Press
MUSIQA NEWS
April 25, 2013
MUSIQA HONORS WENDY WATRISS AND FREDBALDWIN, FOTOFEST FOUNDERS, AT MAY 2 BENEFIT
Houston, TX---Musiqa, Houston's leading classical contemporary ensemble, will host a celebration of its adventurous programming with a benefit event on Thursday, May 2, 2013. Led by five local but nationally recognized composers, Musiqa strives to enrich and inspire the community through innovative collaborations and educational programming, that integrate contemporary music with other modern art forms, making it accessible and vital to audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds.
The Musiqa event, honoring Wendy Watriss and Fred Baldwin for their lifelong contributions to the arts, will be held at Gremillion & Co., 2501 Sunset, from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
Fred Baldwin and Wendy Watriss, founders of FotoFest, are recognized internationally for their contributions to the world of photography. With their warmth, charm and incredible skills, they have made Houston’s International Photography Biennale the meeting place for art photography through their exhibitions, catalogues and publications. Musiqa and the City of Houston will salute their many contributions to the arts community of Houston.
Guests will enjoy an evening of live music, a silent auction, and wine and appetizers. The benefit will feature a performance by members of the Moores School of Music Percussion Ensemble, directed by Dr. Blake Wilkins. This outstanding ensemble thrilled audiences at Musiqa's January performance at Hobby Center. The silent auction includes: a week-long Maine vacation in a historic waterfront home on the idyllic island of Islesboro, Maine; golfing at the prestigious Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, NY; dinners, artwork and more!
Tickets at $125 per person are available online at www.musiqahouston.org or $250 for Patron Sponsors. Information on tickets and sponsorships is available at 713-524-5678.
Major support for Musiqa is provided by: the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, the Brown Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund, Anne and Albert Chao, the Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, the Aubrey & Sylvia Farb Community Service Fund of Congregation Emanu El, Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation, the Houston Endowment, the Houston Musical Hall Association, R. Stan and Reinnette Marek, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Simmons Foundation, the Strake Foundation, Target, the Texas Commission on the Arts, The Vaughn Foundation and the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Family Foundation.
All proceeds benefit Musiqa. In its first decade, Musiqa’s multidisciplinary concerts have presented the works of more than 100 modern composers. Musiqa’s education programming has reached over 30,000 low-income, at-risk children in Houston public schools and garnered five consecutive NEA grants. Musiqa’s education programs reached 6,000 children in 2011-12.
Passport to Adventure Benefit Performers
Dr. Blake Wilkins, Percussion
Percussionist and composer Blake Wilkins is an Associate Professor of Music and Director of Percussion Studies at the Moores School of Music. Dr. Wilkins joined the University of Houston faculty in August 1997. Prior to this position, he served as percussionist and substitute principal timpanist with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic from 1993-97. Dr. Wilkins is a strong advocate for the performance of new music and has performed regularly with the Houston-based Musiqa New Music Ensemble, along with the University of Southern California’s Contemporary Music Ensemble and University of Oklahoma’s New Century Ensemble. Two works for large percussion ensemble – Twilight Offering Music (1986) and Compendium (1994) - are published by the OU Percussion Press and have been recorded by the University of Oklahoma Percussion Ensemble on the compact disc, Twilight Offering Music. In 1988, Twilight Offering Music was a prizewinner in the Percussive Arts Society International Composition Competition. A third work for large percussion ensemble, Melos, is recorded by the Moores School Percussion Ensemble on its compact disc, Surge (TROY 816).
The Moores School Percussion Ensemble
The Moores School Percussion Ensemble serves as the cornerstone of the Department of Percussion Studies at the University of Houston. Directed by Dr. Blake Wilkins and established in 1997, the ensemble’s selection as a winner in the 2003 Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competition and its appearance at the 2003 Percussive Arts Society International Convention distinguished the ensemble as a premier collegiate percussion ensemble. Winning the competition again in 2006 marked the ensemble’s second such success in consecutive opportunities, and its selection once again in 2010 solidified its reputation internationally as a leader in the percussion performance. The ensemble has also emerged as a leader in the advancement of new music for the medium. In the fall of 2002, the Moores School Percussion Ensemble initiated a commissioning project to encourage new works for large percussion ensemble. Since the inception of this project, the ensemble has commissioned twelve major works from such composers as Donald Grantham, Pierre Jalbert, Rob Smith, Marcus Karl Maroney, Anthony Brandt and David Heuser.
About Musiqa
Musiqa (www.musiqahouston.org) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. Founded in 2002 and led by five composers, Musiqa’s mission is to make modern repertoire available and accessible to audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds. Musiqa celebrates modern creative arts through interdisciplinary concerts that highlight modern music and its connections to literature, film, dance, art, and more. Musiqa is funded in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.
April 24, 2013
MUSIQA RECEIVES NATIONAL HONOR FOR
ADVENTUROUS PROGRAMMING OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
Houston, Texas- Contemporary classical ensemble Musiqa has received the 2013 Art Works Award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support the educational outreach programs Around the World with Musiqa and Musiqa Remix. Musiqa's chamber ensemble will perform concerts at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts and at schools to engage students in interactive workshops and performances. This is Musiqa's sixth consecutive NEA Award.
"Musiqa's interactive concerts introduce students to modern music in a lively, fun way," Musiqa Artistic Director Anthony Brandt said. "Hearing the concert hall come alive with the sound of five hundred children singing along is an incredibly moving experience, as is watching their reactions as we demonstrate new ways to set traditional melodies."
Art Works grants supports the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and the strengthening of communities through the arts. Musiqa is being honored for its wide-ranging commissioning, performance, and educational activities in the past year.
Earlier this year, Musiqa was thrilled to received the Chamber Music America (CMA) Award and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Award for Adventurous Programming, presented at the 35th Chamber Music America National Conference in New York at Times Square. Established jointly by CMA and ASCAP, the annual awards recognize U.S.-based professional ensembles and presenters for distinctive programming of music composed within the past 25 years. The recipients, chosen by an independent panel of judges, were evaluated on the basis of their programming and innovations in attracting audiences to performances of new music.
Musiqa is a non-profit organization dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. Founded in 2002 and led by five composers, Musiqa strives to enrich and inspire the community through programs that integrate contemporary music with other modern art forms. Musiqa celebrates modern creative arts through interdisciplinary concerts that highlight modern music and its connections to literature, film, dance, art, and more. With its innovative collaborations and educational programming, Musiqa aims to make modern repertoire accessible and vital to audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds.
The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. To date, the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion to support artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. The NEA extends its work through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector.
Major support for Musiqa is provided by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, the Brown Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund, Anne and Albert Chao, the Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, Aubrey & Sylvia Farb Community Service Fund of Congregation Emanu El, Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation, the Houston Endowment, the Houston Musical Hall Association, R. Stan and Reinnette Marek, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Simmons Foundation, the Strake Foundation, Target, the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Vaughn Foundation and the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Family Foundation.
Image:
Resident Artist Karol Bennett speaking at the Around the World workshop.
April 17, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Alison Bieser (alisonb@musiqahouston.org [mailto:alisonb@musiqahouston.org])
713-524-5678
MUSIQA PRESENTS PARALLEL PRACTICES, A FREE LOFT CONCERT AT CAMH, ON MAY 9
Concert features composers and works in the circle of artists Joan Jonas and Gina
Pane
Houston, Texas...Musiqa, winner of the 2013 Chamber Music America/American Society
of Composers, Authors and Publishers Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary
Music, will present a free Loft Concert, Parallel Practices, at the Contemporary
Arts Museum Houston on Thursday, May 9. The concert, held in collaboration with
CAMH's exhibition Parallel Practices: Joan Jonas & Gina Pane, is Musiqa's final
concert of the current season.
The concert showcases virtuosic, dynamic and haunting works by Morton Feldman, Elena
Kats-Chernin, Pauline Oliveros, Arvo Pärt and John Tavener, composers who were inspired
and influenced by visual and performance art movements of the late 20th century.
The works, featuring voice, cello, harp and taped music, include elements of performance
and visual art that parallel elements of works in the exhibition.
The program's featured artists include Karol Bennett, soprano; Meghan Caulkett,
harp; Barrett Sills, cello and Chapman Welch, sound design.
Part of the Musiqa Loft series of informal, intimate concerts, Parallel Practices
is presented in conjunction with CAMH's exhibition Parallel Practices: Joan Jonas
& Gina Pane, which brings together a selection of works by two artists born a short
time apart who are renowned for their foundational contributions to the field of
performance art. Jonas and Pane were proto-feminist artists, working in New York
and Paris respectively, who worked across disciplines. Through selections of their
sculpture, photography, video, drawing, installation, and live arts, the exhibition
celebrates the shared and complementary aspects of Jonas' and Pane's art, and highlights
the differences that characterize their unique bodies of work.
Musiqa's Parallel Practices
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston
5216 Montrose
6:30 p.m., admission is free
More information is available at www.musiqahouston.org
The Composers and the Works
Morton Feldman, an American original, was highly influenced by the Abstract Expressionist
movement and was close to several painters, including Mark Rothko and Robert Rauschenberg.
His "Three Voices," a musical reflection of the "parallel practices" concept of
the CAMH exhibit, combines a live singer with two pre-recorded tracks of herself.
Elena Kats-Chernin, a celebrated Australian composer has written four operas; her
music was featured in the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Her
"Chamber of Horrors" is an atmospheric and virtuosic work for solo harp.
Pauline Oliveros, a Houston native, is a founding member of the "Deep Listening"
movement with works spanning more than 50 years. Since the 1960s she has influenced
American music profoundly through her work with improvisation, meditation, electronic
music, myth and ritual. Her "Bye Bye Butterfly" is a work on electronic tape.
Arvo Pärt is a mystical Estonian composer known for the style described as "holy
minimalism," inspired by the ringing of church bells. This style is heard in "Spiegel
im Spiegel" or "Mirror in the Mirror" for cello and harp, one of the most famous
and often performed works by the composer. The title connects with Joan Jonas'
visual experiments with mirrors, including her 1970s art work "Mirror Check."
John Tavener is known for his austere, plaintively beautiful style. His "Anna Akhmatova
Songs" includes four haunting songs set to poetry by one of Russia's great 20th-century
poets.
About Musiqa
Winner of the 2013 Chamber Music America/ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award, Musiqa
is a non-profit organization dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical
music. Founded in 2002 and led by five composers, Musiqa aims to enrich and inspire
the community through programs that integrate contemporary music with other modern
art forms. Musiqa celebrates modern creative arts through interdisciplinary concerts
that highlight modern music and its connections to literature, film, dance, art,
and more. With its innovative collaborations and educational programming, Musiqa
strives to make modern repertoire accessible and vital to audiences of all ages
and musical backgrounds.
Musiqa is funded in part by grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts and National
Endowment for the Arts and has received its fifth consecutive NEA grant for innovative
educational programming.
Major support for Musiqa is provided by the City of Houston through the Houston
Arts Alliance, the Brown Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund, Anne and Albert Chao,
the Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, Aubrey & Sylvia Farb Community Service
Fund of Congregation Emanu El, Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation,
the Houston Endowment, the Houston Musical Hall Association, R. Stan and Reinnette
Marek, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Simmons Foundation, the Strake Foundation,
Target, the Vaughn Foundation and the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Family Foundation.
To discover more about Musiqa's unique program offerings or to learn how to be a
supporter, go to www.musiqahouston.org
March 7, 2013
MUSIQA COMBINES ADVENTUROUS MUSIC AND AVANT-GARDE THEATER IN WORD PLAY, APRIL 6 AT HOBBY CENTER
Blackburn prizewinner's world-premiere play is concert's centerpiece
Houston, Texas…Contemporary classical ensemble Musiqa, winner of the 2013 Chamber Music America/American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music, presents the electric, eclectic Word Play, the group's final Downtown Series performance of the season, on April 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the Hobby Center's Zilkha Hall. The concert features the world premiere of a one-act play by 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn prizewinner Jennifer Haley, with incidental music by Musiqa Artistic Director Anthony Brandt.
The play, a first-time collaboration for Musiqa with Haley and the Blackburn Prize, is titled Sphinx and explores the complex relationship of present-day couple during several periods in their life and their relationship.
The concert's musical program features fresh new works by Musiqa artistic board members, including a world premiere of Las Pilas, a new string trio by Rob Smith and Quelques Fleurs for clarinet, violin and piano by Karim Al-Zand. The concert also features compelling works by two contemporary composers of note: Roshanne Etezady and the Dutch avant-pop composer JacobTV, whose piece is accompanied by a film by visual artist Amber Boardman.
The concert's featured artists include Tali Morgulis, piano; Johnny Salinas, saxophone; Barrett Sills, cello; Sean Wang, violin; Ivo van der Werff, viola, Michael Webster, clarinet.
Musiqa's Word Play
Saturday, April 6, 2013
The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Zilkha Hall, 800 Bagby, Houston, TX
7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $40-$20; 50% off for students and seniors
Tickets may be purchased at www.thehobbycenter.org
About Jennifer Haley
Jennifer Haley is the winner of the 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for her play, The Nether, which will see a world premiere by Los Angeles’ Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Spring 2013. Her other plays include Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, which premiered at the Actors Theatre of Louisville 2008 Humana Festival and continues to see productions nationwide, Froggy, in development with The Banff Centre and American Conservatory Theater, Breadcrumbs, which premiered at the 2010 Contemporary American Theatre Festival, and Sustainable Living, written in the 2011-2012 CTG Writers' Workshop and featured at the Ojai Playwrights Conference.
Jennifer's plays have been developed at the Sundance Theatre Lab, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Lark Play Development Center, Summer Play Festival in New York, PlayPenn Playwrights Conference, Lincoln Center Director’s Lab, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference and the Page 73 Productions Summer Residency at Yale, among other venues. Jennifer is a former fellow of the MacDowell Colony and Millay Colony for the Arts. Her work is published by Samuel French and Playscripts, Inc.; Neighborhood 3 is published in French by Espaces 34. She earned an MFA in playwriting at Brown University, where she studied playwriting with Paula Vogel and screenwriting with Erin Cressida Wilson. Jennifer lives in Los Angeles, where she founded The Playwrights Union, a network of theater artists in Los Angeles writing for stage, television and film.
About Musiqa
Winner of the 2013 Chamber Music America/ASCAP Adventurous Programming Award, Musiqa is a non-profit organization dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. Founded in 2002 and led by five composers, Musiqa aims to enrich and inspire the community through programs that integrate contemporary music with other modern art forms. Musiqa celebrates modern creative arts through interdisciplinary concerts that highlight modern music and its connections to literature, film, dance, art, and more. With its innovative collaborations and educational programming, Musiqa strives to make modern repertoire accessible and vital to audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds.
Musiqa is funded in part by grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts and has received its fifth consecutive NEA grant for innovative educational programming.
Major support for Musiqa is provided by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, the Brown Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund, Anne and Albert Chao, the Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, Aubrey & Sylvia Farb Community Service Fund of Congregation Emanu El, Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation, the Houston Endowment, the Houston Musical Hall Association, R. Stan and Reinnette Marek, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Simmons Foundation, the Strake Foundation, Target, the Vaughn Foundation and the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Family Foundation.
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December 11, 2012
Musiqa Receives National Honor for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music
Musiqa is being honored for its wide-ranging commissioning, performance, and educational activities in the past year. The jury cited as examples “Free of the Ground,”—part of Musiqa’s Downtown Series—which included a world premiere ballet in collaboration with the Houston Ballet Academy; and a concert in its Loft Series, held in conjunction with Contemporary Art Museum of Houston’s survey of the career of visual artist Donald Moffett, which included politically charged works such as Frederic Rzewski’s No More War. The jury also highlighted Musiqa’s audience-engagement activities include talks by the composers, question-and-answer sessions, and a variety of new-music concerts for children.
“We are proud to receive this very prestigious honor,” said Anthony Brandt, Musiqa’s artistic board director. “It is very gratifying that our approach to programming, which involves introducing new works to new audiences and providing unique educational opportunities for students, has resulted in this significant award. We are thrilled and humbled to receive this recognition and grateful to the Houston community for supporting and encouraging our work.”
Established jointly by Chamber Music America and ASCAP, the annual awards recognize U.S.-based professional ensembles and presenters for distinctive programming of music composed within the past 25 years. The recipients, chosen by an independent panel of judges, were evaluated on the basis of their programming and innovations in attracting audiences to performances of new music. See list of recipients here.
“Today’s composers are writing exciting and beautiful music for small ensembles,” said Chamber Music America’s CEO, Margaret M. Lioi. “Innovative presenters and artists in the chamber music community are introducing this music to audiences around the country, and this year we are pleased to recognize eight ensembles and presenters whose accomplishments in this area are particularly inspiring.”
The CMA/ASCAP awards will be presented at the 35th Chamber Music America National Conference, January 20, 2013, at the Westin New York at Times Square.
Musiqa (www.musiqahouston.org) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music. Founded in 2002 and led by five composers, Musiqa aims to enrich and inspire the community through programs that integrate contemporary music with other modern art forms. Musiqa celebrates modern creative arts through interdisciplinary concerts that highlight modern music and its connections to literature, film, dance, art, and more. With its innovative collaborations and educational programming, Musiqa strives to make modern repertoire accessible and vital to audiences of all ages and musical backgrounds.
Major support for Musiqa is provided by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, the Brown Foundation, the Aaron Copland Fund, Anne and Albert Chao, the Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts, Aubrey & Sylvia Farb Community Service Fund of Congregation Emanu El, Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation, the Houston Endowment, the Houston Musical Hall Association, R. Stan and Reinnette Marek, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Simmons Foundation, the Strake Foundation, Target, the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Vaughn Foundation and the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Family Foundation.
Chamber Music America, the national service organization for the ensemble music profession, was founded in 1977 to develop and strengthen an evolving chamber music community. With a membership of nearly 6,000—including musicians, ensembles, presenters, artists’ managers, educators, music businesses, and advocates of ensemble music—CMA welcomes members representing a wide range of musical styles and traditions. In addition to its funding programs, CMA provides its members with consulting services, access to health and instrument insurance, conferences, seminars and several publications, including Chamber Music magazine and a website, www.chamber-music.org.
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is a membership association of more than 435,000 composers, songwriters, and publishers of every music genre. Founded in 1914, ASCAP is the only U.S. performing rights organization created and governed by its members. ASCAP licenses non-dramatic public performances, and distributes royalties to its members. ASCAP makes obtaining permission to perform music simple and economical for all who wish to perform copyrighted music publicly.
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Musiqa Receives Fifth Consecutive NEA Art Works Grant to Support Educational Outreach
PRESS ABOUT MUSIQA
- "Musiqa Program to Focus on Women Composers" Houston Chronicle, February 8, 2012
- Why Music Matters, A Breathless Musiqa Concert Makes the Case for Contemporary Classical, CultureMap, January 11, 2012
- "Shall We Sing? Musiqa Marks Its 10th Anniversary" NewMusicBox, October 7, 2011.
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"Blowin in the Wind: Karol Bennett puts the soprano in Dylan for Musiqa's season opener" Culturemap, September 24, 2011.
- ""For the sake of society, young minds need art" Houston Chronicle, September 7, 2011
- "Why the arts are important: Houston's arts leaders have their say" August 28, 2011, Culturemap, August 28,2011. Musiqa Artistic Director Anthony Brandt appears in this photo essay.
- "A sexier Cinco de Mayo helps Musiqa fight the Texas arts funding cuts" CultureMap, May 7, 2011
- "A fiesta with a cause: Musiqa fights for an arts education remix" CultureMap, May 5, 2011
- "Musiqa's latest effort explores the sounds of conversation" CultureMap, March 25, 2011
- "Musiqa presents The Art of Conversation" Sequenza 21, March 22, 2011
- "Brain-bending music: Houston group discovers real fountain of youth", CultureMap, January 6, 2011
- "Pierre Jalbert Wants You to Forget Everthing You've Learned and Just Listen", Houston Press Art Attack, January 6, 2011
- "Houston's Musiqa Presents: Real and Imagined" Sequenza 21, January 2, 2011
- "Cancer fight gives mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao a new reason to sing" Houston Chronicle, October 7, 2010
- "5 Lone Star State Musicians to make us proud", Houston Chronicle, September 26, 2010
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"Houston's classical music must sees: To the Symphony and beyond"
CultureMap, August 2010 - "The Sound of Musiqafest" Paper City Magazine, April 2010
- "Bring your imagination: Musiqa goes beyond the abstract", CultureMap, April 2010
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"Bringing Students the Wonder of Musiqa"
Houston Chronicle 2006 -
"Folk Wisdom"
Chamber Music America 2006
"Musiqa knows how to make the case for modern music...
Exhilarating, challenging, entertaining."
—The Houston Chronicle
"An ensemble that makes contemporary music
refreshing, challenging and fascinating."
—ArtsHouston
MUSIQA PRESS RELEASES
