Artists participating in American Composers Orchestra’s Connecting Community initiative. Top row, left to right: composers Joseph Pereira, Shara Nova, Karena Ingram, Krists Auznieks, Lembit Beecher, and Alejandro Basulto. Bottom row, left to right: performers Chester Englander, Ahya Simone, Monica Ellis, Stephen Gosling, Seth Parker Woods, and Alecia Lawyer.
“After reading about the detrimental impact that the coronavirus has had on people’s sleep, local composer Alejandro Basulto, who was born and raised in Mérida, immediately thought of the enigmatic work of Remedios Varo, a renowned painter and influential figure in the Mexico City-based Surrealist movement,” writes Lawrence Elizabeth Knox in Friday’s (7/10) Houston Chronicle (TX). “On July 19, his latest work ‘Remedios para el Sueño,’ a four-movement piece for ROCO’s founder, artistic director and principal oboist Alecia Lawyer, will receive its world premiere in the last of six weekly online concerts that comprise the second volume of ‘Connecting ACO Community.’ Established in response to the ongoing pandemic, the solo commissioning initiative from American Composers Orchestra [provides] financial support to artists whose livelihoods have been threatened by the pandemic…. To date, the project … has featured talent from across the United States [including] composer Ethan Iverson, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo and violinist Jennifer Koh … The organization plans to announce the schedule for its third volume of work in mid-July … [ACO Artistic Director Derek] Bermel will host this weekend’s half-hour concert.” Tickets are $5. “All proceeds will support artists involved.”
