DACAMERA Announces Ambitious, Diverse New 2023-24 Season

DACAMERA, the Houston-based producer and presenter of chamber music and jazz concerts, is proud to announce its 2023-24 season. Highlighting the season are two world premieres, presented as part of UNSILENT SPRING, a two-day interdisciplinary exploration of our evolving human responses to the environment.

On Saturday, April 20, DACAMERA presents the world premiere of Music for New Bodies, an evening-length work by acclaimed opera composer Matthew Aucoin and legendary director Peter Sellars. Co-commissioned by DACAMERA and Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, Music for New Bodies will be developed in Houston during a two-week residency, culminating in the musical world premiere on April 20 at the Morrison Opera House at Rice University.

At the age of 33, MacArthur Fellow Matthew Aucoin is at the vanguard of opera composers, with an acclaimed production of his Eurydice at the Metropolitan Opera in 2021, and a new work already commissioned by the Met for a future season. Internationally renowned opera, film, theater and festival director Peter Sellars is known for his collaborative projects with an extraordinary range of creative artists. In this new work, Aucoin will conduct an ensemble of DACAMERA Young Artists and Shepherd School of Music students, with vocal soloists to be announced.

Music for New Bodies is inspired by the work of poet Jorie Graham and author Rachel Carson, whose epochal book Silent Spring (1962) helped launch today's environmental movement. With a libretto assembled by Sellars and Aucoin, the work is an immersion in vast planetary processes, humankind's impact on our planet, and cycles so immense that they are beyond human impact.

Says Aucoin, "In our new piece, Peter Sellars and I bring to life voices both human and non-human, ranging from eels on their mysterious migration into the ocean's abysses to a woman lying in the strange, submarine world of an MRI machine.

It is harder than ever, today, to envision what a healthy relationship might be between humanity and the vast natural cycles that sustain us. I think of music as a kind of bridge between human and more-than-human forces, and it's through music that we hope to deepen our understanding of our species' place within our ecosystem."

UNSILENT SPRING also features the world premiere of Earth Tones, a multimedia performance by jazz composer/trumpeter Etienne Charles (Friday, April 19). Earlier this season, Charles triumphed when his San Juan Hill: A New York Story was presented by the New York Philharmonic to reopen David Geffen Hall, cementing his reputation for creating meaningful multimedia works connecting music with place and history.

Earth Tones, a DACAMERA co-commission, highlights peoples and regions that are, and will be, severely affected by climate change. The project highlights nature-based climate change solutions and features stories, images, short films and musicians of at-risk coastal communities across the U.S.

Along with the two world premieres, UNSILENT SPRING will include a series of panel discussions and dialogues with Aucoin, Sellars, Graham, and other creative thinkers.

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Other events in DACAMERA's 2023-24 season include:

• The regional premiere of a new suite from composer Terence Blanchard's opera Fire Shut Up in My Bones with his E-Collective, the Turtle Island Quartet, and vocalists Nicholas Newton and Adrienne Danrich
• A rare Houston solo recital by piano superstar Daniil Trifonov
• Germany's Ensemble Modern in Kurt Weill's Seven Deadly Sins, conducted by HK Gruber
• Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, of the famed British family of seven musical prodigies, featuring Fanny Mendelssohn's newly attributed Easter Sonata
• A high-octane double bill with guitarist Bill Frisell's new band Bill Frisell FIVE and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire's Owl Song trio, featuring Frisell and drummer Herlin Riley
• The return of the acclaimed Danish Quartet
• The London-based Elias String Quartet with pianist Sarah Rothenberg, performing Fanny Mendelssohn and Brahms
• Pianist Adam Tendler's Inheritances, in which he used an unexpected bequest to commission works by Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Laurie Anderson, Angélica Negrón, Timo Andres + others
• A duo concert by guitarist JIJI and violinist Danbi Um, two of the most exciting young, genre-defying musicians performing today
• The award-winning Isidore Quartet with pianist Sarah Rothenberg in a world premiere by Korean composer Nicky Sohn, inspired by Miles Davis
• Legendary saxophonist Joshua Redman brings his new project, a quintet featuring vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa
• Grammy-nominated and visionary saxophonist and composer Melissa Aldana
• The Horszowski Trio, whose program highlights a work by 20th-century, British-American composer Rebecca Clarke.
• 15-time Grammy nominated vocalist Kurt Elling featuring pianist Danilo Perez.

Along with the Fanny Mendelssohn performances noted above, DACAMERA will present a premiere screening of a new film documentary, Fanny: the Other Mendelssohn, as part of a monthlong focus on the composer in February.

The season will also be highlighted by BEETHOVEN FOR ALL: The Piano Sonatas. This free series will take place at the Menil Collection beginning on December 4 and will culminate with an all-day marathon at Rothko Chapel on Beethoven's birthday, Saturday, December 16.

DACAMERA's third annual Houston SUMMERJAZZ weekend is slated to take place August 18-20. Watch this space for further details.

Says Sarah Rothenberg, Artistic Director of DACAMERA, "DACAMERA's 23-24 season is one of its most ambitious to date. As we produce world premieres and first Houston performances of major works by composer/performers Terence Blanchard, Matthew Aucoin and Etienne Charles; UNSILENT SPRING, a weekend of interdisciplinary events exploring our changing planet; a focus on women composers from the past and present in film and concert; and first-time appearances from leading talents in the world of chamber music and jazz - we continue our commitment to excellence and innovation. Opera, jazz, classical - these boundaries are permeable, and at DACAMERA, our musical programming continually seeks new connections to the world around us, building community through great music."

A full list of events appears below. Along with these live concerts, selected programs will also be available as streams. Further details will be released at a later date.

Subscriptions for DACAMERA's 2023-24 season are on sale now. To purchase tickets, please visit dacamera.com.

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