Apollo Chamber Players to Present LIBERTY Featuring George Takei

The Houston-based Apollo Chamber Players will present a landmark new program, LIBERTY - featuring narration by the iconic actor, author, and activist George Takei - on October 5, 2024 at 7:00pm at Houston's Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. Singled out by NPR as "a young, dynamic ensemble... creating programs in response to current events," Apollo has curated this program around the U.S. Constitution's promise to "secure the blessings of liberty" for the nation's citizens - while also shining a light on those times when the reality has fallen tragically short. Takei, a Japanese-American forced as a child to live with his family in an internment camp during World War II, will recount how those of Japanese ancestry had their most basic freedoms stripped away in one of democracy's darkest chapters. A working actor for nearly 70 years, Takei became a household name in his role as Mr. Sulu in the original Star Trek. He has gone on to take an active role in politics, authoring several books including two titles on his family's time in the internment camp: They Called Us the Enemy, and My Lost Freedom, a children's book.

In preparation for his role in LIBERTY, Takei recalled his family's challenge in rebuilding their lives after the war, and how it informed their views of America and its democratic system. "Through it all, my parents never lost their moral compass, and continued to raise us by example and with dignity," he said. "Our parents had lived through the darkest breakdown of our democracy, and yet our father taught us the significance of participation in a participatory democracy."

In the LIBERTY program, Takei's narration will be set to the world premiere of a new work, The Book of Names, by Texas A&M faculty composer Marty Regan. Two other works also make their world premieres in this program. Renowned composer John Corigliano's One Sweet Morning, performed in a newly adapted arrangement for string quartet and voice, reflects a post-9/11 aspiration for a time of peace and freedom from war and terror. Countenor John Holiday is featured alongside the Apollo Chamber Players. A second newly commissioned work by Afghani-born composer Homayoun Sakhi offers a global perspective on the promises and perils of self-government and the eternal quest for liberty.

LIBERTY is the first of four programs developed for Apollo's We the People series, the theme running through its 17th season in 2024-2025. Conceived with the upcoming presidential election in mind, We the People brings an extended focus on American democracy, in both its ideals and its imperfections. Following the LIBERTY program on October 5, the series continues with OPPORTUNITY (January 4, 2025 at MATCH in Midtown), DIVERSITY (March 21, 2025 at Hobby Center for the Performing Arts) and FREEDOM (May 10, 2025 at Holocaust Museum Houston). Through its four themed concerts, the series illuminates key facets of the American system and character, drawing on sources from the poetry of Walt Whitman to the story of Rosa Parks to works from Israeli and Palestinian culture.

"The consciousness of the country comes alive during tumultuous times," said Apollo founder and Artistic Director Matthew J. Detrick. "In an election year of singular consequence, our programming reflects democracy as an idea worth championing. Together, with the help of activists and storytellers like George Takei, we can form a more perfect Union."

The season begins on the heels of Apollo's seventh album, Trace of Time, released August 23, 2024 on Azica Records. Like the quartet's season of live programming, the album is a celebration of community and heritage, and the universality of the passage of time. Featuring newly commissioned works by Hector Del Curto and Adolphus Hailstork, the recording brings together cultural stories embedded in genres from the Argentinian Tango to the African-American spiritual.

Apollo Chamber Players Season 17: We the People
Info: https://www.apollochamberplayers.org/artemis-series-2425.html
Subscriptions: https://checkout.square.site/merchant/XDJQSXZKN9SZW/checkout/TVWOKRZNG57HEQ4YKNPTPSF2

Concert 1: LIBERTY

Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts | Houston, TX
Link: apollocp.org/LibertyHobbyCenter

Program:
John Corigliano - One Sweet Morning for string quintet and voice [World Premiere, Apollo Commission]
Homayoun Sakhi - New Work inspired by themes of liberty and justice [World Premiere, Apollo Commission]
Marty Regan - The Book of Names with narration by George Takei [World Premiere, Apollo Commission]

Performers/Guests:
Apollo Chamber Players
George Takei, actor, author & activist
John Corigliano, composer
John Holiday, countertenor
Marty Regan, composer

Concert 2: OPPORTUNITY

Saturday, January 4, 2024 at 7:30pm
MATCH in Midtown | Houston, TX

Program:
Britten - String Quartet No. 2
Erberk Eryilmaz - Thracian Airs of Besime Sultan
Miklós Rózsa - Sonata for two violins
Leo Brouwer - Nostalgia de los Montañas*
Ernesto Lecuona - Canto Siboney
*choreography by Mónica Gómez and Estheysis Menendez

Performers/Guests:
Apollo Chamber Players
Mónica Gómez, Estheysis Menendez, Allison Whitley and Gian Carlo Perez, dancers (Houston Ballet)
Jesús Pacheco, percussion

Concert 3: DIVERSITY

Thursday, March 20, 2025 at 7:00pm
Visual and Performing Arts Center, Lone Star College | Houston, TX

Friday, March 21, 2024 at 7:00pm
Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts | Houston, TX

Program:
Reza Vali - Bandari [World Premiere, Apollo Commission]
Muyassar Kurdi - Lullaby for the Children of the Sun
Gilad Cohen - Three Goat Blues
Daniel Bernard Roumain - String Quartet No. 5 "Rosa Parks"

Performers/Guests:
Apollo Chamber Players
Reza Vali, composer
Pejman Hadadi, percussion

CONCERT 4: FREEDOM

Saturday, May 10, 2024 at 7:00pm
Holocaust Museum Houston | Houston, TX

Sunday, May 18, 2025 at 2:00pm
Unity Houston | Houston, TX

Program:
Howard Hanson/Walt Whitman (Arr. Mark Buller) - Song of Democracy [World Premiere Arrangement]
Marcus Maroney - "What does Democracy Mean to You?" [World Premiere, Apollo Commission]
Works by International Commissioning Contest Winners [World Premieres]
Ukrainian, Polish and Greek Folk Songs

Performers/Guests:
Apollo Chamber Players
Marcus Maroney, composer (UH Moores School of Music)
Mark Buller, composer
HSPVA choir

Photo Credits: George Takei courtesy of the artist, John Corigliano courtesy of the artist, Apollo Chamber Players by Lynn Lane, Takei family courtesy of George Takei.

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