Season Five
2020-2021
After Silence incorporates evocative, thought-provoking music borne of the pandemic and social upheaval. In this, its fifth season, Inversion is proud to perform a brand new, collaboratively-composed requiem for modern times, featuring celebrated pianist Michelle Schumann, as well as an oratorio focused on the 1990s AIDS epidemic. This season will also feature brand new music from the winner of Inversion’s second annual Emerging Composer contest, Christopher Fludd, as well as from the talented artists of Carlos Cordero’s Happy Composer project and in-house composers, adding to Inversion’s tally of 90 world premieres. Season Five featured 13 world premiere performances.
Highlights from "I, Too, Sing America"
October 30, 2020
Austin, Texas
As Election Day draws near, Inversion is taking a moment to reflect on our critically acclaimed 2018 concert I, Too, Sing America. Performed only weeks before the midterm elections, this concert focused on our shared history spanning subjects including the Salem witch trials, women's suffrage, gun violence, the history of resistance, and our modern political strife.
View the concert here: https://youtu.be/HkvryBV1S8A.
See the program here.
This Snow Globe World
December 19, 2020
Austin, Texas
Join Inversion's treble choir, Da Capo, for a virtual concert celebrating the music of wintertide. We explore the many expressions of the season, from darkness and solitude to elation and rebirth. Featuring music by Tim Takach, Moira Smiley, Austin composers Susan Meitz and Carol Brown, and Inversion's in-house composers Adrienne Inglis and Robbie LaBanca. View the concert here: https://youtu.be/nfgoLBb3HWc.
See the program here.
Watercolors by Christopher Fludd
March 28, 2021
Austin, Texas
In its fourth season, Inversion selected Christopher Fludd as its Emerging Composer Contest and performed Dawn and Sunset from his three-movement work Watercolors in September 2019. Inversion proudly releases the entire work Watercolors for a cappella mixed chorus, remotely recorded and released in Fall 2020 in conjunction with a video. Chris sets Jade Tiara Blocker’s stunning poetry to music with rich choral harmonies and exquisitely crafted melodic lines that conjure the beauty, color, and emotion of moments during the day.
View the concert here: https://youtu.be/Xb8iTN32hyE.
World premiere:
81. Midnight from Watercolors by Christopher Fludd
See the program here.
In Memoriam: A Modern Requiem
May 28, 2021
Austin, Texas
In response to all those we have lost in the last year, Inversion Ensemble has constructed a new, modern requiem with individual movements provided by different composers mixing standard Latin text and contemporary poetry. Inversion Ensemble is honored to have collaborated with renowned pianist Michelle Schumann for this very special concert featuring new works by local composers Trevor Shaw, Adrienne Inglis, Stephanie K. Andrews, Majorie Halloran, Trevor Villwock, and Robbie LaBanca. This concert also features the winners of the Third Annual Sandra Fivecoat Memorial Emerging Composer Contest, Luke Flynn and Shruthi Rajasekar. Little Robin by Rachel DeVore Fogarty is the Happy Composer Commission Project for this event. The concert also includes Belinda Reynolds’ Remembrance for chorus, marimba, and piano.
World premieres:
82. Little Robin by Rachel DeVore Fogarty
83. Introitus—Kyrie by Clinton Bray
84. Offertory by Stephanie K. Andrews
85. Sanctus—Santo y Hosanna by Adrienne Inglis
86. Agnus Dei by Luke Flynn
87. Lux Aeterna by Marjorie Halloran
88. Pie Jesu—Her rest will not begin nor end but be by Trevor Villwock
89. Libera Me—The Wild Iris by Robbia LaBanca
90. In Paradisum by Trevor F. Shaw
See the program here.
Stigma: Songs of the Forgotten
June 25, 2021
Austin, Texas
Stigma: Songs of the Forgotten features the world premiere of Steven Serpa's new oratorio james: book of ruth that speaks to the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1990s. The program also includes Pink by Germán Barbosa as part of the 2021 Happy Composer Commission Project and Transpose for vocal quartet, percussion, and electronics by Robbie LaBanca.
Our Inversion Cares partner for this project is Project Transitions, dedicated to serving people with HIV by providing housing, comprehensive support services, recuperative care and hospice in compassionate and caring environments.
World premieres:
91. James (book of ruth) music by Steven Sérpa, libretto by Zac Kline
92. Transpose by Robbie LaBanca
93. Pink by Germán Barboza
This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department. Este proyecto es apoyado en parte por la División de Artes Culturales del Departamento de Desarrollo Económico de la Ciudad de Austin.
See the program here.