contact US!

Use the form on the right to contact us.

Texas Early Music Project

PO Box 301675

Austin, TX 78703

(512) 377-6961

For ticket and concert venue inquiries, email the Box Office

 

PO Box 301675
Austin, TX 78703
United States

(512) 377-6961

Founded in 1987 by Daniel Johnson, the Texas Early Music Project is dedicated to preserving and advancing the art of Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical music through performance, recordings, and educational outreach. 

directors blog 3.png

Blog

Explore more than 700 years of musical transformation

A special bargain!

Danny Johnson

Available for only a short while, 3 for the price of 11...

Coming Soon!

Coming Soon! ☞

So you know how some blogs are really just like infomercials, designed to lull you into complacence, sort of like hypnosis, before they creatively entice you to buy something that you didn’t know that you needed? Or maybe it’s the other kind of informercial that’s swinging for the fence with every word, with every phrase designed to make you buy something that you didn’t know that you needed and you should buy it now, and you do, just so they’ll stop talking!?!??! Or maybe it’s the kind that is designed to confuse, as though they don’t really know what they’re selling, but it turns out to be a stealthomercial about something kinda different from what you thought it might might be.

Well, we would never do that, you know! We will just come right out and say that you really, really need to come to our Convivencia concert in May. (See the details below!)

And for the low, low price of whatever a ticket costs, we will throw in, absolutely free, a chance to win a CD in our post-intermission drawing.

This is one of our more cherished repertoires, with concerts from 2004, 2005, 2010, and 2015. We are eager to present the 2022 version to you, with special performers and a special guest lecturer. See? Not much stealth involved there at all!

If you wish to attend the Saturday, May 14, lecture and performance, you’ll need to buy your tickets in advance, either online or via phone at 512-377-6961. Due to the requirements of our venue, tickets cannot be sold at the door.

Please join us for our final program of the season!
–Danny


 
 

Convivencia: The Three Worlds of Renaissance Spain

with special guests
Julie Slim, singer
Mary Springfels, viols

Special Guest Scholar & Lecturer: Professor Edwin Seroussi,
Director of the Jewish Music Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Pre-performance lecture one hour before the concert begins.

Saturday, May 14, 2022, at  7:30 pm; 6:30pm pre-concert lecture
Temple Beth Shalom, 7300 Hart Lane
Tickets for Saturday’s performance must be purchased in advance online or by phone: 512-377-6961
Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (with ID)
&
Sunday, May 15, 2022, at 3:00 pm; 2:00pm pre-concert lecture
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (with ID)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Convivencia means coexistence.

In our season finale, we explore many of the cross-cultural ties and themes that connected the three great cultures of early Spain: Muslim, Jewish, and Christian. Convivencia illuminates the lives and emotions of the inhabitants of Spain in the early Renaissance musically and poetically.

The swirling and sensuous rhythms and intricate melodies of Arabo-Andalusian and Sephardic music alternate with courtly, sometimes boisterously exuberant works of the Spanish masters such as Juan del Encina, Cristóbal de Morales, and others from the Spanish courts. Glimpses of daily life and cultural interactions are lovingly presented through songs and dances from the 15th and 16th centuries, performed on reproductions of historical instruments.

TEMP is pleased to welcome popular Lebanese-American singer, songwriter, and recording artist, Julie Slim, in her first performance with us. She is well known to Austin audiences through her performances with the Threshold Choir, her own group Julie Slim & RendezVous, and Bereket (the UT Middle Eastern Ensemble). Julie is a multitalented musician, skilled in jazz, Middle-Eastern styles and languages, composition, percussion, and much more, with an eclectic background in performance and commitment to collaboration and connection.

We are also proud to present our Special Guest Scholar & Lecturer, Professor Edwin Seroussi, Director of the Jewish Music Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A pioneer in the study of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern musical cultures and traditions, Professor Seroussi was awarded the 2018 Israel Prize in the music category. He has also won the Joel Engel Prize for Life Achievement in Jewish Music Research, Tel Aviv Municipality. Professor Seroussi received his PhD in Music from UCLA.

TEMP is always proud to present our core musicians, such as soloists Gitanjali Mathur, Cayla Cardiff, Jenny Houghton, Daniel Johnson, David Lopez, Ryland Angel, Tim O’Brien, and 9 more singers. Besides our guest instrumentalist, well-known local performers such as Elaine Barber, John Walters, Josh Peters, and others will perform on a variety of Medieval and Renaissance instruments such as oud, psaltery, harp, rebec, vihuela, viols, recorder, and sackbuts.

Click on the CD images below to listen to audio teasers!

Join us for our final concert of the season in Renaissance Spain when we say ¡Adiós, que tengáis un buen verano! and then prepare to attend our first concert of the 2022-2023 season in Renaissance Germany, with music from the court of Maximillian I, and we will say Hallo und hurra, es ist fast Herbst!

COVID PROTOCOLS

TEMP will be adhering to all State and City regulations, as well as guidelines from the CDC concerning masking and social distancing, as well as the requirements of our venue. We urge you to buy your tickets in advance, as the audience size will be limited so that the audience can be safely distanced. The audience is strongly requested to be masked at all times; we will have masks available for your use as well. Please feel welcome to contact us with questions or concerns.

Join us as we are gaderen: gathering again!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

Did you enjoy this post? Give us a “like” below, leave a comment, and/or share with friends!

Back to top

I knew I shouldn't have worn shorts on Tuesday…

Danny Johnson

…because on Wednesday it was 55 degrees colder and then it got to be 60 degrees colder! Remind me to avoid tempting the Weather Channel–since it controls the weather, of course–next year. Or ever.

Anyway, we are puttering along, working on the May Convivencia concert, planning all the concerts for next season, working on grants, wrapping up the creation of our first newsletter (due out next week), and just generally not taking it easy, because All The Things Must Be Done.

And Amplify Austin Day, hosted by I Live Here I Give Here, is happening in a few days. See the details below!

Remember, even if you don’t live here, you can give here. Since TEMP is expanding its reach via videos on YouTube and other formats, you can support us from afar. Even from abroad. Or from around the corner.

More soon!
-Danny


AMPLIFY TEMP!
6 PM CST MARCH 2 — 6 PM CST MARCH 3

Amplify Austin Day, hosted by I Live Here I Give Here, is Central Texas' biggest day of giving, and we are excited to participate once again! As you know, we've been thrilled to perform in person this year! We are so grateful for all that we've been able to accomplish thanks to a supportive, wonderful community. We humbly request your continued support as we continue to fulfill our important mission—to preserve and advance the art of Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical music—in new and creative ways.

Please visit our Amplify page to read more about it.

Here’s how you can help:

Your #amplifyaustin gift made anytime from now through March 3 allows us to:

  • employ artists who have lost most, if not all, of their work this past year; 

  • explore novel ways to deliver high quality performances and education to an audience no longer bound to Austin's city limits;

  • grow and mature as an organization that is evolving with the times; and

  • qualifies us for a variety of matching funds, listed on our Amplify page.

Early giving is open now, and every gift matters. But making your donation during the event time frame means your donation is AMPLIFIED by a community that supports its nonprofits.

We'd like to take a moment to specifically point out the "LoveTitos" match: In honor of its 25-year anniversary, Tito’s Handmade Vodka is working with I Live Here I Give Here to spread love and goodness throughout our hometown. Just be sure to enter #LoveTitos in the public message box at check out, and Tito's will add an extra $25 to your donation! They've allotted $25,000 to this match (Three cheers for Tito's!), but it will go fast. 

NO NEED TO WAIT: DONATE NOW!

WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT!

Back to top

Awww, I forgot to mention Robert Burns's Birthday

Danny Johnson

Portrait of Robert Burns by Alexander Nasmyth, 1787, Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

So, I don’t know about you, but when I think about a ceilidh, I think of a gathering, usually informal, with fun, often-times impressively good music from Ireland and/or Scotland [and/or other places, I guess, but that’s for a different blog.]

And since I’m thinking of a fun time with dance and music and Ireland and/or Scotland, then I’m likely to be thinking of something to drink, which means Guinness (or some other dark stout. And if it’s a day that ends in ‘y’, then it’s probably pumpkin stout that I’m thinking about. But that’s for later.)

But then if I think of a stout in Ireland or Scotland, I’m likely to start thinking about jovial pubs I’ve been to and enjoyed, and how that helps to complete the picture.

But then when I’m thinking of pubs, I can’t help but think of pubs from some movies and how they seem like fun—but then suddenly, they don’t seem like fun at all, like when everyone tells you that you should leave, you don’t have time for a Guinness, and they don’t have room for you. But at least they take the time to give you helpful warnings like “Go! Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors. Beware the moon, lads!” and other things that might not immediately make sense.

Hmmm. Where was I? Oh, right! So our upcoming Celtic Crossings concert isn’t exactly a ceilidh, but there will be songs and dances from Scotland and Ireland, but there won’t be any stout, Guinness or otherwise. And though some of the dances and songs might be sort of casual, like one might find in a pub, we won’t be advising you to “Keep clear of the moors and beware the moon,” since there won’t be a full moon that weekend; so the chance of a werewolf sighting is low.

See you at the concert. BYO Haggis, but no food is allowed in the sanctuary!
-Danny
P.S. Rabbie Burns’s birthday is January 25!


 
 

Celtic Crossings

Saturday, February 12, 2022, at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, February 13, 2021, at 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Scottish ballads from the 18th century have been a part of TEMP’s core repertoire since the late 90s. With musical sources dating from the 16th–18th centuries featuring poems by Robert Burns and an exciting roster of other poets, the concert will give wonderful insight into the people who created this very popular and accessible music.

Even the English held Scottish ballads in high esteem and our own Benjamin Franklin adored these songs and considered them the height of great art. (We are performing one of his favorites!) Scottish ballads are renowned for their evocative, heartfelt, and humorous aspects, but also for their beautiful and expressive melodies.

Some of the songs provide a glimpse into historical or cultural events (Frennet Hall), while others create immediate visceral emotions with strong connections to the land (The Banks of the Devon). And there are plenty of love songs to go around! There will be some stirring dance pieces from Ireland and Scotland as well.

Click on the CD images below to listen to audio teasers!

TEMP’s soloists for this concertare Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Jenny Houghton, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, David Lopez, and Tim O’Brien, as well as frequent guest artist, Ryland Angel. Harpist Therese Honey will perform a solo or two and will be joined by TEMP core players Marcus McGuff (flute), Bruce Colson (violin), John Walters (mandolin), Héctor Torres (lutes and guitar), Carolyn Hagler (cello), and will feature kantele player Viktoria Nizhnik from Karelia! Hey, people traveled back in those days, too.

Come enjoy these enchanting pieces with musical links to another time and place that still lives! 
BYO haggis.

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Ave,
Austin, TX 78722


COVID PROTOCOLS

TEMP will be adhering to all State and City regulations, as well as guidelines from the CDC concerning masking and social distancing, as well as the requirements of our venue. We urge you to buy your tickets in advance, as the audience size will be limited so that the audience can be safely distanced. The audience is strongly requested to be masked at all times; we will have masks available for your use as well. Please feel welcome to contact us with questions or concerns.

Join us as we are gaderen: gathering again!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

Did you enjoy this post? Give us a “like” below, leave a comment, and/or share with friends!

Back to top

It's beginning to feel a bit like…

Danny Johnson

…Concert Time!

Overheard at the grocery store:

A (answering cell phone, loudly in speakerphone mode): Hey, I’m at the store, what’s up?
B (yelling into his phone): What do you want to do tonight?
A (also yelling) I dunno. What do you want to do tonight?
B: Well we could see what’s streaming on WhateverFlix.
A: Nah, we’ve done that the last 18 months.
B: Well, ok, whatever you want is fine with me.

Enter person C, friend of A:

C: Hey, A, I was in produce and heard you talking with B. Listen, I don’t know about tonight, but on December 11 or 12, you should go to the TEMP An Early Christmas concert.
B (even louder): Well, cool beans, sounds like a good plan! So, A, where do you want to go for dinner before the concert?
A: I dunno. Where do you want to go for dinner before the concert?
C (walking away sheepishly, muttering to nobody in particular): And take your phone off speaker in the grocery store.

It’s just a thought. Read all about the concert below!
-Danny

P.S.: Hope to see you at the concert! All phones will be silenced.


 
 

An Early Christmas

Saturday, December 11, 2021, at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, December 12, 2021, at 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

Take advantage of preferred seating and other perks by buying season tickets!

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Join Texas Early Music Project for its annual multilicious feast of diverse Christmas music through the ages. Cultures across the centuries have celebrated this season of expectation and rebirth, and we are contributing our share with medieval chant and joyous carols, magnificent motets, lively Celtic songs, exuberant folk-tunes, and more.

Almost all of the music for this concert comes from Northern Europe and the British Isles. We’ve chosen pieces from Medieval England and France that glimmer with the transparency of the styles of the period. Renaissance Netherlands, England, and France give us both glorious polyphonic and appealing chordal ambiance. A little Baroque music from France and England will leave us with memorable (and recognizable) tunes. Although most of the pieces were written by the long-lived Anonymous, some composers of note are Dufay, Sweelinck, Handl (not Handel), and St. Godric of Victor, who died in 1170. In addition to a few pieces composed in the last few years using some of the styles of Medieval and Baroque repertoire, we will be presenting a short set of music for the Chanukah celebration!

Encompassing more than 700 years of humanity’s hope, love, and joy, TEMP puts its distinctive stamp on the intangible essence and passion of Christmas, with arrangements for solo voices, small chorus, harp, violin, mandolin, viols, lute, and Karelian chromatic kantele.

Tim O’Brien, Cayla Cardiff, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, David Lopez, Jenny Houghton, Ryland Angel, Meredith Ruduski, and Jenifer Thyssen are featured soloists, and we are happy to have both acclaimed harpist Therese Honey and kantele virtuoso Viktoria Nizhnik featured in our small orchestra.

Join Texas Early Music Project for a splendid and enriching evening of music. Encompassing 700 years of festive creativity and beauty, this music is sure to delight your ears and warm your heart. And you can use our new word, multilicious!

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Ave,
Austin, TX 78722


COVID PROTOCOLS

TEMP will be adhering to all State and City regulations, as well as guidelines from the CDC concerning masking and social distancing, as well as the requirements of our venue. We urge you to buy your tickets in advance, as the audience size will be limited so that the audience can be safely distanced. The audience is strongly requested to be masked at all times; we will have masks available for your use as well. Please feel welcome to contact us with questions or concerns.

Join us as we are gaderen: gathering again!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

Did you enjoy this post? Give us a “like” below, leave a comment, and/or share with friends!

Back to top

Do you remember this scene?

Danny Johnson

You know the one from Monty Python and the Holy Grail in which the peasants are all muddy and working in the field are generally, you know, oppressed? I always think of that scene when we’re preparing a concert from that time period in England. As luck would have it, that’s what we’re doing now, because this weekend we have our first concert with real, actual humans in our vicinity since February 2020. Huzzah, y’all!

This season’s ‘theme’ is gathering again. Because, you know, we are. And for this concert, which is partly in Middle English, it’s gaderen: gathering again. (Jonathan Riemer has some of The Best ideas.! You can download our season brochure here.)

However, we are gathering again safely, following the protocols: We will be encouraging distancing, so that you and your pod of friends can sit with a little distance among other pods. We will also be strongly requesting that you wear your masks during the concert. We will have some special masks for you, as well. Please read our Covid Information below and on our 2021-2022 Season page.

Also, we are releasing a reissue of the CD of the concert that was the inspiration for this concert. Mirie it is! Early Middle English Songs was part of our “3rd Annual Mid-Winter Festival of Music” in 2001 and was based on the research that Judith Overcash Acres conducted during her studies at Case Western Reserve University, where she earned a Doctoral degree in Historical Performance Practices in 2001. So, you can take home a companion volume, as it were, to this weekend’s concert. (Seven of the eighteen pieces on our new concert were also in the 2001 concert, so it’s not a direct copy.) You can visit the Mirie it is! CD page to listen to audio samples and purchase the CD now for $21, shipping included! We hope that you will also want to get the Mirie it is 2021 concert recording when we release it as well! 🙂

We hope to see you at the concert on either Saturday, Oct. 2 or Sunday, Oct. 3. We will not be quoting Monty Python and the Holy Grail and will reference it only 1 or 2 times at the most.

Gaderen!
–Danny


 
 

Mirie it is!
Medieval English Music

Saturday, October 2, 2021, at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, October 3, 2021, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

Take advantage of preferred seating and other perks by buying season tickets!

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

For its first in-person concert since February, 2020, TEMP is presenting music from really olde England in the 12th century through around 1450, well into the early Renaissance. There are only a handful of Middle English songs from before 1350 that have remained extant, and TEMP is performing eight of them. The music and texts in the Medieval repertoire of the concert deal with daily life, faith, the turning of the seasons—especially the joyful arrival of Spring and Summer and the specter of the advancing dreariness of Winter.

The Renaissance portion of the concert includes works by two of England’s most important composers, Leonel Power and John Dunstable, as well as anonymous motets in honor of famous individuals like St. Augustine of Canterbury and the martyr priest, Thomas à Becket. Most early Renaissance polyphony is for three parts, and it was just awesome enough to be all the rage on the Continent as well, and it even had its own name: the contenance angloise, or the English manner.

Our “return” concert has the single lines of the Medieval repertoire, the rich harmonies of the contenance angloise, and a couple of delightful Medieval English dances, performed by vielles, harps, recorder, and psalteries.

Our special guests are tenor Christopher LeCluyse, who is one of TEMP’s founding members, and frequent guests Ryland Angel (tenor and countertenor) and Mary Springfels (vielle and citole). They are joined by ten singers (including soloists Cayla Cardiff, Gitanjali Mathur, and Shari Alise Wilson) and four instrumentalists.

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Ave,
Austin, TX 78722

COVID Protocols

TEMP will be adhering to all State and City regulations, as well as guidelines from the CDC concerning masking and social distancing, as well as the requirements of our venue. We urge you to buy your tickets in advance, as the audience size will be limited so that the audience can be safely distanced. The audience is strongly requested to be masked at all times; we will have masks available for your use as well. Please feel welcome to contact us with questions or concerns.

Join us as we are gaderen: gathering again!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

Did you enjoy this post? Give us a “like” below, leave a comment, and/or share with friends!

Back to top

There's a kind of hush…

Danny Johnson

Decameron Blog banner.png

You know that weird feeling when you’ve completed a task and you’ve marked it off your ‘to do’ list and then a few hours later, like at 3AM, your eyes pop open and you’ve realized that you left out something integral to the task, or maybe it was actually due last week, or maybe you didn’t do it at all but that you just dreamed that you did in your first dream cycle that very night? And then you can’t get back to sleep and you refuse to get up to check because, well, that would just be silly; so instead, you practice your Sicilian Defense in your head for your next chess match thinking it will put you to sleep…

Yeh, me neither. I don’t play chess.

I do organize concerts, though, in one format or another. Our last one for our 2020-2021 Season is coming right up! It’s a doozy. Study up on Boccaccio!

See below for more info on our upcoming Tales from the Decameron: A Video Premiere!

Arrivederci!
-Danny


TALES FROM THE DECAMERON:
A VIDEO PREMIERE

Premiere for TEMPster Members:
Friday, May 7, 2021, 8:00 PM

Premiere for the general public:
Saturday, May 8, 2021, 8:00 PM

The video will be viewable through Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 11:00 pm.
Tickets must be purchased by 9:30 pm on Thursday, May 20, 2021.

Admission: $5 Student/Supporter; $15 Fan; $25 Friend; $50 Patron

The general admission price is the Fan category, $15. If you are struggling financially due to the Coronavirus situation, take advantage of our lower-priced Student/Supporter offer. If you are able to pay a little more, and can help someone else pay less, please do so with the Friend and Patron prices. 

Tickets available in advance online. For those who purchase tickets prior to May 6, an email will be sent to you with video access instructions. Please check your spam folder. After May 6, the video access will be given in your ticket confirmation email and tickets.

TEMPster Members will receive an email with video access; you will not need to purchase tickets to view the concert video.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email 
boxoffice@early-music.org.

For its final video concert of the season, TEMP will present stories from an extremely timely source: The Decameron, by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375). The book is structured as a frame story containing 100 tales told by a group of young adults who shelter in a secluded villa just outside Florence in order to escape the Black Death during the 1348 epidemic. The librettist for our production is Dr. Larry Rosenwald, Anne Pierce Rogers Professor of American Literature and professor of English at Wellesley College; he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2020 for his wide-ranging work in literary criticism. TEMP’s Artistic Director, Daniel Johnson, and Dr. Rosenwald have presented versions of this project live in three earlier productions in 1995 in Massachusetts, 1996 in Austin, and 2007 in California. Popular ATX actor Marc Pouhé, finalist in the Best Actor category in the 2021 Austin Chronicle’s annual “Best of Austin” poll, is our Narrator.

 Among the subjects in the stories in Boccaccio’s novel include: the power of fortune; examples of the power of human will; love tales that end tragically; love tales that end happily; clever replies that save the speaker; tricks that women play on men; tricks that people play on each other in general; examples of virtue, and much more. TEMP will depict several of the tales from The Decameron by means of narration, actors, and music, with TEMP’s singers and instrumentalists performing Italian music from the time of Boccaccio. Some of the more important composers featured in the video premiere are Gherardello da Firenze (c.1320-1362/3), Lorenzo da Firenze (d. 1372/3), and Francesco Landini (c.1335-1397). In addition to a few new TEMP performers, some of the featured musicians are singers Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Shari Alise Wilson, Tim O’Brien, Ryland Angel, David Lopez, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, and more. Instrumentalists include Bruce Colson and John Walters on vielles, Elaine Barber (harp), and Josh Peters on oud. We are pleased to include stylish minimalistic costumes and props, created by Juli Orlandini, which greatly add to the overall mood and style of the characters and the stories.

 A short lecture by KMFA’s Sara Schneider will present a bit of historical background to The Decameron and the music of the period before the action begins in earnest, and we catch up with our intrepid group of characters, which has fled Florence to escape the plague.

 As one might expect, there are similarities between the ways that people entertained themselves during the Black Plague 700 years ago and the ways that we do during the time of Covid-19. Creativity and metaphor are in ample usage in both worlds.

Please join us as we reconnect with you through the magic of music.

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

Did you enjoy this post? Give us a “like” below, leave a comment, and/or share with friends!

Did you enjoy this post? Give us a “like” below, leave a comment, and/or share with friends!

Back to top

Here's a busy bee week. No murder hornets.

Danny Johnson

Busy_Bees.jpeg

For real, TEMP has a busy, busy week. Last week we were shivering, a couple of days ago we were sweating, for the next 9 days we are caffeinating!

The premiere of the Fresh Take, Baroque episode is this Saturday, Feb. 27 and all three Fresh Take episodes are available until March 4.

March 4 also happens to be the beginning of Amplify Austin, which almost every arts group and other non-profits depend on, especially this year when this things have been so…let’s face it: so weird. We could just be really verklempt about the whole situation or we and our muses could think up creative ways to stay in touch with you and make new friends, and get to see our colleagues (safely) from time to time to make some music! It’s worked out that we chose path #2, and so we do need a little assistance continuing that journey, and for some reason I feel compelled to call that assistance “Amplify”!

Now, where was I? Oh yes…

And then Night Music!, Episode 3 premieres on March 7. Gitanjali Mathur and I will be bringing you lullabies and other songs of comfort from Croatia and the Karelia province of Russia.

Murder_Hornet.jpeg

So in summation: See a nice movie about Baroque music history, Amplify, and then relax with soothing night music. And enjoy having no murder hornets.

-Danny


AMPLIFY TEMP!
6 pm March 4 — 6 pm March 5

We know it's not news: arts organizations, both in Austin and beyond, are being forced to adapt to the realities of this time. Rest assured that, with your help, TEMP IS UP TO THE CHALLENGE, offering exceptional virtual performances and educational content this artistic season. We humbly request your support as we seek to continue fulfilling our important mission—to preserve and advance the art of Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical music—in new and creative ways!

Please visit our Amplify page to read more about it.

Here’s how you can help:

Your #amplifyaustin gift made anytime from now through March 5 allows us to:

  • employ artists who have lost most, if not all, of their work this past year; 

  • explore novel ways to deliver high quality performances and education to an audience no longer bound to Austin's city limits; and 

  • grow and mature as an organization that is evolving with the times.

Love-Tito's-2020_with_border.jpg

Donations made through Amplify Austin between now and March 5 also qualify for matching funds from Tito's Vodka, so your gift goes even further! Thank you for the vital support you give to us, and to the greater Austin arts community. Your generosity is invaluable.

NO NEED TO WAIT: donate NOW!

WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT!

Back to top

Welp. Time for some B'roke.

Danny Johnson

Texas-Ice.jpg

We knew it was gonna get cold and there might be some snow. So far, so Texas. And then well, you know. I hope everyone is slowly but surely getting back to whatever version of reality we think of as “normal,” because that’s already somewhat Abby-normal.

We delayed things by a week, of course, since many of us didn’t have electricity, or internet, or both, and/or no water with which to make ourselves presentable for a premiere. So, the 3rd episode of Fresh Take (Baroque) premieres this Saturday (Feb 27) at 8pm CST and Night Music! Episode 3, with musical guests from Croatia and Karelia, premieres March 7. See the deets below!

And there were lovely scenes of unbothered snow and icicles hanging from places that are generally icicle-less, and it reminded me of one of my favorite songs:

I love winter in the springtime (when it's snowing!)
I love winter in the fall.
I love winter in the summer (when it's too hot to do anything at all)
I love winter, oh yes, I love winter (except when there's no heat at all.)

[See The Avalon Jazz Band arrangement of I Love Paris here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hU_X6Vr1MY ]

Stay safe and sane—see you (virtually) soon!
-Danny


Fresh Take: Music History Reimagined

Fresh Take will highlight key aspects of the history of western music from around 1200 to 1750, utilizing music recorded by TEMP musicians for this production, as well as selected examples from TEMP’s CDs. Each episode (Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque) will include musical examples, narration with humorous asides, catchy details, and engaging graphics that will be appealing to students of all ages. Produced by Meredith Ruduski and Sara Schneider!

Episode 3 (Baroque Period) Premiere:
Saturday, February 27, 2021, 8:00 pm Central Time

All Fresh Take videos will be viewable through Thursday, March 4, 2021 at 11:00 pm Central Time.
Tickets must be purchased by 9:30 pm on Thursday, March 4, 2021.

Admission: $5 Student/Supporter; $15 Fan; $25 Friend; $50 Patron
TEMPster Members do not need to purchase a ticket!


Night Music! An online Mini-Series with Gitanjali Mathur, Daniel Johnson, & Guests

DUE TO UTILITY OUTAGES IN TEXAS, WE ARE DELAYING THE PREMIERE OF NIGHT MUSIC EPISODE 3 UNTIL MARCH 7 AT 8:00PM CST

Formatted in talk-show style, Night Music! will offer short programs of calm and respite, focused on lullabies and the diversity of lullaby styles in cultures around the world. Our guests for Episode 3, Viktoria and Yakov Nizhnik from Karelia (Russia) and Valentina Črnjak and Marko Ščrbak from Croatia, sing and play lullabies and songs of comfort.

Night Music! Episode 3 Premiere:
Sunday, March 7, 2021, 8:00 pm Central Time

The Episode 3 video will be viewable through Friday, March 12, 2021 at 11:00 pm Central Time.
Tickets must be purchased by 9:30 pm on Friday, March 12, 2021.

Admission: $5 Student/Supporter; $15 Fan; $25 Friend; $50 Patron
TEMPster Members do not need to purchase a ticket!

Did you enjoy this post? Give us a “like” below, leave a comment, and/or share with friends!

Did you enjoy this post? Give us a “like” below, leave a comment, and/or share with friends!

Back to top