This concert will last about one hour without intermission.
Please silence your electronic devices.
Photography, video, or recording of any part of this performance is prohibited
Program
Caio Campos
SFI/ILS
Zachary Gray
Through the Branches
Joel Laviolette
String Quartet No. 1
Minoo Dixon
SUN IS A Cardigan
Micah Rosenstein
ossia
نوفه
Khalwatiyya
About the Program
Caio Campos
SFI/ILS
INSTRUMENTATION electric bass
PERFORMED BY Caio Campos
ABOUT THE PIECE Push. Pull. Grip. Strike. Twist. Clench. Kick. Snap. Drop. Slam. Shove. Crush. Swing. Thrust. Flex. Tense. Punch. Squeeze. Grind. Wrench. Hurl. Shake. Lunge. Charge. Writhe. Strain. Resist. Slap. Rip. Bounce. Drag. Heave. Surge. Dash. Slice. Smash. Whip. Clash. Blast. Tear. Burst. Skew.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER Caio Costa Campos is a composer and improviser from Belo Horizonte, Brasil. His recent works are related to a view of music as performance, drawing from concepts like presence, physicality, embodiment, liveness and from other performance art practices expressive materials and intentions to be articulated in music, besides the ones that happen through so called "music perception." He has experience with creative programming, live electronics and free improvisation in both marginal and concert settings and bases his work on those trying to achieve this "other" expressiveness.
Zachary Gray
Through the Branches
COMPOSED 2024
INSTRUMENTATION Three Flutes
PERFORMED BY Sophie Maness, Maggie Chvatal, Zachary Gray
ABOUT THE PIECE The title of this piece, Through the Branches, represents a sunrise of hope “through the branches” of the dark forest of struggle and difficulty one experiences throughout college or any transformational experience. When the sun finally emerges, we look around us to find that what we thought was a dark forest is a blooming woodland, filled with wonder and life. As we exit the forest–graduate, retire, part ways–we look back fondly on our experiences and the lessons they taught us. We take what we’ve learned and jump right into the next forest, to start the process all over again.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER Zachary Gray, a native of Austin, Texas, is a composer, flutist, and pianist studying composition at the University of Texas at Austin. His fascination with all kinds of music–from renaissance polyphony to jazz fusion–reveal themselves in his music through colorful harmonies and rich textures. He continuously seeks out new musical experiences to feed his curiosity, ranging from playing with marching and concert bands to singing the Mozart Requiem. His work as an intern for the 2023 and 2024 Floot Fire summer camps has shown him the importance of joy in music education, and in the music taught to students at all levels. In his free time, Zach enjoys running, reading, and spending quality time with friends and family.
Minoo Dixon
SUN IS A Cardigan
COMPOSED 2024
INSTRUMENTATION Flute and Viola
PERFORMED BY Heather Havens, Rohan Joshi
ABOUT THE PIECE A short duet work dedicated to two friends.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER Minoo Dixon is a Korean-American composer who has been recognized by ASCAP and National Federation of Music Clubs and has been on the rise composing meaningful and exciting music meant for a variety of audiences in the concert hall. Throughout his years of composing, he has been awarded the Donald Martino Award for Excellence in Composition, Senior Composition Competition Winner by MTNA, two NEC Honors Ensemble Composition Competitions, and a finalist of the ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composers Awards Competition. Minoo’s pieces also have been performed at locations such as Carnegie Hall, Busan Cultural Center, Jordan Hall, and the Midwest Clinic. To find more of what Minoo is up to, visit his website minoodixon.com or follow him on Instagram @minoodixon
Joel Laviolette
String Quartet No. 1
COMPOSED 2024
INSTRUMENTATION String Quartet
PERFORMED BY tba
ABOUT THE PIECE These first two movements are an outgrowth of studying Beethoven’s early quartets. The Allegroopens traditionally before evolving into a contrapuntal “cat and mouse” between voices, with overlapping melodies and contrasting rhythms. The Adagio is more introspective, built around simple, lyrical melodies, often carried by the viola.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER Joel Laviolette (b. 1975) is a composer, educator, instrument builder and performer based in Austin, Texas. His compositions focus on the underlying philosophical approach to music that his 30+ years of dedication to Zimbabwean trance music has cultivated. Joel is the director of the Rattletree School of Marimba and leads the groups Rattletree, Kupira, and Mafaro Marimba. His groups have performed and taught at countless festivals, clubs, and universities around the world. As an internationally recognized expert on Zimbabwean mbira music, Joel has been featured on NPR, and he has been published in Percussive Notes, Mbira Music: Structures and Processes and other journals. Joel lived several years in Zimbabwe and studied with his primary teacher Matemai for 28 years until his death in 2021. Joel has a BA in Composition from UT Austin, and is currently pursuing a master’s in composition at UT.
Micah Rosenstein
ossia
INSTRUMENTATION Solo Piano
PERFORMED BY Micah Rosenstein
ABOUT THE PIECE birth, crescita reproduction, sopravvivenza love, Morte.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER Micah Rosenstein is an American composer, arranger, music educator, and graphic designer based in Austin, TX. Originally from Sarasota, FL, Micah Rosenstein grew up in San Antonio, TX, where he recently graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a Bachelor's in Music Composition and Minor in Business Administration (2023). During his time at UTSA, he studied under Ethan Wickman, Andrew S. Lloyd, James Syler, Steve Parker, John Zarco, and John Caputo. While studying, he was a member of the Spirit of San Antonio Marching Band, UTSA Trombone Studio, UTSA Wind Ensemble, teaching assistant in their music theory studies, and lead graphic designer of the UTSA School of Music. Micah Rosenstein currently studies for his Master of Music degree at The University of Texas at Austin (2026).
نوفه
Khalwatiyya
INSTRUMENTATION Kamancheh, Voice and Interactive Media
PERFORMED BY Mojgan Misaghi, Tanner Jones
ABOUT THE PIECE “Men talk of heaven, —there is no heaven but here; Men talk of hell, —there is no hell but here; Men of hereafters talk, and future lives, O love, there is no other life—but here.” Omar Khayyam (1048-1131)
ABOUT THE COMPOERS نوفه (pronounced no-feh) is the moniker under which multimedia artists Mojgan Misaghi and Tanner Jones perform as a duo. Their recent work has focused on improvisation incorporating the performance of kamancheh, voice, and theatre with interactive/live electronics, video, and light.