Cabinet of Curiosities on Musiqa

Nick Davies, clarinet | Wesley Ducote, piano (photo by Lynn Lane)

The Harlequin Duo (Clarinetist Nick Davies and pianist Wesley Ducote) performed Cabinet of Curiosities on a Musiqa concert on January 20th and 21st in Houston, a program in which Musiqa and NobleMotion Dance continued their pioneering collaboration with the University of Houston BRAIN Center. “Meeting of Minds” featured a new ballet with music by Anthony Brandt, choreography by Andy and Dionne Noble, and projections by Badie Khaleghian. The program also included new works for dance by Badie Khaleghian and Marcus Karl Maroney. Davies and Ducote later recorded Cabinet of Curiosities (and another chamber work, Swimmy) in a session with engineer Andy Bradley in Stude Concert Hall at Rice University—both recordings slated for upcoming release. Below, the Harlequin Duo jam in 11/8 (2+2+3+2+2) for the sixth movement, Divisions on a Bulgarian Rhythm.

Capriccio FILM

Musiqa presents a newly commissioned work by filmmaker Traci Lavois Thiebaud entitled Capriccio. Commissioned by Musiqa, Capriccio celebrates the diversity and resilience of Houston’s arts community, and features musicians, dancers, poets, painters, actors, art cars and more, all packed into a free-flowing visual collage conceived and created by Houston artist Traci Lavois Thiebaud. The filmmaker describes it as a “love letter to Houston’s artists.” The film is scored to Capriccios Nos. 1 & 6, as performed by Natalie Lin Douglas (director of Kinetic Ensemble) and Matthew Detrick (from Apollo Chamber Players). Contributors include Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston Masterworks Chorus, WindSync, Apollo Chamber Players, Houston Symphony, Houston Ballet, Mildred’s Umbrella Theater Company, DiverseWorks, The Catastrophic Theatre, Ars Lyrica Houston, Stages, Loop38, Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, NobleMotion Dance, Transitory Sound and Movement Collective, Kinetic Ensemble, Dre Forgotten, Brittani Alexandra Broussard, Anastasia F. Kirages, Sara Royer, Bryan Kaplun, Casey Waldner, Erin Rodgers, Alli Partin Villines, Natalie Lin Douglas, JooYoung Choi, Charlie Scott, David A Brown, Christa Forster, Rebecca Lowe, Miranda Ramírez, Kacee Dugas, Joe Folladori, Candice D’Meza, Matt Detrick, Loren Holmes, BooTown, AFA, Muhammad Fachrul Yunus, James Templeton, James Medford, National Pleasure, Joseph Weiss, Bonnie Blue, Ken Hoge, Felizabeth Smiley, Swimwear Department, and many more….

CAPRICCIO
/kəˈprēCHēˌō/

1. A lively piece of music, typically short and free in form.

2. A style of painting introduced in the Renaissance that combines real architectural elements and figures in fictional and fantastical combinations.

3. A series of six works for solo violin by Houston composer and Musiqa Artist Board member Karim Al-Zand.

4. The film inspired by Al-Zand’s Capriccios, created by Houston filmmaker Traci Lavois Thiebaud, and involving arts organizations and artists from across the city. “Capriccio” was commissioned by Musiqa, and includes ballet dancers, actors, writers, visual artists, poets, musicians of all sorts and (of course) art cars in a celebration of Houston’s artistic diversity. A modern cinematic riff on a 17th century painting style, Musiqa’s “Capriccio” is coming this summer, for free, to your electronic device.

The Leader premiere with Musiqa and Opera in the Heights

On February 23 & 29 my one-act chamber opera The Leader received its premiere on a double-bill with Anthony Brandt’s Kassandra. Presented at Lambert Hall as a co-production of Musiqa and Opera in the Heights, the work was conducted by Eiki Isomura and stage directed by Cara Consilvio. Many thanks to the terrific cast of Mark Diamond (Announcer), Lindsay Russell Bowden (Female Lover), Zachary Averyt (Male Lover), Megan Berti (Female Admirer) and Jason Zacher (Male Admirer).

The Leader is a chamber opera based on Eugène Ionesco’s Le Maître, a one-act political satire from 1953. Scored for 5 voices and large ensemble, the work is both an absurdist comedy and a timely allegory on the casual rise of despots.

The production featured unique reversible sets specially designed by Jesús Vassallo. (below)


SYNOPSIS
The Announcer and two Admirers are chasing the Leader. Apparently he is nearby but the trio always seems to arrive a moment too late. Though he eludes them, they yearn to be in his presence. They fervently worship him from afar, following his every action with rapt attention. Meanwhile, two Lovers court each other and profess their mutual affection. Finally, the Leader approaches, the anticipation builds and the Lovers are swept up in the frenzy. The Leader is coming: his imminent arrival is hailed with increasing zeal.

Mark Diamond, Megan Berti, Jason Zacher

On its surface, The Leader is a comedy. Its situations are farcical, its action is madcap, and its cast is full of outrageous caricatures worthy of opera buffa. The Announcer and Admirers, in their adulation, repeat the same words over and over again: platitudes and banalities echoed by mindless followers. Their behavior is preposterous, yet their unquestioning fervor seems all too familiar…

Lindsay Russell Bowden, Zach Averyt

As is common in the so-called “theater of the absurd,” The Leader achieves its effect not through plot machination or character development, but through parody, a kind of exaggeration that forces us to reckon with our own sense of the world and its predicaments. It was published in 1953, six years before the playwright’s best known work, Rhinoceros, but shares with the later work its satirical tone, allegorical character and underlying political critique. Together the plays are often read as a commentary on the rise of fascism in the lead-up to World War II, and a mockery of its dangerously charismatic leaders.

Eugène Ionesco

But the cautionary message of Ionesco’s play is as relevant today as ever. The Leader lays bare the cult of personality which accompanies despotism. It inveighs against mob mentality and mass conformity. The cloud of uncertainty with which the play ends shows us the result of such tendencies, and serves as a rallying cry for reason and individual thinking.

Houston Chamber Choir performs A Measure in Trance

Brian Cook, Karim Al-Zand

The Houston Chamber Choir and Musiqa collaborated on an April 13th concert featuring “Mass Observation” a powerful, large-scale work by Tarik O’Regan, Also on the program were works by Marcus Maroney, Augusta Read Thomas and a performance of my 2001 piece for a cappella choir A Measure in Trance, with Brian Cook conducting. The work is based on six short poems by the Arab classical poet Ibn Al-Mutazz (861–908 C.E.). Each evokes a single poignant image: the colorful new moon signaling the end of Ramadan; a mysterious performer singing to the accompaniment of a lute; a love-crazed young man; the advent of spring; a woman enjoying a guilty pleasure in music-making. A review of the concert appears in the Texas Classical Review.

Six Bagatelles premiered at Musiqa’s Traces of Blue

A new piano trio, Six Bagatelles, received its premiere on Musiqa’s January 12th concert “Traces of Blue,” dedicated to music and visual art. Six Bagatelles is dedicated to the memory of Ed Shoemake, former board chair for Musiqa, and is inspired by the work of American artist Robert Motherwell (1915-1991). Performers Natalie Lin (violin), Wesley Ducote (piano) and Barrett Sills (cello) presented the premiere alongside works of Hartke, Loiacano, Gosfield, and a live, on-stage painting by artist Geraldina Interiano Wise. Each short bagatelle is inspired by a single iconic print by Motherwell (below), the images projected during the performance. A preview of the concert appeared in the Houston Chronicle.

1. Mezzotint in Indigo
2. Yellow Chord
3. Gauloises Bleues
4. Orange Lyric
5. Three Forms on Red
6. Black Elegy Returning Black (Nocturne)

A Harvey Relief Concert

Musiqa has teamed with Apollo Chamber Players and Jazz Forever to present a Hurricane Harvey Relief Concert at Houston MATCH. Dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Harvey, all proceeds from this event will go towards the Harvey Relief Funds via Greater Houston Community Foundation and Catholic Charities Houston. The program includes a premiere by Houston-based composer Mark Buller. The program is mentioned in the Arts+Culture Texas feature on the Apollo Chamber Players 2017–2018 10th anniversary season. Their season also features a performance of Capriccio for violinist Matt Detrick, written for the ensemble’s anniversary.

Musiqa 2017–2018 season announced

Houston’s premier new music presenting organization Musiqa recently announced its exciting 2017–2018 season.

Bodies in Motion
September 23 | 7:30 pm
The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts Zilkha Hall,

Musiqa and Open Dance Project present a compelling evening of world premieres featuring KINETIC, the conductorless orchestra. Highlights of the program include two new pieces choreographed by Open Dance Project Artistic Director Annie Arnoult to riveting works for string orchestra by Musiqa composers Pierre Jalbert and Marcus Maroney. Plus guest artist Jane Weiner, founder and artistic director of Hope Stone Dance, choreographs Lonely Suite (Ballet for Lonely Violinist). Rounding out the program are Arnoult’s celebrated piece Stalemate with music by Andrew Bird, and Silent Moon, a duo for violin and cello, by composer Augusta Read Thomas.

Musical and Literary Ofrenda
November 2 | 5:30 pm
Lawndale Art Center

Musiqa celebrates the Mexican “Day of the Dead” with our annual five-way collaboration Musical and Literary Ofrenda at Lawndale Art Center. This free event is a collaboration with River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, Lawndale Arts Center, Inprint, and the Houston Hispanic Forum — all promoted by The Mexican Consulate. The five original musical “ofrendas” (offerings) — commissioned by ROCO from Musiqa composers — are woven amongst four original prose texts by Inprint authors, surrounded by the beautiful retablos (alterpieces) on display at Lawndale.

Looking Back in Time
January 13, 2018 | 7:30 pm
MATCH Box 4 / Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston

Travel back time and to other worlds in this program featuring works by Musiqa composers for chamber orchestra. Journey to the dawn of man with Maternity, an oratorio by Musiqa Artistic Director Anthony Brandt with libretto by frequent collaborator David Eagleman; to the banks of the Sea of Galilee in Pierre Jalbert’s Transcendental Windows inspired by Tiffany stained glass; and the fanciful, otherworldly, Visions from Another World by Karim Al-Zand. The concert features a reading by Dr. Eagleman, bestselling author of “Sum” and “Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain.” Loop38 performs, with conductor Jerry Hou and soprano Karol Bennett.

The Moving Image
March 3, 2018 | 7:30 pm
MATCH Box 4 / Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston

Experience modern cinema and music like never before. The program features cutting-edge films with live music including Anna Clyne’s Steelworks, a sonic tour de force that is edgy, individual and compelling inspired by visual artist Luke DuBois’ reimagining of the 1936 industrial film Steel: A Symphony of Industry. The evening also features Michael Gandolfi’s serene and jazzy meditation the history of the world in seven acts, a multimedia collaboration featuring the dancing animations of Jonathan Bachrach, plus short films with scores by Reena Esmail and Grawemeyer award-winning composer Michel van der Aa.

Playing Havoc
April 13, 2018 | 7:30 pm
MATCH Box 2 / Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston

Musiqa presents Playing Havoc featuring Voices from the Killing Jar by Pulitzer Prize finalist, composer/performer Kate Soper. Part monodrama, part song-cycle, part opera, Voices from the Killing Jar crosses a volatile musical landscape populated by a series of female protagonists, among them housewives, teenagers, and mothers and daughters; innocents and tragic heroines; and femmes fatales. From Madame Bovary’s passionate whirlwind of delusion, to Lady Macduff’s terrified lullaby, to Clytemnestra’s hypnotic and deadly rage, each one is brought to vivid and unforgettable life as Soper’s mercurial voice traces a path through their stories.

Musiqa Awarded Second “Adventurous Programming” Award from CMA/ASCAP

Musiqa has just been honored with an “Adventurous Programming” Award from Chamber Music America and ASCAP, its second such award in three years. Three ensembles and four presenters were selected to receive 2016 CMA/ASCAP Awards, which will be presented at the Chamber Music America National Conference on Sunday, January 10, 2016 at the Westin New York at Times Square in New York City. Cia Toscanini, vice president of concert music, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), will present the awards. 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 classical and jazz chamber music professionals, were evaluated on the basis of their programming and innovations in attracting audiences to performances of new music. Musiqa

SOLI concert in San Antonio features Swimmy

Classical Voice North America (Journal of the Music Critics Association of North America) reviews SOLI Chamber Ensemble’s October 5th opening concert, which featured a program of works by Pierre Jalbert, Anthony Brant and my piece Swimmy, narrated by Texas Public Radio’s Nathan Cone.

Al-Zand deftly embodies in music the spirit, delicacy, and subtle colors of Lionni’s illustrations (projected on a screen for this performance). Especially delicious are the rhythmically cockeyed walk of a lobster and the serpentine gliding of an eel “whose tail was almost too far away to remember.”

swimmy_SOLI

SOLI perform Swimmy on Musiqa’s Opening Night at MATCH

swimmySan Antonio’s SOLI Chamber Ensemble performs Swimmy on Musiqa‘s October 10th concert at the new Midtown Arts and Theatre Center (MATCH). A preview feature appears in the Houston Chronicle. The narrator will be actor Seán Patrick Judge. Other pieces on the program include works by Anthony Brandt, Pierre Jalbert, Marcus Maroney and Carl Schimmel. Performances of this same program will also take place in San Antonio on October 6th and 7th with narrator Nathan Cone.

Musiqa at the CAMH

Musiqa presented the final program of its 2014–2015 season tonight at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston—the last of its “Loft” series—surrounded by the colorful, sensuous and provocative art of Marilyn Minter. Performers Hope Cowan (harp), Ling Ling Huang (violin), Leah Kovach (viola), Francesca McNeeley (cello) and Aaron Perdue (flute), presented chamber works by Sean Friar, Anna Weesner, Philippe Hersant, Laura Schwendinger and Hannah Lash.

Contact Info:

alzand@rice.edu
Rice University
Shepherd School of Music
MS 532
6100 Main St.
Houston TX 77005-1892
(713) 348-3740
www.alzand.com

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© 2015 KARIM AL-ZAND