the stage of the Meany Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Washington. When the residency could not take place, this determined team found ways—connecting via rehearsal videos shared on the cloud, simulated mock-ups of stage set-ups and light renderings, and of course, many Zoom meetings—to build this project together across long distances, and continue transforming the project into versions for audiences to experience through a screen, and finally, in person.

However you are experiencing this program, we hope this performance speaks to you, and we hope that you will have the joy of creating something together with others again soon.

texasperformingarts.org

29

Philip Glass Through his operas, his symphonies, his compositions for his own ensemble, and his wide-ranging collaborations with artists ranging from Twyla Tharp to Allen Ginsberg, Woody Allen to David Bowie, Philip Glass has had an extraordinary and unprecedented impact upon the musical and intellectual life of his times.

His “Amazon River” and “Metamorphosis” were works originally composed for piano (as “Etude no. 2” and “Metamorphosis 1,” respectively), then arranged for Brazilian musical group Uakti as part of their project Aguas da Amazonia for their own gamut of instruments, many of which were custom-made and built by the performers. Drawing on both the Uakti arrangement and the original piano music, the members of Third Coast Percussion arranged and re-orchestrated these pieces utilizing mallet percussion instruments and other unique instrumental colors such as melodica, desk bells, and almglocken (tuned Swiss cowbells).

Jlin Jlin (Jerrilynn Patton) is a producer based in Gary, Indiana. Her unique and evolving electronic sound is rooted in Chicago’s iconic footwork style, with additional influences ranging from Nina Simone to Igor Stravinsky. Jlin’s work assembles evocative and vivid sounds into a musical style that she describes as

“clean, precise, and unpredictable.”

Her debut album Dark Energy was released to critical acclaim in 2015, and her second album Black Origami in 2017 to rave reviews from NPR Music and Pitchfork.

She has written music for Kronos Quartet and choreographer Wayne McGregor, and has recently performed at the Big Ears Festival, Whitney Museum of Art, and Toledo Museum of Art, among others.

Her seven-movement work Perspective was written for Third Coast Percussion through a highly collaborative process.

After exploring and sampling instruments from TCP’s vast collection of percussion sounds at their studio in Chicago, she created an electronic version of each of the work’s seven movements using these samples and other sounds from her own library.

The members of Third Coast Percussion then set about determining how to realize these pieces in live performance. Diving into each of the audio tracks, the percussionists found dozens of sonic layers, patterns that never seem to repeat when one would expect them to, and outrageous sounds that are hard to imagine recreating acoustically. Even typical percussion sounds like snare drum, hi-hat, or kick drum exist in multiple variations, subtle timbral shades in counterpoint or composite sounds.

In pursuit of the broad expressive range of Jlin’s original tracks, TCP’s live version of this piece incorporates mixing bowls filled with water, bird calls, a variety

30 texasperformingarts.org

Photo by Paula Lobo

THE MUSIC

of gongs and tambourines, and a metal spring coil, as well as many variations of drum set-like sounds: instruments that are like a hi-hat but not a hi-hat, or serve the function of a snare drum but are not a snare drum.

Jlin named her piece Perspective as a reference to this unique collaborative process, that this work would exist in two forms, the same music as interpreted through different artists and their modes of expression.

Perspective by Jlin was commissioned for Third Coast Percussion by the Boulanger Initiative, the Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation, Carnegie Hall, the Lester & Hope Abelson Fund for the Performing Arts at the Chicago Community Foundation, the DEW Foundation, and Third Coast Percussion’s New Works Fund.

Tyondai Braxton Brooklyn-based composer and performer Tyondai Braxton has been writing and performing music under his own name and collaboratively under various group titles and collectives since the mid-1990s, including in the art rock group Battles from its formation until 2010. Braxton has been commissioned by Kronos Quartet, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Alarm Will Sound, and Brooklyn Rider, has had his orchestral work performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, and the Wordless Music Orchestra, and has worked with pioneering bands Mouse on Mars and Dirty Projectors.

texasperformingarts.org

In collaboration with artist Uffe Surland Van Tams, Braxton premiered HIVE, a multimedia sculptural and electronic project for 2 electronic artists and 3 percussionists at The Guggenheim Museum in New York City in 2013, later transforming this music into the solo album HIVE1.

Braxton’s new work for Third Coast Percussion, Sunny X, further develops his experiments with electronic sounds and live percussionists, utilizing more idiosyncratic instruments such as wooden and metal slats, steel pipes, Thai gongs, and crotales, with electronic playback generated with modular synthesizer.

“Predominantly set up as meditations on small phrases of non-pitched (or *partially* pitched) percussion and mercurial electronics, the piece explores different permutations of these meditations where the relationship between the acoustic and electronic realms seems to work together, slip around and contrast.” —Tyondai Braxton Sunny X evolved through multiple workshops together in TCP’s studio, experimenting with combinations of these unique sounds and discovering musical content that emerges naturally from the idiomatics of the instruments and their physical layout. In particular, a musical and physical gesture that plays prominently in the piece revealed itself when the wooden planks were stacked on top of each other, rather that set side-by-side on a table.

31

Sunny X was commissioned for Third Coast Percussion by the Sewanee Music Festival, George Mason University, and Carnegie Hall with additional support from Third Coast Percussion’s New Works Fund.

THE CREATIVE TEAM Third Coast Percussion Third Coast Percussion is a Grammy Award-winning Chicagobased percussion quartet.

For over fifteen years, the ensemble has created exciting and unexpected performances that constantly redefine the classical music experience. The ensemble has been praised for “commandingly elegant” (The New York Times) performances, the “rare power” (The Washington Post) of their recordings, and “an inspirational sense of fun and curiosity” (Minnesota StarTribune). Third Coast Percussion

maintains a busy tour schedule, with past performances in 38 of the 50 states and Washington, DC, plus international tour dates across 4 continents.

A direct connection with the audience is at the core of all of Third Coast Percussion’s work, whether the musicians are speaking from the stage about a new piece of music, inviting the audience to play along in a concert or educational performance, or inviting their fans around the world to create new music using one of their free mobile apps.

The four members of Third Coast are also accomplished teachers, and make active participation by all students the cornerstone of all their educational offerings.

The quartet’s curiosity and eclectic taste have led to a series of unlikely collaborations that have produced exciting new art.

The ensemble has worked with engineers at the University of Notre Dame, architects at the Frank

32 texasperformingarts.org

Photo by Saverio Truglia

Lloyd Wright Foundation, dancers at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and musicians from traditions ranging from the mbira music of Zimbabwe’s Shona people, to indie rockers and footwork producers, to some of the world’s leading concert musicians. Third Coast Percussion served as ensemblein-residence at the University of Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center from 2013—2018, and currently serves as ensemble-inresidence at Denison University.

A commission for a new work from composer Augusta Read Thomas in 2012 led to the realization that commissioning new musical works can be—and should be—as collaborative as any other artistic partnership. Through extensive workshopping and close contact with composers, Third Coast Percussion has commissioned and premiered new works by Philip Glass, Missy Mazzoli, Gemma Peacocke, Flutronix, Jlin, Tyondai Braxton, Augusta Read Thomas, texasperformingarts.org

Devonté Hynes, Georg Friedrich Haas, Donnacha Dennehy, Glenn Kotche, Christopher Cerrone, David T. Little and today’s leading up-and-coming composers through their Currents Creative Partnership program. TCP’s commissioned works have become part of the ensemble’s core repertoire and seen hundreds of performances across four continents.

Third Coast Percussion’s recordings include thirteen feature albums, and appearances on eleven additional releases. The quartet has put its stamp on iconic percussion works by John Cage and Steve Reich, and Third Coast has also created first recordings of commissioned works by Philip Glass, Augusta Read Thomas, Devonté Hynes, Gavin Bryars, Donnacha Dennehy, David T. Little, Ted Hearne, and more, in addition to recordings of the ensemble’s own compositions. In 2017 the ensemble won the Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble 33

Performance for their recording of Steve Reich’s works for percussion.

In 2020 Third Coast received its second nomination in the same category for Perpetulum, and in 2021 Third Coast was nominated again for its album Fields, with music by Devonté Hynes.

Third Coast Percussion has always maintained strong ties to the vibrant artistic community in their hometown of Chicago. They have collaborated with Chicago institutions such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the Chicago Children’s Choir, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Chicago Humanities Festival, and the Adler Planetarium.

TCP performed at the grand opening of Maggie Daley Children’s Park, conducted residencies at the University of Chicago and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, created multi-year collaborative projects with Chicago-based composers Augusta Read Thomas, Glenn Kotche, and chamber ensemble Eighth Blackbird, and taught tens of thousands of students through partnerships with The People’s Music School, the Chicago Park District, Rush Hour Concerts, Urban Gateways, and others.

The four members of Third Coast Percussion (Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and David Skidmore) met while studying percussion music at Northwestern University with Michael Burritt and James Ross. Members of Third Coast also hold degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Rutgers University, the New England Conservatory, and the Yale School of Music. Stay up-todate and go behind-the-scenes by

following Third Coast on Twitter (@ThirdCoastPerc), Facebook (@ Third Coast Percussion), Instagram (@ThirdCoastPercussion), and YouTube (@thirdcoastpercussion). *Third Coast Percussion is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization.

Movement Art Is Movement Art Is, co-founded

by Jon Boogz and Lil Buck, is an organization that uses movement artistry to inspire and change the world while elevating the artistic, educational, and social impact of dance. Through movement art films, workshops, performances and exhibitions, MAI is resetting the spectrum of what dance is.

MAI’s award-winning short film “Color of Reality” directed by Jon Boogz, featuring the art of Alexa Meade and the movement artistry of MAI, went viral in fall of 2016.

The film has gone on to receive coverage internationally, won Great Big Story’s Art as Impact Award; Best Experimental at Toronto International Short Film Festival; and Concept Video of the Year from World of Dance, among others. MAI’s recent/upcoming projects include: a short film created in collaboration with DAIS entitled “AM i A MAN” (April 2017), a performance entitled “Honor Thy Mother” at TED Conference in Vancouver, a live rendition of “Color of Reality” at Aspen Ideas Festival (June 2017) and a VR collaboration with director Terrence Malick and Facebook launched at SxSW and Tribeca Film Festival in spring 2018.

The duo recently choreographed

34 texasperformingarts.org

for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago with music composed by Dev Hynes (aka Blood Orange) performed

by Third Coast Percussion, and is currently touring a new full length show Love Heals All Wounds.

Jon Boogz Jon Boogz is a movement artist, choreographer, and director who seeks to push the evolution of what dance can be – sharing with audiences of all backgrounds an appreciation of the melding of art forms while inspiring and bringing awareness to social issues.

Originally motivated to dance by the work of Michael Jackson, Boogz has choreographed for notable icons including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Naomi Campbell, Gloria Estefan; for Pharrell’s Adidas Originals campaign; he also creative directed, choreographed, and performed in “Movement Art Is: Standing Rock” at ComplexCon; and served as creative consultant for ads launching campaigns for Apple and Lexus. Boogz’s collaborators include TriBeCa Film Festival, Benjamin Millepied, Lil Buck, and Flying Lotus. His choreography is used in FOX’s “So You Think You Can Dance”; Cirque du Soleil’s MJ ONE; and he was featured at the Geffen Playhouse’s “Backstage at the Geffen” with his dance company Control Freakz, Lil Buck, and spoken word artist Robin Sanders to honor Morgan Freeman and Jeff Skoll.

Boogz wrote, choreographed, directed and danced in “Color of Reality,” a short film in collaboration with visual artist Alexa Meade. The work continues

texasperformingarts.org

to receive coverage internationally and won Great Big Story’s Art as Impact Award; Best Experimental at Toronto International Short Film Festival; and Concept Video of the Year from World of Dance, among others. His forthcoming projects seek to merge movement with fine art, film, technology, and the stage.

Lil Buck International phenomenon Lil Buck (Charles Riley) began jookin’ – a street dance that originated in Memphis – at age 13 alongside mentors Marico Flake and Daniel Price. After receiving early hip-hop training from Teran Garry and ballet training on scholarship at the New Ballet Ensemble, he performed and choreographed until relocating to Los Angeles in 2009.

Named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch,” his collaboration with Spike Jonze and Yo-Yo Ma performing The Swan went viral in 2011. Since then he has collaborated with a broad spectrum of artists including JR, Damian Woetzel, the New York City Ballet, Madonna, Benjamin Millepied, and Spike Lee. Buck is an avid arts education advocate, recipient of the WSJ Innovator Award, collaborates frequently with global brands including Apple, Lexus, Glenfiddich and Louis Vuitton, and launched a capsule collection with Versace.

He co-starred in the viral short film “Color of Reality,” which continues to screen at film festivals worldwide and has won numerous awards.

Ron Myles Ron Myles was born and raised

35

Quentin Robinson Born and raised in Fort Lauderdale, Quentin Robinson is a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and various other locations on combat tours. Quentin has been dancing for 20 years, teaching and performing both domestically and internationally. Above all, Quentin strives to be a wonderful dad in the midst of his work.

Quentin is the Founder and CEO

of Movement 4 Movements, a nonprofit organization centered on using movement to help individuals navigate their way through mental and physical trauma and dissociation.

Quentin’s dancing and expertise have been featured on many platforms, including Athena Pack women’s leadership conference 2019, Business Innovation Factory conference 2018-2019, TEDx Bozeman, I Am Interchange, HATCH, VIDCON 2015-17, Last Best Conference 2016-17, and BET. He was also featured on the Netflix series Move, and he directed, produced and wrote the short films Breaking Barriers, Tis Of Thee and Black Magic, in which he starred.

In addition, Quentin has appeared in music videos and stage performances with Rising Appalachia, bass legend Victor Wooten, Butterscotch, Blind Pilot, Portland Cello Project, and MAI (Movement Art Is — Jon Boogz and Lil Buck) in their culture shifting production Love Heals All Wounds.

Quentin has held numerous workshops for youth in Missoula schools, at Roots Acro Sports, and with Camp Make A Dream. Quentin hopes to ignite the spark of dance and movement in every person he has the opportunity to work with.

Leslie Buxbaum Danzig Leslie Buxbaum Danzig is delighted to work with Third Coast Percussion again, after stage directing TCP’s previous projects Wild Sound, composed

by Glenn Kotche, and Paddle to

36 texasperformingarts.org

Photo by Clay Patrick McBride

in Memphis, Tennessee, in a neighborhood called Orange Mound. Growing up the only dancer in the area, Myles described his friends and family as his greatest inspiration and motivation during this time. In 2009, Myles moved to Los Angeles, CA with his cousin and close friend Charles “Lil Buck” Riley, and since then has become one of the premier interpreters of the style of dance known as Memphis jookin’, often in partnership with Riley. Since 2009, Myles has appeared as a featured dancer in the 2011 film Footloose; starred in several commercials including a Diet Pepsi segment alongside Sofia Vergara, and a spot for Adidas Originals; appeared in a TED Talk; and headlined evenings at the Vail International Dance Festival, where he also worked with children from the Celebrate the Beat program, the Colorado affiliate of the National Dance Institute which offers hundreds of students in the Vail Valley intensive music and dance classes in a week-long summer residency.

the Sea. As collaborating director with the dance-theater company Lucky Plush Productions, Leslie has worked on Rink Life (NEFA National Theater Project Award), Rooming House, The Queue (NEFA National Dance Project Award), and The Better Half. Presenting venues include Steppenwolf 1700, MCA Chicago, Spoleto Festival USA (SC), CRASHarts at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, Dance Cleveland, Flynn Center for the Performing Arts (VT), ODC (CA), and Maui Arts and Cultural Center among others. For over a decade, Leslie was co-founder and resident director of the Chicago-based physical theater company 500 Clown, which toured throughout the US. She has directed at The Actors Gymnasium, House Theatre, Redmoon, Chicago Children’s Theater, About Face Theater, and New Victory Theater (NYC), and has toured nationally and internationally as an actor with NYC’s Elevator Repair Service. She is Assistant Professor of Practice in Theater and Performance Studies, University of Chicago.

Joe Burke Joe Burke is a Chicago based designer specializing in visual design for live performance. Since 2005, he has been working in the live entertainment business as a designer, manager, programmer, and technician. His artistry centers around creating visuals that tell and support compelling stories. As a designer with a music inspired background, he brings a unique

texasperformingarts.org

perspective to the projects he works on. At his core, he is a collaborator that shares in enhancing and elevating every project he works on. Joe molds his art to meet the esthetic of each project, working with an open mind and offering his experience to others and inviting others to influence his artistry. In his last collaboration with Third Coast Percussion he produced the stage lighting design as well as created additional video artwork for the premier and touring performances of Paddle To The Sea. In addition to working as a live performance designer, Joe utilizes the wide array of video skills and techniques to create video art and visual designs. He harnesses his experience to develop eye-catching, and moving videography, animations, and video content.

Joe’s work has been seen with: A-squared Theatre Workshop, Base Entertainment, Burke Brothers Sound, Case Western Reserve University, Chamber Opera Chicago, Cleveland’s Playhouse Square, Cleveland Public Theatre, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Imagine Exhibitions Incorporated, Freeman AV, Museum of Contemporary Art-Chicago, North Park University Opera, Northwestern University, Paramount Theatre, Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, Theatre Wit!, The House Theatre of Chicago, theMart, The Poetry Foundation, The Yard, Third Coast Percussion, Travesty Dance Group, Broadway Sacramento at Music Circus, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Steep Theatre, and Writers’ Theatre.

37

Texas Inner Circle Texas Performing Arts gratefully acknowledges the financial support of our members. Each year, members help fund robust education and engagement initiatives, affordable student tickets, and critical student employment opportunities that make Texas Performing Arts so much more than what you see on our stages.

Donations made as of Sep 15, 2021 We regret that limited space does not allow us to list every member.

For information on ways to give, please visit texasperformingarts.org/ become-member, call the membership office at 512-232-8567, or email us at support@texasperformingarts.org.

*Corporate Circle members

BENEFACTOR’S CIRCLE $6,000+

Julie and Steve Avery Joe Batson Jeff and Katie Berkaw Dianne and Robert Brode ChemCentric* Marianne and Mario Davila Joanne Guariglia Gretchen and Lance Kroesch Julia Marsden Eric and Angie Mischke Stephanie Perkins Gina and Don Reese

PRODUCER’S CIRCLE $3,000-5,999

Kimberly Attallah Drs. Lynn Azuma and Brian Hall Christie and Jason Barany Renée Butler and Kay Stowell Edwina P. Carrington Suzanne and Bill Childs John and Kim Coers Matthew B. Ely Jessica and Marc Evans Jim Ferguson and Art Sansone Frost* Phil and Lisa Gilbert Susan and Barry Goodman Juan M. Guerrero, M.D. Gladys M. Heavilin Andrew and Mary Ann Heller Mellie and Tom Hogan Frank Ikard Dan Jackson and Jeremy Guiberteau Chris and Melissa Knox Kelley Knutson and Carol Walsh-Knutson Cathy and James Kratz Sue and Gary Lowe Mary and Lynn Moak Wayne Orchid Debbie and Jim Ramsey Linda and Robert Rosenbusch Chuck Ross and Brian Hencey Kenneth Sandoval

38 texasperformingarts.org

Carolyn and Marc Seriff Syd Sharples Barry Smith Gilbert and Kathleen Soto Laura and David Starks Shari and Eric Stein Lorri Stevenson Rhiannon Stinnette Louann and Larry Temple Carole Tower and Matthew St. Louis University Federal Credit Union* Annie Zucker and Michael Regester DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE $1,500-2,999

Anonymous (2) Bonnie L. Bain Carolyn R. Bartlett Deepika and Somdipta Basu Roy Becky Beaver Carolyn and Andrew Birge Casey Blass and Lee Manford Robert Bloemhof Christopher and Tira Brom Kara and Shelby Brown Kim and Thomas Reed Brown Kimberly Brown Shellie and Martin Campos Kelli and John Carlton Lee Carnes Carol and Shannon Casey Sue and Kevin Cloud Anita and William Cochran Isabella Cunningham Weslie and Stephen Elliott Barbara Ellis and Alex McAlmon Kevin Espenlaub and John Hampton Debra and Heath Esterak Laura L. Estes and Joyce A. Lauck Carol and Clint Fletcher Pamela and David Frager Sandra Freed Susan and Lee Gammill Nancy Gary and Ruth Cude Cheryl and R. James George, Jr. Sharon and Bruce Golden Melissa and Rick Gorskie Karen and Rowland Greenwade Sven and Robin Griffin Cheryl Gross Richard Hartgrove and Gary Cooper Abbey and Michael Herman Anne and Thomas Hilbert Amy and Jeffrey Hubert Admiral and Mrs. B. R. Inman Gary C. Johnson texasperformingarts.org

K Friese and Associates* Mary Kliewer Margaret Denena and Cliff Knowles Sheila Kothmann Calvin and Donna Lee Sue and Larry Lewellyn Ellen and Richard Leyh Mr. and Mrs. George F. Littlejohn Jennifer and Christian Loew Alaire and Thomas Lowry Gayle and Scott Madole Peggy Manning Charles and Leslie Martinez Molly McDonald and Chad Hartmann Monica and Robert Meadows Jennifer and Jim Misko Amy Wong Mok Melissa Moloney and Chris Walk Miriam and Jim Mulva Nall Family Meri and Don Nelson Jeffrey Neumann Jacqueline and Shawn O’Farrell Cathy Oliver Leora Orent and Art Markman Terri Pascoe Connie and Samuel Pate Michele and Roy Peck Shari and John Pflueger Leslie Powell Javier Prado Alec Rhodes Richie & Gueringer, P.C.* Alyssa Russell Susan Schaffer Nina and Frank Seely Carol Ann Shepherd Sid Steadman Karin and Robert Stern Bruce Stuckman Peter and Joan Swartz Caroline Tang The Van Den Berg Family Erin Vander Leest and Tom Pyle Susan and Chris Wilson with Bonita Grumme Dr. Lucas Wong and Dr. Lisa Go Michael Wynn and Elizabeth Kalamaha-Wynn CENTER STAGE $600-1,499 Dwain Aidala Mark Aitala Emily Allen and Ron Altizer Joe Annis The Ballon Family Jana and Barry Bandera Dr. Steven A. Beebe 39

James Benson April Berman Crystal Berry-Roberts Tim and Grizelda Black Denis Blake Stephanie and Michael Blanck Dave and Nancy Bourell Robert Bracewell Janice and Charlie Brown Scott Brown and Cheri Lafrinea Jim and Josie Caballero Kristen and Luis Casaubon Shane Chambers Avery John Chavez Sam and Alison Clare Sarah Compton Jeanette Cortinas Elaine Daigle Wilma Dankovich Lorraine and John Davis Nhu and Randall DeBastiani Courtney and Adam Debower Lisa and Paul Delacruz Lucy Ditmore Jennifer Dixon Susan and David Donaldson Maria Dwyer Susan and David Eckelkamp Sheila Ellwood Rebecca Ewing Jane W. Fountain Drs. Donald and April Fox Katina and Matthew Gase Jon and Joanna Geld Sharon and Richard Gibbons Glenn and Nancy Gilkey Jana and John Grimes Stephanie Guariglia Maria Gutierrez and Peter Nutson Tizzle Bizzle Hallock Cindy and John Hanly Amy and Peter Hannan Darcy and Rick Hardy Family Jennifer and Randall Harris Dr. John Howe Robbi Hull Marjorie and David Hunter Jennifer Ice Kathleen and Jim Jardine Caroline Juszczak Susan and Richard Klusmann Jan and Orion Knox Loree and Burnett LaChance Amy and David Lambert James Larkin Jeffrey Lazar Melanie C. Lewis Jenny and Luis Lidsky Nancy and Dale Lowe Salman Manzur Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence Masullo Stephanie Mayes Kevin McCrea Ford McTee

Frances Ellen and Paul Metzger Lynn Meyer and Rick Clemens Pauline and Alfred Meyerson James W. Moritz Denise Margo Moy Philip Neff Brian Neidig Margaret and Brian Nilson Dan and Deborah O’Neil Augustine Park Robert Pender Karen and Wes Peoples Cindy Perez Tami Pharr Kari and Brian Phenegar Suzanne Pickens and Douglas Hoitenga Wanda Potts Kate and Scott Powers Eric Rabbanian Dawn and Thomas Rich Jeanine and Dan Roadhouse Susan E. Salch Amy Shipherd Vijay Sitaram Raymond Smith Steven Smith Nancy Whitworth Spong Geeta and David Suggs Dona and Ali Tabrizi Judy and Jay Tarwater Bri Thatcher and Andy Modrovich Stacy and Michael Toomey Heather and Jeffrey Tramonte Keith Uhls and Dan Hutchison Tara Vela Saradee and Melvin Waxler James Webb, Jr. and Christiana Cowick Kenneth R. Webb Marie and Phil Wendell Leslie and Bryan Weston Michael Wilen Gethrel A. Williams Micka and Richard Ziehr

40 texasperformingarts.org

TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS STUDENT MEMBERSHIP Join today for ticket discounts, special offers, and exclusive giveaways.

Exclusively for UT Students

TI O

N & E NGAG

EM

X

AS

PER

RT

TE

S

T

ED

CA

EN

U

texasperformingarts.org/basspass

FORMIN

GA

The Team Bob Bursey

Carolyn Hardin

Phoebe Greene

Executive and Artistic Director

Properties Manager

Event Operations Manager

Bianca Hooi

Jason Huerta

Conrad Haden

Assistant to the Executive and Artistic Director

Operations Manager, Fabrication

Stage Supervisor

BUSINESS OFFICE

J. E. Johnson

Yvonne Kimmons

Associate Director of Fabrication

Assistant Director, Performance Logistics

Robert Cross General Manager

Kristi Lampi Associate Director of Business Operations

Leigh Remeny Business Operations Manager DEVELOPMENT

Anna Langdell Director of Development

Sarah Weidler Young Associate Director of Development EDUCATION & ENGAGEMENT

Tim Rogers

Karen Maness Associate Director of Fabrication

Kenny Kuykendall

Ashton Bennett Murphy

Assistant Audio Supervisor

Project Specialist, Fabrication

PROGRAMS & EVENTS

Hank Schwemmer

Amber Goodspeed

Lead Fabricator

Events Manager

David Tolin

Eleanor Stefano

Project Manager, Fabrication

Associate Director of Booking & Sales

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

TICKET OFFICE

Phil Rosenthal

Tara Vela

Director of Marketing & Communications

Director of Ticketing & Guest Services

Lizzie Choffel Cantu

Margaret Badasci

Director of Education and Engagement

Senior Graphic Designer

Ticketing Manager

Erica De Leon

Dianne Whitehair

Brenda Simms

Marketing Specialist, Digital Media

Program Coordinator, Education & Curriculum Development FABRICATION & ACADEMIC PRODUCTION

Jeff Grapko

Romina Jara Marketing Manager PRODUCTION

Jim Larkin

Director of Fabrication and Academic Production

Director of Production

Scott Bussey

Master Electrician

Facility Manager / Senior Technical Director

Ticketing Systems Manager

Seb Boone Sarah Cantu Master Electrician

42 texasperformingarts.org

Texas Performing Arts is also proud to acknowledge the hundreds of part-time and volunteer staff who play a critical role in presenting our annual season of world-class performing arts events to the Austin community.

House Managers Dina Black Virginia Bosman Margaret Byron Sheri Dildy Antonio Garcia Carlos Hernandez-Heine Paige Horton Jean Humes Olga Kasma-Carnes Charlotte Klein

Sharon Kojzarek Eric Lee Lara Miller Shannon Quinn Kimberly Reaves Jessica Reed Mary Ruiz Gracie Sanders Robyn Scott Andrea Stanfill Castro

Debra Thomas Kristine Tydlacka Leah Waheed Marty Watson Tonya Woods Sally Zukonik

Student Employees Daniel Geld Ely German Mia Gomez-Reyes Trinity Gordon Alisse Guerra Isabella Hollis Ahad Jafry Mayre Jane Elizabeth Jantz Jake Josephi Eddie Lambert Julia Le Basil Montemayor Braden Newlun Lanna Nguyen Reese Niemietz Samuel Oladejo

So Hyun “Helen” Park Mackenzie Pratt Indira Rampersad Bryce Riggle Ericka Salas Simon Salinas Madison Sheridan Pete-Justin Silverio Madison Smith Matthew Smith Alex Titsworth Michelle Upham Sydney Villaruel Xiaojun Wu

Photo by TK

Jose Luis Almazan Carolina Arredondo Zoe Bihan Charlotte Brumbelow Claire Bueche Brizel Bueso Maria Cardoso Sara Chaney Shivani Chidambaram Gabrielle Clemente Brittney Dolan Vio Dorantes Grace Featherston Madalynn Feltman Ameli Garcia

texasperformingarts.org

43

Photo by Joseph Boggess Photography

This collaborative concert with the UT Jazz Orchestra is presented as part of the 2022 Longhorn Jazz Festival. The orchestra will perform several of Sung’s arrangements, with her as the featured soloist.

Helen Sung with the UT Jazz Orchestra Presented with the Butler School of Music

April 9 | Bates Recital Hall texasperformingarts.org

MEDIA SPONSOR:

AT

l

Fu

a

? ch

c S l

e, Empty S l u d to he m

KEEP IT

Chef-inspired meals in minutes ©2021 HEB, 21-8029

MAKING IT HAPPEN

THE TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS FABRICATION STUDIOS

46

Photo by TK

are where The University of Texas at Austin students from any major can leverage their passion and creativity to make something amazing. We are educators, guiding and empowering students in fabrication practices for live performance, film, television, themed attraction, and art installations. We leverage traditional fabrication knowledge with cutting-edge technologies to develop and support the next generation of great artists.

texasperformingarts.org

BROADWAY IS BACK IN AUSTIN! Broadway’s funniest new musical!”

“

HHHH ON SALE NOW! FEBRUARY 22 – 27

MARCH 22 – 27

©Disney

JANUARY 11 – 16

ON SALE DECEMBER 10 APRIL 7 – 24

MAY 3 – 8

Photo: Francesco Scavullo

AUGUST 2 – 7

All shows at Bass Concert Hall BroadwayInAustin.com | TexasPerformingArts.org Due to the nature of live entertainment; dates, times, performers, and prices are subject to change. All patrons, regardless of age, must have a ticket. Tickets are subject to additional fees. There is an eight (8) ticket limit per account, billing address or credit card. Orders that exceed this limit will be cancelled without notice, including multiple orders with the same account, billing address or credit card. No refunds or exchanges.

Tickets are subject to the Broadway Across America® Standard Ticket Terms and Conditions. By purchasing a Ticket from Broadway Across America, you agree to such Terms and Conditions Presented by Texas Performing Arts. Broadway Across America provides production services for Texas Performing Arts. Sales tax exempt pursuant to Texas Tax Code Section 151.3101 (a)(3).

A modern Texas kitchen featuring locally inspired flavors and ingredients with a Latin influence.

Enjoy 15% off and VIP parking with our Broadway Pre-Theatre dinner offer.

Four Seasons Hotel Austin | cicloatx.com | 512.685.8300

Support The 2021–22 Texas Performing Arts 40th Season is made possible by generous support from our organizational partners.

For information on Corporate Sponsorship

Contact Anna Langdell, Director of Development 512.471.7585 | alangdell@texasperformingarts.org As an educational institution committed to the free exchange of ideas, Texas Performing Arts is proud to present a rich array of performing arts for the Austin and Central Texas community. Sponsorship of Texas Performing Arts does not imply endorsement of artists or their performance content by sponsors or their representatives.

50

texasperformingarts.org

Photo by Toddy Wolff

“Nothing short of transcendent.

An extraordinary masterclass in listening.” - The New York Times

2021–22 Season

The Wooster Group

THE B-SIDE: “Negro Folklore From Texas State Prisons” A Record Album Interpretation and UNTITLED TOAST Jan 26–29 & Feb 4 | McCullough Theatre texasperformingarts.org This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts

MEDIA SPONSOR:

YOU CAN HELP Students are at the heart of Texas Performing Arts.

Your support makes it possible for Texas Performing Arts to employ 100 students this semester.

“Thank you so much for being part of this. I know I wouldn’t be here without our donors’ support.”

Madison Sheridan, Student Administrative Assistant, Class of 2022

Thanks to donors like you, Texas Performing Arts provides students with real-life work experience, skills that help them succeed long after graduation, and a paycheck to help with the cost of college life.

Employing students at Texas Performing Arts prepares them for the future. Please donate today. texasperformingarts.org/support

texasperformingarts.org

53

made possible by the generous donations of J.C. Backings and the ADG Archives Backdrop Recovery Project. The collection of sixty-five historic paintings mirrors the research gathered by UT Austin Faculty co-authors Karen Maness and Richard Isackes to create their award-winning publication, The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop, Regan Arts 2016. Included in the collection are backings from iconic and critically acclaimed films such as National Velvet (MGM 1944), The Sound of Music (20th Century Fox 1965), Ben Hur (MGM 1959), and North by Northwest (MGM 1958), brought here to educate the next generation of artists in the Texas Performing Arts Fabrication Studios.

Photo by Sandy Carson

WHAT STARTS HERE CHANGES THE WORLD

Texas Performing Arts now owns the most extensive educational collection of Hollywood motion picture backdrops in the world,

54 texasperformingarts.org

It’s our job to give you our best.

This past year you gave us yours.

Thank You.

The Best Is Here.

Anusha, Critical Care RN