DACAMERA Announces Return To Concert Halls For 2021/2022 Season

DACAMERA announces a return to in-person concerts and recitals for its 2021/2022 season. The season's lineup features the world premiere of a new work by Tyshawn Sorey, commissioned by DACAMERA and Rothko Chapel; an historic six-evening Beethoven String Quartet Cycle with the Elias String Quartet; the first DACAMERA appearance by legendary jazz guitarist Pat Metheny; and much more.

"It is with great joy that we will welcome everyone back to the concert hall for our 2021-22 season," said Artistic Director Sarah Rothenberg. "We are immensely grateful to all our loyal supporters over the past year whose generosity allows us to return to live music in a position of strength, and with a renewed commitment to excellence and diversity. DACAMERA's mix of timeless masterpieces, innovative young voices, and trailblazing artists promises a season of inspiration and renewal for us all."

The 2021/2022 season opens on Friday, October 29 at Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center

with pianist Garrick Ohlsson in An Evening of Chopin. The revered virtuoso will perform an all-Chopin recital by this composer who is especially dear to Ohlsson's heart. Ohlsson won the prestigious Chopin International Piano competition in 1970 and remains the only American to have received this distinction.

The world-renowned London-based Elias Quartet returns to the DACAMERA stage with Beethoven's complete quartets, offering a rare opportunity to hear these works in chronological order over six evenings in the span of two weeks. Considered by many to be the summit of chamber music composition, the quartets were composed by Beethoven from age 28 until the year before his death. Artistic Director Sarah Rothenberg introduces each concert, leading the audience through Beethoven's life and music.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the opening of Rothko Chapel, DACAMERA and Rothko Chapel have commissioned boundary-breaking composer Tyshawn Sorey to create a new work inspired by the Chapel. In turn, Sorey drew inspiration from Morton Feldman's 20th-century masterpiece, Rothko Chapel, which premiered there in 1972. Sharing the instrumentation of Feldman's score, Sorey's as-yet-untitled 30-minute composition will be conducted by Sorey and performed by the Grammy-winning Houston Chamber Choir, renowned violist Kim Kashkashian, master percussionist Steven Schick, and DACAMERA's Artistic Director Sarah Rothenberg, who will play piano and celesta. All of these players appeared on DACAMERA's acclaimed ECM recording of Feldman's Rothko Chapel, released in 2015. Tyshawn Sorey - who has called Feldman "my biggest influence as a composer" - was a fitting choice for the project. Discussions with Sorey began in 2018, prior to DACAMERA's highly successful presentation of his Perle Noire with soprano Julia Bullock and the International Contemporary Ensemble in 2019. The current commission was originally scheduled to premiere in February 2021, but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Sorey's new work premieres during the 50th anniversary year of the first performance of the Feldman work. DACAMERA members will have priority access to the world premiere performances on Saturday, February 19 and Sunday, February 20.

DACAMERA's jazz series features the organization's signature mix of jazz greats and emerging artists: Jason Moran and the Harlem Hellfighters in a performance that celebrates African-American music icon James Reese Europe; Trinidadian trumpeter Etienne Charles and his band that infuses reggae, Calypso and Afro-Caribbean music into their distinctive version of modern jazz; Pat Metheny's latest project, Side-Eye, featuring Houston native pianist James Francies and up-and-coming New Orleans native drummer Joe Dyson; critically acclaimed vibraphonist Joel Ross with his Good Vibes band; and ARTEMIS, an all-women jazz supergroup comprising six of the most acclaimed musicians in modern jazz.

Other chamber concerts include bass baritone Davone Tines's Recital No. 1: Mass, in the form of a mass, bringing together works of Bach and Caroline Shaw and spirituals arranged by Tyshawn Sorey, Moses Hogan and Tines himself; Italy's Quartetto di Cremona joining with pre-eminent clarinetist David Shifrin; Of Love and Longing, a recital of Spanish and Latin American music from guitarist Sharon Isbin and soprano Jessica Rivera; and Fanm d'Ayiti, an evening-length work for voice, flute, string quartet and electronics from composer/performer Natalie Joachim and Spektral Quartet that celebrates some of Haiti's most iconic female artists.

On Tuesday, May 10, DACAMERA Artistic Director Sarah Rothenberg presents In Darkness and Light at the Menil Collection. Rothenberg presents a fascinating program that encompasses extremes of emotion and the spiritual power of music across 200 years. Beethoven's transcendent last piano sonata of 1821-22, at the center of the program, is preceded by the world premiere of a new work by genre-defying, Grammy Award-winning composer Vijay Iyer, created for this concert. The recital closes with Morton Feldman's timelessly contemplative final piano work.

Select performances will be available for streaming, with details and on-sale dates to be announced. In addition to concert performances, DACAMERA will resume in-person community programming including its flagship free series A Little Day Music and other Community Concerts, with more details to be announced at a later date.

Subscriptions for DACAMERA's 2021/2022 season are on sale now. To purchase tickets, please visit www.dacamera.com.