Sat. October 14 @7pm
Museum of Human Achievement
Free admission
We are super-stoked to announce the next Fast Forward Austin event, Spare the Rod, featuring NOW Ensemble and Invoke. With fiercely focused performances and intensely personal narratives, this show is going to be a wild ride and It’s all going down at one of Austin’s funkiest venues for experimental music, the Museum of Human Achievement.
NOW Ensemble has been making big waves in the national new music scene for a decade and we’re thrilled to bring their unique sound from NYC down to our neck of the woods. At the heart of their show is the Texas premiere of composer Yevgeniy Sharlat’s Spare the Rod! It’s an unabashed exploration of childhood awe and wonder inspired by a series of miniature mechanical sculptures by visual artist Yuliya Lanina. A confrontation of the underlying violence often found in classic fairy tales, her collection contains a set of music boxes that play original music by Sharlat and will be incorporated into the performance. Her work will also be on display before and after the show.
Austin-based Invoke has quickly gained a reputation for thwarting genre classification and embracing musical traditions from across the country. At this event, they’ll be giving the Texas premiere of their visceral American Postcards project, which holds a magnifying glass to the concept of American identity. From picture brides in Hawaii to tent revivals in Texas, this earnest endeavor digs deep into the tangled roots of our cultural narrative with an emphasis on unsung historical events that have shaped modern American society. This program includes newly commissioned works by composers Takuma Itoh, David K. Garner, Ian Dicke, and Steven Snowden.
Take a listen to Invoke’s Travesty from their 2015 album Souls in the Mud.
Doors open at 6:30pm
Invoke at 7:00pm
NOW Ensemble at 8:00pm
About the artists
Presented in partnership with the Butler School of Music and Texas Performing Arts with additional support from the O’Donnell visiting artists endowment. This event is also made possible by generous support from The City of Austin Cultural Arts Division.