Performers:
Fonema
Nathalie Colas, soprano
Dalia Chin, flutes
Emily Beisel, clarinets
Kathryn Schulmeister, string bass
Sam Rowe, guitar
Yulia Block, percussion
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Arcomusical
Krissy Bergmark, guest tabla soloist
Matt Ulery, guest bassist and composer
Gregory Beyer, berimbaus
Raychel Taylor, berimbaus
Ethan Martin, berimbaus
Matthew Schneider, berimbaus
Noel Streacker, berimbaus
Elena Ross, berimbaus
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Stare at the Sun
A.J. Keller, conductor
Tenor
Paul Hunter
Russell Pinzino
Benjamin Martin
Matt Cummings
Bass
Ari Carrillo
Zachary Kurzenberger
Tabes Bridges
Michael Follis
Ian Morris
Soprano
Molly Phelan
Anna Joy Buegel
Kate Lee
Sarah Fisk
Rachel Sparrow
Alana Grossman
Alto
Renata Herrera
Emily Amesquita
Gabrielle Timofeeva Lopez
Chelsea Lyons
Carolyn Boudreau
Mallory Harding
Program:
Fonema: Cartografía de los Anhelos
Darlene Castro † | Desire Paths
Juan Campoverde † | Los Lugares del Deseo
Michele Abondano | Just an attempt to dissipate
Carlos Zárate † | a fact of ours* ‡
Arcomusical
Traditional Afro-Cuban sacred music | Three Warriors, from the oro seco, arr. Gregory Beyer †
David M. Gordon † | Cantifractus Psalmodicus*
Krissy Bergmark † | New work*
Gregory Beyer † | Berimbau Sextet no. 2, "Traíra"
Matt Ulery † | Emigre and Exile
Stare at the Sun
Nicholas Cline † | A Strategy for Confrontation
Ayanna Woods † | Close[r], now
Matthew Recio † | Holdfast
Ted Hearne † | Privilege
Edie Hill | We Bloomed in Spring
Joanne Metcalf | The Sea’s Wash in the Hollow of the Heart
Alissa Voth † | The spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words
Alex Berko † | O Me! O Life!
*World Premiere Performance
† Illinois-based Composer
‡ Micro-Grant Awardee
The program Cartografía de los Anhelos is deeply ingrained in poetry and timbre. Ranging from dense textures to thin, thread-like sounds, it depicts desire, deep longing, and the search for new paths—or the return to familiar ones, as Darlene imagines in her work. Each piece builds a map of strong desires and relationships with the elements each composer explores, such as word, timbre, poetry, image, and tangible places—drawing both performers and audience into a dreamlike state.
Arcomusical's cutting-edge program, "Spirits in Exile," includes world premieres by tabla virtuoso Krissy Bergmark and iconoclastic composer David M. Gordon, as well as Afro-Cuban sacred music and masterpieces by Matt Ulery and Gregory Beyer. The question of where spirit can reside in an increasingly troubled world animates this program that surges with haunting, pulsing, and raging new sounds for the unmistakably beautiful sound of Arcomusical's unique sextet of berimbaus.
Midwestern Tongues is a retrospective featuring works that Stare at the Sun has commissioned, premiered, or workshopped, as well as a couple other pieces by midwestern composers we have previously championed. Highlights of the program include Matthew Recio’s "Holdfast," which explores the agony of physical separation and the phenomenon of skin hunger; Alyssa Voth’s "The spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words," a rhapsody on the Pentecostal practice of speaking in tongues; and Ted Hearne’s "Privilege," which abstractly explores the causes and repercussions of socioeconomic inequality.
