- Tuesday | April 20 | 7:30 PM
- Ismaili Center Houston
- 2323 Allen Pkwy, Houston, TX 77019
- 713-524-5050 | boxoffice@dacamera.com
- Subscribe now | Available in: Full Season, Chamber Music, Menil/Rothko/Ismaili, Build Your Own
Program
Susie Ibarra: Sky Islands (Houston premiere)
Amir AlSaffar: New work (Houston premiere)
Musicians
TALKING GONG (CLAIRE CHASE, flutes; SUSIE IBARRA, percussion; Alex Peh, piano); AMIR ELSAFFAR, trumpet
Crossing genres of jazz, improvisation and Filipino and Middle-Eastern traditions, the unique all-star Talking Gong trio brings two new works to Houston: Susie Ibarra’s 2025 Pulitzer Prize-winning Sky Islands and a new collaborative creation with guest artist trumpeter-composer Amir ElSaffar, commissioned by MacArthur-winning flutist Claire Chase. Both works have their Houston premieres at the spectacular new Ismaili Center.
In Sky Islands, Susie Ibarra creates a sound world inspired by the fragile ecosystems of the Philippine rainforest, weaving themes of biodiversity, climate change and natural beauty into music of vivid texture and luminous color, using her stunning collection of percussion instruments.
Amir El-Saffar – acclaimed for fusing jazz and Western classical traditions with the maqam music of Iraq and the Middle East – joins the trio of new music luminaries. Through ostinato, groove, repetition and composed and improvised structures, the musicians invite the listener to join them in a state of Tarab, or musical ecstasy.
“unpredictable, kaleidoscopic soundscape…a series of lovely moments”
— The New York Times on Sky Islands
“the most important flutist of our time”
— The New York Times on Claire Chase
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- Monday | February 15 | 6:00 PM
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Morton Feldman at 101 | Music and Art: American Abstraction
- Tuesday | March 9 | 7:30 PM
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Three outstanding young string players join pianist Sarah Rothenberg in a program connecting maverick composer Morton Feldman with American abstraction.
OUR VALUES
Connection
We value and nurture rich and often unexpected connections among musical genres, art forms, and ideas; between people and places; between the past and the present.
Exploration
We believe that openness to new experiences and enthusiasm for learning are vital to human experience. At the vanguard of arts organizations, we continually evolve our ways of presenting to combine an unusual mix of in-depth exploration and accessibility.
Excellence
DACAMERA has become synonymous with quality; the common denominator of our diverse activities, on stage and in the community, is excellence.
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