Anthony Brandt: Songs from the Source: Nine African Folk Songs, for soprano and ensemble – world premiere Pierre Jalbert: Crossings for chamber ensemble Tania León: A la par for piano and percussion Barbara White: Learning to See for chamber ensemble
Jerry Hou, conductor with Karol Bennett, soprano Wesley Ducote, piano Amanda Galick, flute Barrett Sills, cello Michael Webster, clarinet Blake Wilkins, percussion Melissa Williams, violin
Sarah Cortez, a Councilor of the Texas Institute of Letters, Fellow of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, and Fellow of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, has poems, essays, book reviews, and short stories anthologized and published in many regional and national journals. Winner of the PEN Texas Literary Award, her debut poetry collection is How to Undress a Cop. Her books have placed as finalists in the Writers’ League of Texas awards, Los Angeles Book Festival Awards, and the PEN Southwest Poetry Awards.
An anthologist of eight volumes, she has won the Southwest Book Award of the Year and the Skipping Stones International Honor Award among others. Her most recent anthology is Vanishing Points: Poems and Photographs of Texas Roadside Memorials combining the stunning photographs of Texas roadside memorials by photographer Dan Streck and poems. This book has already been named a 2016 Southwest Book of the Year, won an International Latino Book Award, and won the prestigious First Place in Editing from the National Federation of Press Women. Ms. Cortez is a recent finalist for Texas poet laureate.
Karol Bennett, soprano
Jerry Hou, conductor
Sarah Cortez, poet