Inversion presents

The Electric Choir

Saturday, October 22, 2022, at 2 PM

KMFA Draylen Mason Studio
KMFA Classical 89.5 41 Navasota Street Austin, Texas 78702

Trevor F. Shaw, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor
Adrienne Inglis, flute
Catherine Spainhour, Video Recording

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Program

  • Song for (Dwarf) Planet X by Marjorie Halloran (ASCAP)*

    Audio file created by Marjorie Halloran

    Text written by my spouse, Steven Moore

    Our distant, tiny neighbor.

    Almost too small to see,

    Almost too far to see.

    Are you a neighbor at all?

    Searching for a reason,

    An explanation not needed

    A coincidental discovery

    A pending disappointment

    We were so excited

    To find you out there.

    It had been decades 

    Since we'd met someone new.

    But the more we learned,

    The less you became:

    Less massive, less unique, less significant.

    Just another rock in space.

    But we can see your heart.

    We can follow your slow, eccentric path.

    We can love the curiosity you capture,

    And I'll always call you

    Planet.

    Program note — Percival Lowell began the search for an unknown "Planet X" in 1906, in an attempt to explain the irregularities in the orbits of Neptune and Uranus. He passed away in 1916, his search unfulfilled.

    Pluto was eventually discovered at the Lowell Observatory in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh, making headlines world-wide as the first new planet since Neptune's discovery in 1846. Pluto was later determined to be too small to be Planet X; its mass was revised from approximately that of Earth, to a fraction of a percent of it. In 1989, Neptune's estimated mass was refined by Voyager II, and a "Planet X" was no longer necessary to explain the irregularities in Neptune's orbit.

    The discovery of Albion in 1992 was the first of thousands of trans-Neptunian objects at the same approximate distance as Pluto, leading up to the 2005 discovery of Eris. Eris' mass exceeded Pluto's significantly, and was one of the reasons for the creation of the "dwarf planet" category in 2006, to which Pluto was demoted. 

    ~SM

           Pluto has always been, and will always be, my favorite planet— scientists be damned. 

    ~MH

  • La loba by Adrienne Inglis (ASCAP)*

    Adrienne Inglis, distorted flute

    Text by Alfonsina Storni

    Selected verses from “La loba” from La inquietud del rosal  (1916) by Alfonsina Storni (1892-1938)

    Yo soy como la loba. [I am like the wolf.]

    Quebré con el rebaño [I broke with the flock]

    Y me fui a la montaña [And I went to the mountain]

    Fatigada del llano. [Bored of the prairie.] 

    ¡Pobrecitas y mansas ovejas del rebaño! [Poor, meek little ewes of the flock!]

    No temáis a la loba, ella no os hará daño. [Do not fear the wolf, she will not harm you.]

    Pero tampoco riáis, que sus dientes son finos [But do not laugh either, her teeth are sharp]

    ¡Y en el bosque aprendieron sus manejos felinos! [And in the forest they learned their feline tricks!] 

    Yo soy como la loba. Ando sola y me río [I am like the wolf. I walk alone and I laugh]

    Del rebaño. El sustento me lo gano y es mío [at the flock. I earn my sustenance and it's mine]

    Donde quiera que sea, que yo tengo una mano [Wherever it happens, because my hands]

    Que sabe trabajar y un cerebro que es sano. [know work and my brain is healthy] 

    La que pueda seguirme que se venga conmigo. [She who can follow me may come with me.]

    Pero yo estoy de pie, de frente al enemigo, [But I am on my feet, facing the enemy,]

    La vida, y no temo su arrebato fatal [Life, and I do not fear its fatal blow]

    Porque tengo en la mano siempre pronto un puñal. [For a dagger is always ready in my hand.] 

    Translation by Adrienne Inglis, Pablo Donatti, Jennifer Inglis Hudson, Emilio Torres

    Program note — Commissioned by Jonathan Riemer for Inversion Ensemble’s “The Electric Choir” concert, La loba (The Wolf) displays Alfonsina Storni’s powerful poetic voice as a feminist amidst the patriarchy of early twentieth century Buenos Aires. She breaks away from her expected role as a sheep in an obedient flock and becomes a wolf sharpening her teeth and honing her skills. Moreover, she calls for others to follow her to stand up and face the enemy. More than a century later, Storni’s voice still echoes with a powerful call to action in a world where women’s rights are as fragile as ever. Bored of its usual role as a bird, the flute breaks away from the flock to inhabitat the wolf through transformative electronic distortions. The main theme mimics actual wolf calls, surprisingly comfortable in the flute’s low register. The tango-infused choral harmonies evoke the dissonance and angst in women’s struggle for equality through the ages.

  • Hymn to Aethon by Fahad Siadat

    Text — [wordless]

    Program note — Hymn to Aethon is an exploration of musical science fiction, horror, and mythology. It is based on a fictitious religious group in ancient Greece, the Aethonians, who worshiped Aethon, the vulture-like creature who was sent daily to tear out and devour Prometheus’ liver. This non-existent cult lived in perpetual fear of Olympian wrath and made supplications to the creature who administered divine punishments in hope of placating it and avoiding a similar fate. The piece was originally built around the timbral possibilities of the voice and is a nod to my life long love of heavy metal. The fictitious backstory was created as a response to the music.

  • Midnight by Christopher Fludd

    Text by Jade Blocker

    All of the certainty is removed

    Yet I remain fluid in the freedom of faith

    Humbled by the vast unknown my fruitful journey awaits

    I see the scintillating stars, the ever-radiant moon, a stoic field of evergreens and

    flowers that bud and bloom

    Though the path is easy, onward is the only way

    Guided by the moon and stars

    I'm drawn towards the day

    Program note — 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.

  • Reflections on Suffering by Robbie LaBanca (ASCAP)*

    Audio file created by Robbie LaBanca

    Text by Ram Dass

    How do I suffer? What suffering has there been in my life? 

    Perhaps your suffering is around illness. Perhaps it's around loneliness and separateness. Perhaps it's around addictions, obsessions. Perhaps it's around shame or loathing towards your acts or your fantasies or qualities of your body or personality. Perhaps your suffering has been around the suffering of loved ones, or the death of loved ones. Perhaps the suffering is rooted in doubt and confusion. Perhaps the suffering is connected with anger, grudges, vindictiveness, unforgivingness, the tightness that that creates. Perhaps your suffering arises out of your seeing the unfairness in the world, to yourself and to others — the unfairness in prisons, the unfairness of political systems, the unfairness that the Native Americans suffer, or the have-nots of the world. Perhaps your suffering is because of the threat of destruction that is inherent within the bomb, the nuclear bomb, or the destruction that is going on to the earth, to the forests, to the oceans. Perhaps your sadness is because of the illnesses that others are suffering, such as AIDS, cancer. Perhaps your sadness is because of things unfulfilled in your life, dreams that never came to fruition. We all have them. We all have a lot of these.

    Is there a way you can see the deepest sufferings in your life as vehicles for growth? 

    Can't you see that holding on to resentment and anger and unforgivingness, how it starves you? 

    Can you acknowledge your humanity just as it is? We all have it. We all have it. I am. I am just as I am. I exist. This is the stuff to work with. It's the holdings that cause the suffering. It's the judging that makes it, "I'm not enough the way I am, if only I were different it would be alright." You allow a tree to be a tree, a rock to be a rock, but you can't allow yourself to be yourself, just as you are.

    If you cannot accept yourself and your own beauty, how will you see another's? 

    May I, through the work on myself, become an instrument for the relief of suffering in all beings. May I, through the work on myself, become an instrument for the relief of suffering of all beings.

    What grace that we can even touch the possibility of seeing through the vale, what incredible grace.

    Used with permission from Love Serve Remember Foundation Ojai, California

    Program note — Over the past several years, I have experienced major losses in my life as well as faced many of the shared challenges present in our world such as anxiety, depression, and general hopelessness given the state of our world and society. One thing that has helped the most in meeting these challenges has been meditation and the exploration of my spirituality outside the conventional norms of Western culture. During this time of exploration, I started reading Ram Dass (1931-2019) and diving deep into meditation, the history and future of psychedelics as restorative medicines, and focused on connecting more with the natural world. The audio you will hear for this piece is read by Ram Dass himself as part of a guided meditation that explores suffering of all kinds. I have made excerpts from this meditation and combined it with sounds I created both naturally (such as the bell that starts and ends the piece) and synthetically (such as the drone and static noise you hear through the work). In this piece, the choral element serves to enhance the experience and melds together with the track to create one cohesive aural journey. The equally voiced choirs are tuned to slightly different frequencies to create the illusion of binaural beats. A binaural beat is an illusion created by the brain when you listen to two tones with slightly different frequencies at the same time. The 8Hz tone created between the dual tunings can help the listener create theta brain waves which have been shown to help during periods of meditation. My hope is that you will take in this work less as a performance and more as an invitation to think about how you have experienced suffering and how you might react and respond to past trauma and future experiences. — R. LaBanca, September 2022

  • The Gift of Peace by Quinn Mason*

    Text by Sara Teasdale

    Peace flows into meAs the tide to the pool by the shore;It is mine forevermore,It will not ebb like the sea.

    I am the pool of blueThat worships the vivid sky;My hopes were heaven-high,They are all fulfilled in you.

    I am the pool of goldWhen sunset burns and dies --You are my deepening skies;Give me your stars to hold.

Quinn Mason

Quinn Mason

  • QUINN MASON Quinn Mason (b. 1996) is a composer and conductor based in Dallas, Texas. He currently serves as Artist in Residence of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. He also recently served as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Classical Roots composer in residence—the youngest composer to fill that role—and as the inaugural Draylen Mason composer-in-residence for Austin’s classical public radio station, KMFA. His music has been performed and commissioned by numerous orchestras, including the San Francisco, Detroit, Utah, Dallas, Fort Worth, Vermont, and Amarillo symphonies, Minnesota Orchestra, Italy’s Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and numerous others. Recent performances have been with the Richmond Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and Mesquite Symphony. He has also won multiple awards from several organizations including ASCAP, American Composers Forum, International Clarinet Association, the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York, the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and more. As a conductor, Quinn studied with Marin Alsop, James Ross, Miguel Harth-Bedoya and others. He has appeared as a guest conductor with many orchestras around the country, including the Houston Ballet Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles and more. In April 2023, he will debut with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center as both conductor and composer.

    Special thanks to these generous sponsors of the 2022 Draylen Mason Composer-in-Residence program:

    Lynne Dobson & Greg Wooldridge

    Julia Marsden

    Nancy Wilson Scanlan

    Tito’s Handmade Vodka

    Estes Audiology

    Tejemos Foundation

Intermission

  • Thought by Trevor Villwock*

    I. Prelude

    II. Descent

    III. Sign

    IV. Presentation

    V. Impromptu

    VI. Color

    Audio file created by Trevor Villwock

    Text by Alex White

    Stray

    Assimilate

    Contract

    Sign, sign on the dotted line.

    Welcome to our presentation.

    Recording is in progress.

    Buy a copy at the end of the show.

    A pack of color markers is worth more than the entire GDP of America.

    Text used with permission.

    Program note —  Thought was a piece that went through a few initial concepts and texts before finally settling on one. The final text was written by multi-disciplinary artist Alex White, one of my best friends from my days at the University of Colorado at Boulder. As I've studied computer programming and artificial intelligence over the past few years, I've become increasingly fascinated by the study of "cognitive architecture," which deals with the way different parts of our minds interact to produce our patterns of thought. It's quite interesting to think about how all these things are happening as we go about our lives with their ups and downs and countless thoughts occurring to us all the time. Interesting as well is that the only access we have to the end result of these patterns is introspection. Brain scanners like functional MRIs (fMRIs) can give us some idea of which parts of the brain activate in certain situations, but the actual subjective result of these brain signals can only be interpreted from a first-person perspective.

  • Castelloza's Song by B.E. Boykin

    Text

    Eu sai ben qu'a mi esta gen, [I know well that it pleases me,]

    Si ben dison tuig que mout descove [even though everyone says that it's very]

    Que dompna prec ja cavalier de se, [improper for a lady to plead her own cause with a knight,]

    Ni que tenga totz terns tarn lone pressic. [and make him so long a sermon all the time.]

    Mas cil c'o diz non sap gez ben chausir. [But whoever says that doesn't know how to discern well at]

    Qu'ieu vueil preiar ennanz que m lais morir, [all. I want to pray before I let myself die,]

    Qu 'el preiar ai maing douz revenimen, [since in prayer I find much sweet healing, when I]

    Can prec sellui don ai gran pessamen. [pray to the one from whom I get great care.]

    Text 1: Amics, s’ie us trobes avinen (P-C 109, 1) 

    III of VI by Na Castelloza 

    Text and Translation Source:

    Paden, William. "The Poems of the 'Trobairitz' Na Castelloza." Romance Philology 35, No. 1 (1981).

    Program note —  Castelloza’s Song was commissioned in conjunction with a research presentation, (re)Consider the Canon - bringing

    the past into the present, for the ACDA National Conference in 2021. In addition to uncovering approachable works

    by well-known composers from the Renaissance and Baroque eras, the session also highlighted voices that have often

    been excluded from choral history. In our research, we learned about Na Castelloza, a 13th-century trobairitz from

    Occitan. Based on her depictions in the Chansonnier Provençale Codex, she is thought to have been a woman of color.

    Only some of her poetry survives - none of her music survives. Given the parameters of our session, we thought

    another way to “bring the past to the present,” would be to commission a work that featured one of Castelloza’s poems

    and used early music conventions. Like much of the repertoire from our session, Castelloza’s Song can be adapted to

    fit your ensemble needs.

  • Every Song by Shahar Regev*

    Winner of 2022 Sandy Fivecoat Memorial Emerging Composer Contest — Aged 35 and Under Division

    Audio file created by Shahar Regev

    Text by Federico García Lorca

    Translation by A. S. Kline

    Every song

    is the remains

    of love.

    Every light

    the remains

    of time.

    A knot

    of time.

    And every sign

    that remains

    of a cry.Program note —  Every Song is a piece about memory, "the remains," and their reflection in our current moments in life. The love, the time, and the cry, from earlier periods in a person's life never entirely disappear. The memories are changing, going with us everywhere, shaping our perspective.

    The electronics in the piece represent the remains, always echoing from afar, and its standpoint against the choir keeps modifying. They are separated with far keys at the beginning and end of the work, creating a bi-tonal language. But in the middle of the piece, for a short moment, they are almost unified and corresponding.

Shahar Regev

  • Shahar Regev, born in 1992 in Israel, is an interdisciplinary Composer. Her compositions range from solo, small, and large chamber ensembles to orchestral, choral music, arrangements, and music for theater. Regev is passionate about the encounter of ensembles with audiences through live performances. Her writing is often based on horizontal and melodic lines while forming a direct, expressive, and accessible contemporary voice. Many of her works focuses on social subjects such as violence against women, indifference, and environmental changes.

    Regev received the honorable Acum 2022 award in memory of Mark Kopytman for her piece "Black Bird" for Symphony Orchestra and Mezzo-Soprano. She is a recipient of the Felix Salzer Techniques of Music Award (2021), The Jerusalem Institute of Contemporary Music Grant, The Hebrew Free Loan Society Scholarship, and the Academic Excellence Award of the IAF Foundation.

    Her works were performed by ensembles and orchestras at concerts and festivals in Israel and overseas. Artistic engagements include commissions and collaborations with Symphonette Raanana Orchestra (Israel), Tzlilim Bamidbar Festival (Israel), Toscanini Quartet (Israel), Ensemble diX (Germany), The Moran Singers Ensemble (Israel), Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York (Bulgaria, USA) etc.

    Besides her work as a composer, Regev regularly performs as a singer and cellist in Israeli folklore ensembles. In addition, Regev teaches in several educational projects and works with music foundations.

    Regev is currently a Doctoral of Musical Arts candidate at the Manhattan School of Music with the guidance of Susan Botti and Dr. Reiko Fueting. Regev completed her master's degree in composition at Mannes School of Music, studying with Dr. Lowell Liebermann in New York City. She graduated from the Composition Department at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. She was instructed by famous Israeli musicians - Professor Josef Bardanashvili, Professor Yinam Leef, and Professor Michael Klinghoffer.


  • Incertidumbre by Carlos Cordero

    Text

    Estoy presa con tanta libertad (I'm stuck with so much freedom;)

    Aunque es el sueño de muchos yo, (although it is the dream of many,)

    No quiero estar aquí. (I do not want to be here.)

    Sí, ya sé cómo todo está allá (Yes, I know how everything is there)

    -Quizás Dios le dio pan al que no tiene dientes- (-maybe God gave bread to the one who has no teeth-)

    Pero quiero estar con mi esposito, (but I want to be with my husband,)

    Con mi hijo, con mis gatos, (with my son, with my cats,)

    con mi música, con mis amigos, (with my music, with my friends,)

    con mi canto, con mis fotos (with my singing, with my photos.)

    Y trato de no llorar (And I try not to cry...)

    No me da miedo trabajar (I'm not afraid to work,)

    Lo hago de lunes a domingo. (I do it from Monday to Sunday.)

    Lloro por tanta incertidumbre (I cry because of such uncertainty.)

    Program note — An immigrant voice who dwells with missing her family, friends, music, pictures, cats. A letter set to music.

  • Free Spirit, Free Mind by Trevor F. Shaw (ASCAP)*

    Audio file created by Trevor F. Shaw

    Text by Trevor F. Shaw

    Free spirit, free mind, dreamer of visions

    Try to reconcile your radical thoughts

    With your love of peace, O compassionate soul

    At once defiant and open-minded,

    Your ingrained justice finds itself tempered

    By your empathy, born of pain and loss

    Body unconstrained by the laws of men

    To share when you choose, or in turn deny

    Scoffing at the rules of generations

    Why should a stranger determine your fate?

    Free spirit, free mind, lover, creator

    Perhaps unaware of the light that you shine

    And yet, here you are, constantly flowering

    New colors each day, which I observe with joy

    Program note —  I wrote both the text and music for "Free Spirit, Free Mind" as a response to the unique, sometimes painful, experiences of women, brought to light through the 2016 election, the emergence of the "Me Too" movement, and recent decisions by the Supreme Court. I especially wanted to bear witness to the reactions and deep feelings of the women closest to me, particularly my significant other. This composition is intended to express simply that I hear her, along with the other women around me, even those with starkly differing opinions from mine about major social issues. I'm relaying my admiring observations, not giving advice. It is my hope to honor the powerful, wonderful impact that so many women have had on my life. "Free Spirit, Free Mind" is, by definition, atonal. But, it is also as melody-forward as I could manage in context. The clarity of the melodies represents determination and stability, despite the unforeseen challenges of the underlying, less predictable harmonies. 

    *world premiere

  • Soprano

    Carol Brown

    Claudia Carroll

    Maureen Broy Papovich

    Juliane Orlandini

    Alto

    Adrienne Inglis

    Katrina Saporsantos

    Patricia Combs

    Rosa Mondragón Harris

    Tenor

    Curtis White

    Jonathan Riemer

    Nathaniel Fomby

    Robbie LaBanca

    Bass

    Gregory Hilliard

    Michael Follis

    Steven Young

    Steven Sérpa

  • STAFF

    Trevor Shaw, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor

    Robbie LaBanca, Managing Director

    Adrienne Inglis, Outreach and Artist Manager

    Carol Brown, Production Manager

    Juli Orlandini, Associate Conductor and Creative Manager

    Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, Associate Conductor

    Katrina Saporsantos, Incoming Administrative Director

    BOARD OF DIRECTORS

    Kim Vitray, president

    Lissa Anderson, secretary

    Cathie Parsley, treasurer

    April Patterson

    Catherine Spainhour

  • DONORS

    Your gift of any size helps us continue to hire Austin’s finest musicians and artists, book accessible and convenient performance spaces with the best acoustics, and commission (and perform!) new, innovative choral works from emerging composers.

    Many thanks to our individual, business, and sustaining donors going into our seventh season!

    *Sustaining Donor

    New Music Champion $5,000+

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    New Music Advocate $2,500-4,999

    Adrienne Inglis*

    Carol Brown*

    Cathie Parsley & Gary Fuchs

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    Robbie LaBanca*

    Trevor Shaw

    Inversion Circle $1,000-2,499

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    Singer's Circle $50-249

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    Jennifer Hymel*

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    Joanna Fried

    John Thomason

    Jon Lees

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    Kathleen Chai

    Kelly Bradley

    Kevin & Kristin Dowell

    Kimberly & Richard Collins

    Kristina Weiss

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    Mary Dye

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    Maureen Papovich

    Melanie McNearney

    Melody Chang

    Meri LIston

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    Nancy Ebert

    Nancy Gray

    Nancy McBride

    Nick Duguid

    Rambie Briggs

    Rebecca Stidolph

    Richard Gabrillo

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    Rosa Harris

    Russell Floyd

    Sarah Loghin

    Shawn Harrison

    Sherrille Reed

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    Additional donors

    Áine Spainhour

    Angela Fleming

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    Bethany Younge

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    Brian Mountford

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    *recurring donor

    Inversion especially thanks

    KMFA 89.5

    Arts on Alexander at Redeemer Presbyterian Church

    Saint Martin’s Evangelical Lutheran Church

    Westminster Presbyterian Church

Upcoming Concerts

Inversion, under the direction of Trevor Shaw, presents Planet Home February 25th and 26th at the Rosette, featuring soundscape artist Seylon Stills. Through the richness of choral music, Planet Home celebrates the sounds of nature and explores the realities of climate change, including a hopeful search for solutions. The program will showcase exciting new choral works by local Austin composers Carol Brown, Suzette Emberton, Adrienne Inglis, and Trevor Shaw.

Saturday February 25, 2023, at 7 PM and Sunday, February 26 at 3 PM at the Rosette, 3908 Avenue B #Ste 116 Austin, TX 78751.

Inversion's treble chorus, Da Capo, unites the new with the old at their concert, Origins, on Saturday, January 21, 2023.  In collaboration with Pianist Dr. Joseph Choi and Clarinetist Brendan Fairleigh, Da Capo presents new music that is inspired by our collective human history, paying tribute to our roots while forging new artistic paths together. Origins features brand new works by Inversion’s in-house composers Suzette Emberton and Adrienne Inglis and local composers Steven Sérpa and Susan Meitz, plus gorgeous favorites by Rosephanye Powell, Karen P. Thomas, and others.

Saturday January 21, 2023, at 7 PM at Westminster Presbyterian Church Sanctuary, 3208 Exposition Blvd Austin, Texas 78703.

Inversion’s brand new youth choir Nova under the direction of Juli Orlandini presents its inaugural concert “Star Stuff” with music that inspires exploration and a sense ofwonder, connection, and belonging.

June 11, 2023 at 4 PM Austin Public Library — Central710 W Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX 78701

Inversion presents Helios, the multimedia work byTim Takach

Saturday June 3, 2022 at 7:30 PM and Sunday June 4, 2022 at 3 PM

KMFA89.5 Classical | 41 Navasota St., Austin, Texas 78702

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Thank you for attending

Electric Choir!

Inversion is a collection of vocal ensembles dedicated to commissioning and performing timely new works by living composers.  Inversion presents themed concerts on myriad topics including LGBTQIA+ rights, racial justice, immigration, climate change, and democratic rights, as well as space exploration, philosophy, natural science, and the ancient elements. Inversion advocates for inclusion through outreach with local public schools, college partners, and annual emerging composer contests.