Apollo Chamber Players, featuring Grammy-winning artist, opens Bayou Theater season
The Bayou Theater at University of Houston-Clear Lake is opening its 2023-24 season with a performance by the Apollo Chamber Players on Aug. 25 at 7:30 p.m. The Apollo Chamber Players’ concert, entitled “Trace of Time,” is a musical journey focusing on the evolution of the tango genre from Argentina, and the African American spiritual.
The concert showcases performances by Latin Grammy-winning composer and bandoneon player Hector Del Curto, the dancing of premier tango duo Hugo Patyn and Celina Rotundo, and the music of noted composer Adolphus Hailstork.
“We are all about connecting different art forms and genres,” said Apollo Chamber Players Artistic and Executive Director Matthew Detrick, who is also the group’s founder and violinist.
The bandoneon, Detrick explained, is a push-button accordion instrument associated with tango music and dancing.
“Astor Piazzolla, a very well-known Argentinian tango performer, brought this dance and music to a world-wide audience,” he said. “Hector Del Curto was in Piazzolla’s band when he was a teenager. He’s a revered figure in the world of tango. ‘Trace of Time’ is a composition that Hector wrote that we premiered two years ago, just after the pandemic.”
He added that Del Curto’s composition signified his love of his heritage and the tango, but it also was his musical expression of humanity’s journey through the pandemic, when time stood still.
“This piece is his ‘trace of time’ through those memories,” Detrick said.
Detrick said that the spiritual element of the show connects with ‘trace of time’ as well, through the work of Adolphus Hailstork. “His music is deeply influenced by the spiritual, and the ‘Deep River Rhapsody for Spring Quartet,’ which we will perform, is inspired by his favorite spiritual, ‘Deep River,’” he said.
Detrick said the group enjoyed its annual performances at the Bayou Theater. “We are fortunate to share our music with the community in the Bay Area,” he said. “We show our audience we are more than a string quartet. We are more interesting and engaging because of the connections we have made through different collaborations from around the world.”
The Apollo Chamber Players core group of Detrick, violinist Anabel Ramirez-Detrick, cellist Matthew Dudzik, and violist Aria Cheregosha.
The Bayou Theater 2023-24 season includes 20 performances spotlighting a diverse array of artists including jazz, classical, country, bluegrass, as well as a three-part comedy series and more. For more information about upcoming events, to purchase a season pass or tickets, visit www.uhcl.edu/bayou-theater/