DACAMERA COMMISSIONS

World premiere: Etienne Charles, trumpet & percussion; Marcus Strickland, woodwinds; Warren Wolf, vibraphone & keyboards; Eva Scow, mandolin; Jorge Glem, cuatro; Val Jeanty, turntables; Jonathon Muir-Cotton, bass; John Davis, drums; April 19, 2024 at Wortham Theater Center, Houston TX
Instrumentation: trumpet, woodwinds, vibraphone, mandolin, cuatro, turntables, bass, drums
Note: Earth Tones was co-commissioned for DACAMERA’s Unsilent Spring: Music and Our Changing Planet, and supported by the DACAMERA Artistic Development Fund.

World premiere: Kendrick Scott, composer/drums; Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, poet, Poet Laureate Emeritus of Houston; Robert Hodge, visual artist; Erin Earle Fleming, lighting design; Gerald Clayton, piano; Walter Smith III, saxophone; Joe Sanders, bass; Harlem Quartet (Ilmar Gavilán, violin; Melissa White, violin; Jaime Amador, viola; Felix Umansky, cello); Wortham Theater Center, Houston, TX; May 12, 2023
Instrumentation: spoken word, string quartet, saxophone, piano, bass, drums
Note: Commissioned by DACAMERA with support from the DACAMERA Artistic Development Fund.
Press: “Scott has made a work of searing emotional power and elegant musical flow. He was mentored by Terence Blanchard, and I hear a similar clarity of purpose in Scott’s writing for rhythm section and string quartet. (The string arranger on the project, Alex Brown, did a fine job of implementing his ideas.) There’s sometimes a tendency to lean toward abstraction when working with charged material such as this, but Scott is an Inside Man, and a gifted melodist besides. He knows his strengths.” — Nate Chinen

World premiere: Tyshawn Sorey, composer, conductor; Houston Chamber Choir; Davóne Tines, bass-baritone; Kim Kashkashian, viola;
Steven Schick, percussion; Sarah Rothenberg, piano/celesta; Rothko Chapel, Houston, TX; February 19-20, 2022
Instrumentation: solo voice, choir, viola, percussion, piano/celesta
Note: Commissioned by DACAMERA and Rothko Chapel in celebration of the Chapel’s 50th anniversary. Finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music. From the Pulitzer citation: “an exquisitely crafted composition that balances density with fragile detail using chords and singing, particularly a strong bass voice, a masterful blend of sound and contemplative silence. “

Houston premiere: Brentano String Quartet; The Menil Collection, December 6, 2019
Instrumentation: string quartet
Note: Co-commissioned by DACAMERA, Carnegie Hall, Union College Concert Series and La Jolla Music Society

World premiere: Clare Chase, flute; Giancarlo Latta, violin; Cy Twombly Gallery on the campus of the Menil Collection; April 2, 2018
Instrumentation: flute; violin
Note: Commissioned by DACAMERA with support from Robin Angly and Miles Smith

World premiere: Jason Moran and the Bandwagon with special guests Marvin Sewell, guitar and Horace Grigsby, vocals; Wortham Theater Center; February 7, 2015
Note: The commissioning of Holed Up was supported in part by DACAMERA’s Artistic Development Fund. The world premiere performance was sponsored by Paul and Carolyn Landen and Baker Botts, LLC and supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Homecoming Residency during which Holed Up was created was organized in partnership with the University of Houston Mitchell Center for the Arts and has been made possible by support from the Lynne Murray, Sr. Educational Foundation and Chamber Music America through its Residency Endowment Fund.

World premiere: Brentano String Quartet (Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; Nina Lee, cello); Vijay Iyer, piano; Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center; February 15, 2014
Instrumentation: piano quintet
Note: Co-commissioned by a consortium including DACAMERA and 92nd St Y.

World premiere: Diotima Quartet (Yun-Peng Zhao, violin; Vanessa Szigeti, violin; Franck Chevalier, viola; Pierre Morlet, cello); James Dunham, viola; The Menil Collection, Houston; April 9, 2013
Instrumentation: string quartet; viola

World premiere: Daniel Belcher, baritone; Camilla Hoitenga, bass flute; Bridget Kibbey, harp; Matthew Strauss, percussion; Sarah Rothenberg, piano; Rothko Chapel, Houston; February 23, 2013
Instrumentation: baritone, bass flute, harp, percussion, piano
Note: Commissioned by DACAMERA as part of the DACAMERA Tryptych, three commissions celebrating the 25th anniversaries of DACAMERA and The Menil Collection.
Recording: Let the wind speak (Ondine)

World premiere: Hsin-Yun Huang, viola; Sarah Rothenberg, piano; The Juilliard School, New York; October 21, 2011
Instrumentation: viola; piano
Note: Co-commissioned by Hsin-Yun Huang and DACAMERA
Recording: Viola Viola (Bridge)

World premiere: Brentano String Quartet (Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; Nina Lee, cello); Reed College, Chamber Music Northwest, Portland; July 9, 2011
Houston premiere: Brentano String Quartet; The Menil Collection, Houston; December 6, 2011
Instrumentation: string quartet
Note: Part of the Brentano String Quartet’s Fragments: Connecting Past and Present project. Responding to Shostakovich’s unfinished Quartet movement. Commissioned by the Brentano String Quartet and co-commissioned by a consortium† including DACAMERA.

World premiere: Brentano String Quartet (Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; Nina Lee, cello); Reed College, Chamber Music Northwest, Portland; July 9, 2011
Houston premiere: Brentano String Quartet; The Menil Collection, Houston; December 6, 2011
Instrumentation: string quartet
Note: Part of the Brentano String Quartet’s Fragments: Connecting Past and Present project. Responding to Schubert’s unfinished Quartet in C Minor, D703. Commissioned by the Brentano String Quartet and co-commissioned by a consortium† including Da Camera of Houston.

World premiere: Brentano String Quartet (Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; Nina Lee, cello); Reed College, Chamber Music Northwest, Portland; July 9, 2011
Houston premiere: Brentano String Quartet; The Menil Collection, Houston; December 6, 2011
Instrumentation: string quartet
Note: Part of the Brentano String Quartet’s Fragments: Connecting Past and Present project. Responding to Mozart’s Quartet fragment in E Minor, K. 417d (1789). Commissioned by the Brentano String Quartet and co-commissioned by a consortium† including DACAMERA.

World premiere: Brentano String Quartet (Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; Nina Lee, cello); Reed College, Chamber Music Northwest, Portland; July 9, 2011
Houston premiere: Brentano String Quartet; The Menil Collection, Houston; December 6, 2011
Instrumentation: string quartet
Note: Part of the Brentano String Quartet’s Fragments: Connecting Past and Present project. Responding to fragments of a gloria by Josquin and a kyrie by Dufay. Commissioned by the Brentano String Quartet and co-commissioned by a consortium† including DACAMERA.

World premiere: Broyhill Chamber Ensemble; An Appalachian Summer Festival; Boone, North Carolina; July, 2006
Houston premiere: Aralee Dorough, flute; Meighan Stoops, clarinet; Angela Fuller, violin; Hsin-Yun Huang, viola; Bion Tsang, cello; Mark Griffith, percussion; Sarah Rothenberg, piano; October 23, 2007 at the Menil Collection
Instrumentation: flute; clarinet; violin; viola; cello; percussion; piano
Note: Shu Shon Key was commissioned for Hsin-Yun Huang by Appalachian Summer Festival, DACAMERA, Evergreen Symphony Orchestra and the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts.

World premiere: Brinton Averil Smith, cello; Timothy Pitts, double bass; David Peck, clarinet; Mark Griffith, percussion; Matthew Strauss, percussion; Scott Holshouser, piano; Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center; January 27, 2006
Instrumentation: cello; double bass; clarinet; percussion (2); piano
Note: Mozart Now Festival Commissions, celebrating the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth

Recording: Anthony Brandt: The Birth of Something (Albany)
World premiere: Karol Bennett, soprano; Michael Chioldi, baritone; Enso String Quartet (Maureen Nelson, violin; John Marcus, violin; Robert Brophy, viola; Richard Belcher, cello); Andrea Moore, percussion; Daniel Myssyk, conductor; Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, February 24, 2006
Instrumentation: soprano; baritone; string quartet; percussion
Note: Commission supported by a challenge grant from Nina and Michael Zilkha and the DACAMERA Commissioning Club.

World premiere: Imani Winds (Valerie Coleman, flute; Toyin Spellman-Diaz, oboe; Mariam Adam, clarinet; Monica Ellis, bassoon; Jeff Scott, horn); La Jolla Music Society, La Jolla, California; August 18, 2006
Houston premiere: Imani Winds; Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts; Houston, November 3, 2006
Recording: Imani Winds Terra Incognita
Instrumentation: flute; oboe; clarinet; bassoon; horn
Note: Commissioned by La Jolla Music Society, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, DACAMERA and the Library of Congress.
Recording: Terra Incognita (E1 Music)

Recording: Ashberyana, Fenton Songs (Naxos)
World premiere: Leon Williams, baritone; James Pugh, trombone; Mark Steinberg, violin; David Fulmer, violin; Misha Amory, viola; Nina Maria Lee, cello; Sarah Rothenberg, piano; The Menil Collection, October 11, 2005
Instrumentation: baritone; trombone; string quartet; piano
Note: Ashberyana was commissioned by DACAMERA in 2002 in honor of Sarah Rothenberg’s ten seasons as Artistic Director. Funds for this commission were provided by Chamber Music America’s Commissioning Program, supported by Chamber Music America Endowment Fund. Additional support provided by Works and Process at the Guggenheim and the National Endowment for the Arts.

World premiere: Brentano String Quartet (Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; Nina Maria Lee, cello); Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; October 2, 2002
Houston premiere: Brentano String Quartet; Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center; March 14, 2003
Instrumentation: string quartet
Note: From the Brentano String Quartet’s Bach Now: 10 Composers React to The Art of The Fugue. Responding to Contrapunctus XVIII (unfinished). Commissioned by Brentano String Quartet and co-commissioned by a consortium‡ including DACAMERA.

World premiere: Brentano String Quartet (Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; Nina Maria Lee, cello); Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; October 2, 2002
Houston premiere: Brentano String Quartet; Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center; March 14, 2003
Instrumentation: string quartet
Note: From the Brentano String Quartet’s Bach Now: 10 Composers React to The Art of The Fugue. Responding to Contrapunctus VI (in the French style). Commissioned by Brentano String Quartet and co-commissioned by a consortium‡ including DACAMERA.

World premiere: Brentano String Quartet (Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; Nina Maria Lee, cello); Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; October 2, 2002
Houston premiere: Brentano String Quartet; Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center; March 14, 2003
Instrumentation: string quartet
Note: From the Brentano String Quartet’s Bach Now: 10 Composers React to The Art of The Fugue. Responding to Contrapunctus XII. Commissioned by Brentano String Quartet and co-commissioned by a consortium‡ including DACAMERA.

World premiere: Brentano String Quartet (Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; Nina Maria Lee, cello); Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; October 2, 2002
Houston premiere: Brentano String Quartet; Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center; March 14, 2003
Instrumentation: string quartet
Note: From the Brentano String Quartet’s Bach Now: 10 Composers React to The Art of The Fugue. Responding to Contrapunctus X. Commissioned by Brentano String Quartet and co-commissioned by a consortium‡ including DACAMERA.

World premiere: Brentano String Quartet (Mark Steinberg, violin; Serena Canin, violin; Misha Amory, viola; Nina Maria Lee, cello); Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; October 2, 2002
Houston premiere: Brentano String Quartet; Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center; March 14, 2003
Instrumentation: string quartet
Note: From the Brentano String Quartet’s Bach Now: 10 Composers React to The Art of The Fugue. Responding to Contrapunctus IX. Commissioned by Brentano String Quartet and co-commissioned by a consortium‡ including DACAMERA.

Recording: Heartsounds: Music of George Tsontakis (Koch)
World premiere: Alan R. Kay, clarinet; David Jolley, horn; Curtis Macomber, violin; Toby Appel, viola; Norman Fischer, cello; Paul Ellison, doublebass; Sarah Rothenberg, piano; Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center; May 2, 1997
Instrumentation: clarinet; horn; violin; viola; cello; doublebass; piano
Note: Made possible by a grant from Meet the Composer/Reader’s Digest Commissioning Program, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund.

World premiere: Carolann Page, soprano; Jan Opalach, bass-baritone; Carol Wincenc, flute; Todd Palmer, clarinet; Charles Geyer, trumpet; Sergiu Luca, violin ;Norman Fischer, cello; Paul Ellison, doublebass; Pablo Márquez, guitar; John Kinzie, percussion; Brian Connelly, piano; Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center, Houston; December 5, 1992
Instrumentation: soprano, bass-baritone, flute, clarinet, trumpet, violin, cello, doublebass, guitar,
percussion, piano

Recording: Ellsworth Milburn
World premiere: Carol Wincenc, flute; Charles Neidich, clarinet; Jesus Reyes, horn; Eric Ruske, horn; Richard Brown, percussion; Brian Connelly, piano; Kenneth Goldsmith, violin; Gary Hoffman, cello; The Menil Collection; April 18, 1989
Instrumentation: flute; clarinet, horn (2); percussion; piano; violin, cello
Note: First piece commissioned by DACAMERA and performed during the premiere season.