Breathe In Light explores themes of inner reflection, emotional transformation, and the search for healing. Through a collection of works that dive into the complexity of the human experience, the program builds an atmosphere of contemplation and renewal. At the heart of the evening is the world premiere of Theo Chandler’s So You May Breathe In Light, a new chamber opera that traces one character’s journey through memory and shame toward self-forgiveness. Intimate and emotionally vivid, Chandler’s work anchors the program with a powerful narrative of inner awakening.

After the performances we will have a panel discussion with local professionals about the themes of mental health, community, and emotional well-being. We are proud to partner with the Jung Center’s Sean Fitzpatrick and Erica Billings, LPC - Associate (Supervised by Travis Sebera, LPC-S) to hold this conversation and facilitate discussion.

On the Program:

Kaija Saariaho - Nocturne for Solo Violin (1994)

Ewan East - Selections from Piece of Depression (2022)

Julian Stein - Solos (2010)

Theo Chandler - So You May Breathe In Light (2024)

Special Guests:

Hear more from composers Ewan East and Theo Chandler about their experiences and how that impacts their compositional process!

Loop38 is thrilled to be joining the Houston Chamber Choir again for “From Darkness to Light”. In 1638, Gregorio Allegri composed a setting of Miserere mei, Deus (Psalm 51) for the Sistine Chapel. The apocryphal story is that the Vatican allowed there to be only three copies in existence, and they were locked away for safe-keeping so that no one could copy or perform the work. Fast forward to 1764-65, when a young Mozart heard a performance of Allegri’s composition, went back to his inn, and flawlessly copied it from memory.

Fast forward again, this time to 1989, when Estonian composer Arvo Pärt set the same text. Pärt’s Miserere is described as one of his “most dramatic and contrasting pieces…” From these two pieces of darkness, we move to hope and light, working our way through a Latvian “Plaudite, Psallite” and American spirituals, including Thomas Dorsey’s “Precious Lord.” The concert closes with the gorgeous “Amazing Grace,” arranged by Ēriks Ešenvalds.

Coming Together offers a refreshing concert experience that goes beyond just listening to music—it's an opportunity to engage with the performance and fellow attendees in a way that’s both relaxed and enriching. This special event will welcome Loop38’s three newest core members, giving you the chance to get to know them through their performances and conversation.  Gravitating away from the traditional concert format, this event invites you to be part of an interactive environment where you can move freely, strike up conversations, and connect with others. You’ll gain a deeper, more personal experience with the performances as you can engage with the artists and concertgoers, all while enjoying light snacks and a laid-back atmosphere. Whether you're there to make new connections, discover new music, or simply enjoy an evening of creativity and conversation, Coming Together offers an opportunity to experience the arts in a more communal, accessible, and memorable way.

Featuring performers Jacob Schafer, Emily Richardson, Tonya Burton, Chris Ellis, Maiko Sasaki, Chelsea De Souza, and Craig Hauschildt, and music by Karim Al-Zand, Fazil Say, Katherine Balch, Osvaldo Golijov, and Michael Torke.

Photo by Lynn Lane courtesy of the Houston Music Festival.

Loop38 joins vocalist Emily Robinson for a one-of-a-kind, multidisciplinary concert that blends tradition, innovation, and artistry. "Harmony Unbound" features nigunim—soulful, wordless Jewish songs connected to Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism—alongside contemporary composition by living composer David Lang and other Jewish folk melodies. As this music fills the air, Ibraim Nascimento will create a live painting, interpreting the music through a visual lens. This unique collaboration, forged in Houston, embodies the spirit of community and the belief that art can only be truly experienced in the present. Don’t miss this rare, immersive celebration of cultural fusion and artistic expression.

Loop38 presents Longleaf: a brand-new, concert-length work composed by Dr. Ben Morris, assistant professor of composition at Stephen F. Austin State University. Longleaf traces the history of the longleaf pine tree and the timber industry in East Texas with video projections, historical photographs, natural soundscapes and music, with the goal of raising awareness about the ecological importance of native forests and their reliance on prescribed fire.

Morris' piece reflects on the relationships between people and their environments, highlighting the fascinating fire-adapted tree that relies on frequent burns, both natural and manmade. Longleaf explores the unique landscape through the visuals, recorded audio, and live interactions of the musicians, and even features footage from Morris' own experience at a controlled burn at the Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary, which is a remaining stand of longleaf pine maintained by the Nature Conservancy.

To bring even more insight about this Texan tree to our local community, longleaf expert and Nature Conservancy preserve manager Shawn Benedict will be present alongside Dr. Ben Morris for a Q&A session after the performance. As the manager of Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary, Benedict has years of experience and insight to share.

Loop38 is excited to return to M.A.T.C.H. and feature this piece as the finale to our 2023-2024 Season!

Learn More:

This project is generously funded by Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the state arts agencies of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas. This work is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. Additional funding was provided by the Texas Commission on the Arts.

We’re excited to share this new video release of “Glitter, Doom, Shards, Memory” by composer Shulamit Ran! We will highlight this piece throughout the month of May with new releases and information based on its themes and the artists involved. Find out more on the launch page for this project, and keep checking back throughout the month as we release more!

The life and work of Felix Nussbaum were strong influences on Shulamit Ran and on her piece.  You can learn more about his remarkable story in our first release available now on the Launch Page.

5th Annual Contemporary Music Festival at Lone Star College-CyFair

Loop38 is returning in collaboration with Lone Star College-CyFair on the Student Composer Readings project, where young composers showcase their works and receive feedback from Loop38 musicians.

Join us for a performance after the Composer Readings featuring a premiere of a new work by faculty composer B. P. Herrington.

Nameless Sound’s series “They, Who Sound” features events held on every Monday at 7:30pm, and is presented in partnership with Lawndale Art Center. The first event in 2024 is a concert of scores by Pauline Oliveros w/ Special Guest IONE!

On the Program:

Pauline Oliveros - Bayou Air

featuring Special Guest IONE, in a Telematic Collaboration

Pauline Oliveros - Wind Horse

Pauline Oliveros - From Unknown Silences

"Bayou Air" is presented with the participation and support of Loop38. 

They, Who Sound is free of charge. Donations are welcomed.

Don’t miss this Documentary Screening hosted by the Museum of Fine Arts Houston as a part of this two-day celebration!

In response to the exhibition Hanne Darboven—Writing Time, musicians from Loop38 will explore themes of mathematics, time, and abstraction.

Just as Hanne Darboven visualizes history and the passing of time in her work through calculations, representation, and collage, this program will explore how composers draw inspiration from these concepts sonically. Music and math have always been intimately connected, and composers continue to find new ways of using numbers to explore new artistic frontiers. 

On the Program:

Andy Akiho - Karakurenai (2007)

György Ligeti - Continuum (1968)

Hanne Darboven - Op. 45, No. 11 (2005)

John Luther Adams - Four Thousand Holes (2010)

How do graphic scores work? How do different musicians interpret them? Will different performers sound the same? Similar? Entirely different??

Let Loop38 and Relative Dissonance provide some answers in "the Poetry Project"!

This project will feature Poet David LeJeune's work in conjunction with EYEmusic graphic scores. Both ensembles will interpret these works with their own contrasting approaches and present both results to you in the moment. Then you can start to answer what sounds YOU might use to interpret the same works.

How do graphic scores work? How do different musicians interpret them? Will different performers sound the same? Similar? Entirely different??

Let Loop38 and Relative Dissonance provide some answers in "the Poetry Project"!

This project will feature Poet David LeJeune's work in conjunction with EYEmusic graphic scores. Both ensembles will interpret these works with their own contrasting approaches and present both results to you in the moment. Then you can start to answer what sounds YOU might use to interpret the same works.

EYEmusic’s “the Poetry Project” at Lone Star College-Kingwood is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, and through Lone Star College - Kingwood Fine Art Gallery.”

Loop38 explores human creativity, perseverance, and all that binds us all together.

Works by George Lewis and Chen Yi look inward, considering humanity's inherent creativity and life force, while Carolyn Chen's work looks outward, contemplating our relationship with the environment. Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton joins the musicians of Loop38 to present the world premiere of a work by Martha Horst based on D.E.E.P.’s poetry about hope, aspiration, and the power of creation.

On the Program:

Carolyn Chen - Oceans in Oceans (2014)

Chen Yi - Qi (1997)

George Lewis - The Will to Adorn (2011)

Martha Horst - Dream Shadows|Shadow Dreams (2023), World Premiere

featuring Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton

About Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, poet

Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton is an internationally known writer, librettist, educator, activist, performer, and the first Black Poet Laureate of Houston, Texas. Formerly ranked the #2 Best Female Performance Poet in the World (PSI), Her work has appeared in Houston Noir by Akashic Press (2019), Black Girl Magic by Haymarket Books (2019), the Texas Observer, and Fjords Journal, and on such platforms as NPR, BBC, ABC, Apple News, Blavity, Upworthy, and across the TedX circuit. Honored by Houston Business Journal as a part of their 2021 40 Under 40 class, She has served as a contributing writer to Texas Monthly, Glamour Magazine, and ESPN’s The Undefeated. This season, Plumshuga: The Rise of Lauren Anderson has its world premiere at STAGES Houston, which D.E.E.P. directs and wrote the book for. She also is slated to perform in Unison for Da Camera Society of Texas, which she also wrote poems for.

Her recently published memoir, Black Chameleon (Henry Holt & Co, 2023), explores the use of modern mythology as a path to social commentary.

About Martha Callison Horst, composer

Martha Horst is a composer who has devoted herself to the performance, creation, and instruction of classical music. Ms. Horst has won the Copland Award, the 2005 Alea III International Composition Competition for her work Threads, and the Rebecca Clarke International Composition Competition for her work Cloister Songs, based on 18th century utopian poetry. She has held fellowships at the MacDowell Colony, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Wellesley Conference, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and Dartington International School in the UK. Her work Piano Sonata No. 1, recorded by acclaimed pianist Lara Downes, was released nationally by Crossover Media.

Dr. Horst is a professor of composition and theory at Illinois State University and has also taught at the University of California, Davis, East Carolina University, and San Francisco State University.  She recently served as the composer-in-residence for the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra in Chicago, IL.

Loop38 is thrilled to be joining as Ensemble-in-Residence at the 4th Annual Contemporary Music Festival at Lone Star College-CyFair! Loop38 members will meet with students earlier in the day to workshop and read through student compositions, and in the evening the group will join together to perform a concert of solos, duos, and a premiere a brand new quintet by faculty composer B.P. Herrington.

3:30–5:00pm – Student Composition Reading Session

7:00pm – Concert

On the Program:

Kristin Kuster - Rain Chain (2012)

Heinz Holliger - Cynddaredd - Brenddwyd (Fury-Dream) (2001)

Gilles Silvestrini - 6 Etudes for Oboe, IV. Sentier dans les bois (Auguste Renoir, 1874) (1997)

Alyssa Morris - Collision Etudes, IV. Rainbow (Alma Thomas) (2017)

Steven Sérpa - Saudades for... (2014)

Improvisation - Laura Dykes, Craig Hauschildt, Caitlin Mehrtens

Takuma Itoh - Koholā Sings (2021)

Brian Herrington - There Came a Flood (2023) World Premiere

Sponsored in part by the Lone Star College-CyFair Composers Club and the Society for the Arts at Lone Star College-CyFair. 

Loop38 joins the the Houston Chamber Choir in the regional premiere of “Mass for the Endangered” by American composer Sarah Kirkland Snider. A celebration, and an elegy, for the natural world, this extraordinary work is an appeal for greater awareness, urgency, and action. At once jubilant and reverent, Mass for the Endangered is a meditation on all that nature has to offer and what we can offer in return.

On the Program:

Peter Louis Van Dijk - Horizons (1995)

Gabriella Smith - Carrot Revolution (2015)

Sarah Kirkland Snider - Mass for the Endangered (2018)

Community Partners

This concert is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance

This Showcase is the capstone event to the Texas Composer Collaborative, a season-long effort to celebrate and explore the music of emerging Texas composers. Each work on the program will be selected through a competitive process that launched in September 2021 with the invitation for composers to submit previously or newly composed scores for various instrumentations.  From those submissions, selected composers will work collaboratively with Loop38 musicians, who will create a high-quality video recording of their works to premiere on the showcase digital event. The event and its promotion will be designed to spotlight and lift up each of the emerging composers.  Loop38 aims to build on these artistic relationships in the future as we cultivate community around newly composed music.

On the Program:

Gillian Rae Perry - Looking for Friends (2019)

Stephen Ryan Jackson - bleached || stained (2019)

Steven Serpa - Saudades for... (2014)

Hee Yun Kim - White Rock Lake (2021)

The culmination of our 2021 Texas Composer Collaborative

This concert is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance

Loop38 is excited to present a concert of works showcasing the variety and diversity of "American Landscapes." The landscapes of the Americas are spanned by rich cultural latitudes and a broad palette of historical stories and voices. In its exploration of these voices, Loop38 is presenting music by composers from Massachusetts, Ontario, Washington D.C., Missouri, and Rio de Janeiro. The five pieces on this program are connected by their overlapping instrumentations, while their geographical and cultural diversity affords an opportunity to showcase these instruments in various musical styles and contexts.

On the Program:

Gemma Peacocke - Quiver (2018)

Samuel Andreyev - Bern Trio (2015)

Steven Serpa - Saudades for... (2014)

Alan Hovhaness - Koke No Niwa (1961)

Gabriela Ortiz - Denibée-Yucañana (1999)

Featured Performers:

Jeong-Eun Lee, piano

David Connor, bass

Craig Hauschildt, percussion

Katie Hart, oboe, oboe d'amore , english horn

Caitlin Mehrtens, harp

Sergein Yap, viola

Mary Grace Johnson, violin

Jamey Kollar, percussion

Allison DeFrancesco, flute

Purchase your ticket here!

Presented by Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts (MECA)

This concert is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance

Across the world, rising temperatures have led to substantial environmental changes, including a dramatic loss of ice in colder climates. In this concert, Loop38 will perform works that respond to these environmental realities and reexamine our relationship with society and nature. By placing the problem of melting ice in conversation with the effects of climate change on warmer climates, this program interrogates our relationship with our environment, celebrates it, and makes the case for action to preserve it.

On the Program:

Eleanor Alberga - Glacier (2012), North American Premiere
Matthew Burtner - Threnody (Sikuigvik) (2015)
Katherine Balch - Two Songs for Robyn (2020)
Aaron Israel Levin - Snow Fractals (2022), World Premiere
Theo Chandler - Music As The Ice Melts (2022), World Premiere

Featured Performers:

Alexandra Smither-Lewellen, soprano
Tori Lupinek Yaussy, flute
Roy Park, clarinet
Mary Grace Johnson, violin
Jacob Schafer, violin
Nathan Hsu, cello
Craig Hauschildt, conductor & percussion
Theo Chandler, electronics

This concert is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance

Funded in part by the Eric Stokes Fund: Earth’s Best in Tune

Based on a new work by composer Shih-Hui Chen, this program breaks down and explores human interaction through games.  Chen writes “…the central idea [of Perpetual Moveable Games 敕桃]…, focuses on the essence of nanguan [music], ‘games, to have fun.’”  The ensemble has the opportunity to play with each other – moving around, speaking, interacting, and fragmenting into various duos and trios throughout the piece. 

This central idea is reflected in the rest of the program.  Based on a children’s clapping game, Down Down Baby was written as a response to the Robert Honstein’s reflections on childhood after becoming a father.  Les Citations (The Citations) literally takes fragments or citations of other pieces and puts them in new contexts, playing with their original meaning and impact.  Lastly, the Telemann Sonata highlights the contrast between the new and the old, taking the same foundation and creating something entirely different.  “Just as a Baroque trio sonata and nanguan music allow musicians to elaborate on a basic structure using ornamentation,” Chen says, “…this piece also encourages musicians to improvise or make additions to the basic, written score.”

On the Program:

Georg Philipp Telemann - Trio Sonata in E minor (c. 1730)

Henri Dutilleux - Les Citations (1985)

Robert Honstein - Down Down Baby (2015/2019)

Shih-hui Chen - Perpetual Moveable Games (2020)

Presented in partnership with Houston Arts Alliance, the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and composer Shih-Hui Chen.

Buy your tickets here!

Ready for a live arts adventure?

Join us on Friday & Saturday, October 15 & 16, 2021 for our latest work—Corpórea y Espíritu—part of the Houston Artist Commissioning Project.

Our performance will feature a performance of Gabriela Ortiz’s Corpórea along with brand new choreography from Houston Contemporary Dance Company.

Each performance features World Premieres by local Houston artists from different genres.

Tickets are just $25. Get yours today here!

Buy your tickets here!

Ready for a live arts adventure?

Join us on Friday & Saturday, October 15 & 16, 2021 for our latest work—Corpórea y Espíritu—part of the Houston Artist Commissioning Project.

Our performance will feature a performance of Gabriela Ortiz’s Corpórea along with brand new choreography from Houston Contemporary Dance Company.

Each performance features World Premieres by local Houston artists from different genres.

Tickets are just $25. Get yours today here!

WindSync, Kinetic, and Loop 38 present a free concert of classical and contemporary instrumental music at Smither Park on Saturday, May 8 at 3 PM. Each group will take turns performing, celebrating the arts and the resilience of live music in one of Houston's most exciting creative urban spaces. The outdoor event is designed for all ages and will allow plenty of space for social distancing. Audiences are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs, blankets, and snacks, plus a camera to capture the distinctive mosaics created by Houston artists that cover the park.

Learn more about our collaborators here:

WindSync

www.windsync.org, facebook.com/windsync, Instagram: @windsync

Kinetic Ensemble

www.kineticensemble.org, facebook.com/kinetictheensemble, Instagram: @kineticensemble

Young Audiences of Houston

www.yahouston.org, facebook.com/yahouston, Instagram: @ya_houston

Smither Park

www.orangeshow.org/about-smither-park, facebook.com/smitherpark, Instagram: @smitherpark

WindSync, Kinetic, and Loop 38 present a family-friendly concert at Levy Park on Saturday, May 8 at 10am in partnership with Young Audiences of Houston. Each group will take turns performing as part of a chamber music marathon to celebrate live music and the arts in one of Houston's beautiful, outdoor green spaces. Join the ensembles for a safe, live music experience and learn about the instruments and musicians.

Learn more about our collaborators here:

WindSync

www.windsync.org, facebook.com/windsync, Instagram: @windsync

Kinetic Ensemble

www.kineticensemble.org, facebook.com/kinetictheensemble, Instagram: @kineticensemble

Young Audiences of Houston

www.yahouston.org, facebook.com/yahouston, Instagram: @ya_houston

Levy Park

www.levyparkhouston.org, facebook.com/LevyParkHou, Instagram: @levyparkhouston

As a part of the ongoing “Tunes on 10th” Series, Loop38 is excited to make their way up to the Heights!

Come join the neighborhood for a friendly, relaxed program of fun music.

On the Program:

Missy Mazzoli - Ecstatic Science (2016)

Carter Brey - Tango par Ilaria (1997)

Sarah Kirkland Snider - Shiner (2006)

Carlos Salzedo arr. C. Mehrtens - Chanson Dans la Nuit (1927)

Joan Tower - Rising (2010)

The Rain Date for this event is March 30th @ 7PM.

We’re coming back!

Loop38 is returning to the First Congregational Church for an outdoor-exclusive, brand new program of chamber music! While the pieces were all written within 10 years of each other by four composers living within the broader NYC area, each piece is quite different in terms of instrumentation, style, and character. They lend themselves to a delightfully diverse program to sit back and enjoy on the FCC lawn.

Bring a mask, a snack, and a friend… we’ll see you there!

On the Program:

Sarah Kirkland Snider - Shiner (2006)

Missy Mazzoli - Ecstatic Science (2016)

David Lang - Breathless (2003)

Joan Tower - Rising (2010)

The Rain Date for this performance is March 21st at 7pm.

In contrast to our usual ensemble setting, Loop38 is excited to present a one-day-only virtual concert featuring several solo performances and a duo.  Each solo will be accompanied by a blog post from the performer about the compositions and their experience, so you can get an even closer look on the performer and the process.

These intimate performances are a way for you to get to know our individual musicians, up close and personal!

Loop38 works as a collective, but our strength comes from the individuality of each member.  The pandemic has made chamber music more difficult but has provided an unforeseen opportunity for us to highlight each individual.  We are so glad to still be able to connect and share music with you in these different ways! 

On the Program:

Sergiu Natra - Prayer (1970) // Caitlin Mehrtens

Julian Stein - Solos (2010) // Cameron Kerl

Elliott Carter - Retracing No. 1 (2002) // Kara LaMoure

Elliott Carter - Au quai (2002) // Kara LaMoure + Sergein Yap

Elliott Carter - “Rhapsodic Musings” from Lauds (2000) // Jacob Schafer

Elliott Carter - Mnemosyne (2011) // Jacob Schafer

Jörg Widmann - Air (2008) // Maxwell Paulus

Do you miss live, in-person performances?

We sure do, but not for long!!  Join Loop38 for an evening of exciting music outdoors.  Bring your chairs, your blankets, and a picnic, and come enjoy the sunset with us.
We will also be live-streaming the concert for those who aren't able to make it in person!  We will send out a link before the event so you can tune in from anywhere.

For the official program, visit: www.loop38.org/program

On the Program:

Duncan Trio - David Sampson

Volume - Missy Mazzoli

An Economy of Means - Robert Honstein

Appel Interstellaire - Oliver Messiaen

Vibra-Elufa - Karlheinz Stockhausen

Solos - Julian Stein 

An Idyll of the Misbegotten - George Crumb

Performers

Daniel Egan, trumpet
Maxwell Paulus, horn
Cameron Kerl, trombone
Jamey Kollar, percussion
Craig Hauschildt, percussion
Caitlin Mehrtens, percussion

Our top priority is the safety of our audience members and performers, so social distancing will be required, and we encourage you to bring a mask.

For the latest updates and details, check out the event on our Facebook page.

As we’re all well aware, the performing arts community and the world at large has been immeasurably changed in just the last couple of months. 

While we deeply miss seeing our audiences in person, we’re excited to flip this coming season upside-down and launch some exciting new digital projects!

This July 19th, we will host a virtual celebration featuring performances from every single member of Loop38, and the pieces performed will offer a sneak peek into some projects in the works for the rest of our season.

The main feature of the program will be the World Premier of “Anywhere/Everywhere: 38 Loops for Loop38” by our friend and collaborator, Tim Holt (www.TimHoltMusic.com).  This piece was intended to premier on our concert this last May, but we are very thankful that Tim has adapted and produced this full-ensemble piece for a digital premier!

On the Program:

David Sampson - Duncan Trio: Reflection (2002)

Philipe Hurel - Loops I for flute (1999)

Caroline Shaw - in manus taus (2009)

Tim Holt - Anywhere/Everywhere: 38 Loops for Loop38 (2020)