National Endowment for the Arts
Grants for Arts Projects - Work Samples
Work Sample 1
Ben Morris, "Longleaf"
Recorded on March 8, 2024, at Cole Hall in Stephen F. Austin University (Nacogdoches, TX)
Videography by Trey Cartwright, Ricky Kennedy, and James McMahen. Music recorded by Byron Reinhardt, Katharyn Phillips, Sophia Nunez, and Sound Recording Services at SFASU. Recording session assistance by Blake Buehler and JJ Bartley.
Loop38 performers: Brian Mangrum, horn / Alexander Ramazanov, trumpet / Cameron Kerl, trombone / Caitlin Mehrtens, harp / Graeme Francis, percussion / Jacob Schafer, violin / Cindy Ahn, violin / Sergein Yap, viola / Chris Ellis, cello / Max Winningham, double bass / Craig Hauschildt, conductor
Description: Commissioned by Houston-based ensemble Loop38, this piece tells the story of this unparalleled tree: its flourishing through natural and indigenous manmade fires, its use to make turpentine during the early settlement days, its widespread destruction at the hands of the lumber barons and sawmills of the early 20th century, and its rebirth with the advent of responsible forestry and prescribed fires. The piece weaves together a tapestry of virtuosic brass features, ambisonic field recordings captured in longleaf forests, videos of longleaf habitats, found sounds, and historical photographs and videos from the East Texas Digital Archive, the Texas Archive of the Moving Image, and The National Archives.
Cue Points: 9:16 - 10:46 & 43:03 - 45:30
Length of Excerpts: 1:30 & 2:28
Work Sample 2:
Shulamit Ran, "Glitter, Doom, Shards, Memory”
Video Released on July 31, 2024, recorded at Garza Studios (Houston, TX)
Loop38 performers: Jacob Schafer, violin / Astrid Nakamura, violin / Sergein Yap, viola / Chris Ellis, cello
Description: Shulamit Ran's Third String Quartet, accompanied by reflections on the Holocaust, its effects on the modern world, and the importance and transformative power of art.
Cue Points: 17:46-18:53
Length of Excerpt: 1:07
Work Sample 3:
Shih-Hui Chen, "perpetual movable games 敕桃"
Performed on December 6, 2022, at Asia Society Texas (Houston)
Link: https://youtu.be/ihUByiBATCA?t=183 (starts at 3:03)
Loop38 performers: Doug DeVries, flute; Katie Hart, oboe; Bree Ahern, cello; Yvonne Chen, harpsichord
Description: A theatrical ensemble work which uses the instrumentation of the Baroque trio sonata focuses on the essence of nanguan, “games, having fun.” Loop38 performed the American premiere in November 2021. Demonstrates Loop38's ability to collaborate closely with a composer and perform a theatrical musical work for mixed chamber ensemble with avant-garde and cross-cultural elements.
Cue Points: 3:03 – 6:15
Length of Excerpt: 3:12
Work Sample 4:
Tim Holt, "Everywhere/Anywhere: 38 loops for Loop38"
Recorded in summer 2020 in Houston, TX; premiered online due to Covid-19 pandemic
Link: https://youtu.be/i6Zq4Kj26pE?t=848 (starts at 14:08)
Loop38 performers: Alexandra Smither-Lewellen, soprano; Doug Devries, flute; Katie Hart, oboe; Roy Park, clarinet; Kara LaMoure, bassoon; Daniel Egan, trumpet; Jamey Kollar, percussion; Craig Hauschildt, percussion; Caitlin Mehrtens, harp; Jacob Schafer, violin; Nathan Lowry, violin; Sergein Yap, viola; Ariana Nelson, cello; Austin Smither-Lewellen, bass
Description: Musical work for sinfonietta + soprano, written specifically for Loop38. Features the virtuosity of all of Loop38's instrumental groups (brass, woodwinds, harp/percussion, and strings) and demonstrates Loop38's capability to perform a work written in an avant-garde, post-minimalist musical language. More information on the composition here: https://www.timholtmusic.com/music/projects/anywhere-everywhere- 38-loops-for-loop38
Cue Points: 14:08 – 16:52
Length of Excerpt: 2:44
Work Sample 4:
Julian Stein, "Solos"
Recorded in spring 2021 in the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern (Houston, TX), premiered online due to Covid-19 pandemic
Link: https://youtu.be/GGE0uHO1Mwg?t=5 (starts at 0:05)
Loop38 performer: Cameron Kerl, trombone
Description: Musical work for solo trombone that takes advantage of the extraordinary resonance of the Buffalo Bayou Cistern, creating harmony out of melody. Demonstrates how Loop38 activates unique Houston spaces.
Cue Points: 0:05 – 2:58
Length of Excerpt: 2:53
LOOP38'S 23–24 SEASON
EYEmusic
University of Houston & Lone Star College-Kingwood
November, 2023
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.
REsonant Beauty: mathematical foundations in music
Menil Drawing Institute
January 2024
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.
They, who sound: a celebration of pauline oliveros
Lawndale Arts Center
January, 2024
Loop38 is partnering with Nameless Sound in their series “They, Who Sound”, which 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!
Labyrinth: myth in Music
Lone Star College–Cyfair
April, 2024
Loop38 is returning as the Ensemble-In-Residence in Lone Star College-CyFair’s 5th Annual Contemporary Music Festival. Loop38 will collaborate with students in the Student Composer Readings project, where young composers showcase their works and receive feedback from Loop38 musicians. Loop38 will close the festival in a final performance featuring a premiere of a new work by faculty composer B. P. Herrington.
Glitter, doom, shards, memory
Virtual Event
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!
Longleaf
Stephen F. Austin University, M.A.T.C.H.
March & May, 2024
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.
Longleaf was premiered at Stephen F. Austin University (Nacogdoches, TX) in March as a part of a residency that also included workshops, masterclasses, nature walks, and a recording of the work. It was performed again in Houston at MATCH (Houston, TX).
lOOP38'S 22–23 SEASON
Underground Sounds
Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern
October, 2022
For this series, Loop38 is working with composer Annea Lockwood to perform her piece bayou-borne, for Pauline. Based on the intricate bayou system surrounding Houston, the piece will come to life in the reverberant Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern. The performance will offer the opportunity for audience and performer alike to explore our collective relationship with the natural geography of our city. The piece's dedication to Pauline Oliveros, a prolific composer and Houston native, highlights our city's vibrant contribution to the wider artistic community.
Mass for the Endangered
St. John the Divine Episcopal Church
February, 2023
with Houston Chamber Choir
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.
Ensemble in Residence, Contemporary Music Festival
Lone Star College–Cyfair
March, 2023
Loop38 will be the Ensemble in Residence at Lone Star College-CyFair Center for the Arts’ 4th Annual Contemporary Music Festival. Appearance to include reading sessions of student compositions and a premiere of "Creek Songs" by faculty member B.P. Herrington.
Will and Soul
Rothko Chapel
May, 2023
with Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton
A concert celebrating humanity’s inherent creativity, power, and will to thrive as we face life’s challenges; featuring works by Chen Yi, Carolyn Chen, George Lewis, and a brand new commission. The new commission will be digitally premiered in June 2023.
Loop38’s 21-22 Season
Society for the Performing Arts - Houston Artist COMMISSIONING Project Live: Part I
October 15 and 16, 2021
Jones Hall
Corpórea y Espíritu (Body and Spirit)
Loop38 + Houston Contemporary Dance Company
Gabriela Ortiz: Corpórea for flute, clarinet, horn, trumpet, percussion, harp, violin, cello and double bass (2014)
Click here for more information
Fragments and games
November 19, 2021
First Congregational Church of Houston
Shih-Hui Chen: Perpetual Moveable Games (2020, Premiere)
Georg Philipp Telemann: Trio Sonata in E minor, TWV42:e2 (1733)
Robert Honstein: Down Baby Down (2019)
Henri Dutilleux: Les Citations (1985)
Click here for more information
Fragile Structures
April 24, 2021
Archway Gallery
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
Click here for more information
American Landscapes
May 5, 2022
Talento Bilingüe de Houston
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)
610 Composer Showcase
June 12, 2022
Virtual Event
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)