Da Camera presents CHARLES IVES' AMERICA: HYMNS, SONGS, SONATAS

Da Camera's 2017-18 season continues with "Charles Ives's America: Hymns, Songs, Sonatas," featuring pianist Jeremy Denk, violinist Stefan Jackiw and a quartet of singers from the Houston Chamber Choir, at the Hobby Center's Zilkha Hall on Tuesday, January 23, 2018, at 7:30 PM.

Born in Danbury, Conn., in 1874, Charles Ives was one of the first modern American composers, combining distinctly American musical traditions, from church hymns to patriotic marches, with European music and experimental elements that would later come to define 20th-century composition. Ives's works were largely ignored during his lifetime, but found renown after his death in 1954, boosted by several prominent composers and musicians who considered him a seminal influence.

Most recently, pianist Jeremy Denk has made a special project of championing the music of Ives, receiving widespread acclaim for his 2010 recording of Ives's piano sonatas. In "Charles Ives's America: Hymns, Songs, Sonatas," Denk explores Ives's unparalleled invention, interweaving the original hymns, patriotic songs and marches with the wildly imaginative sonatas of Ives that those songs inspired. A quartet of singers from the Houston Chamber Choir sings the songs that appear as source materials in each of the sonatas, including gospel standard Beulah Land and Civil War standard Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! The Boys are Marching. The New York Times has called Denk and violinist Jackiw's collaboration "a model of how performers can both inform and entertain an audience with a challenging program."

Denk is the recipient of a MacArthur 'Genius' Fellowship, the winner of the Avery Fisher Prize and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Originally from Durham, North Carolina, he is an alumnus of Oberlin College and the Julliard School.

Tickets for "Charles Ives's America: Hymns, Songs, Sonatas" start at $37.50. Tickets are available by contacting Da Camera, 1402 Sul Ross, at 713-524-5050 or online at www.dacamera.com. Tickets for students and senior citizens are always half-price. $5 student rush tickets are available 30 minutes before the concert begins.

Da Camera of Houston's concerts feature small ensembles performing chamber music, jazz, early music and contemporary music. A vital institution in the world of chamber music, Da Camera is a source of innovative programming, notably Artistic and General Director Sarah Rothenberg's programs connecting chamber music with literature and the visual arts. Da Camera is nationally acclaimed for thought-provoking chamber music programming, as well as a jazz series with a unique balance between renowned performers and emerging artists.