The Houston Symphony and Composer-in-Residence Jimmy López have partnered with the Rice Shepherd School, the University of Houston Moores School of Music, and Interfaith Ministries for a project with Houston’s refugee communities called Resilient Sounds. Six young composers from the Rice Shepherd School and the Moores School have been paired with members of Houston’s refugee community to tell each refugee partner’s story through music. Under López’s mentorship, each composer is creating a chamber work, together with artistic partners that include writers, filmmakers, and choreographers. All six works will be performed by musicians of the Houston Symphony on June 11. The composers are Patrick Lenz, whose refugee remains anonymous; Erin Graham, paired with refugee partner Salemu, who was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo; Alejandro Basulto, whose refugee partner is a El Salvadoran asylee named Marjori; Victor Rangel, who is telling the story through music of Syrian refugee Dayana; Kyle Rivera, paired with Congolese refugee Shinga; and Erberk Eryilmaz, whose piece is inspired by music from Syria. Says Houston Symphony Executive Director John Mangum, “The Resilient Sounds project is an opportunity for us to bring the orchestra to a different part of the community.”
Posted June 7, 2019
