Best of OCCO: Echoes & Encores

Event Details

• Date: Saturday, July 18, 2026
• Time: 8:00 P.M.
• Venue: Blue Bamboo Center for the Performing Arts
• Address: 460 E. New England Ave., Winter Park, FL

Presented by the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra (OCCO) Conducted by Todd Craven

About OCCO

Since 2017, OCCO has been dedicated to engaging, captivating, and uplifting audiences with new music performed by local, professional musicians and innovative collaborations with composers, poets, comic book artists, and more. As the only orchestral organization focused on local composers, musicians, and audiences, we aim to contribute to the cultural fabric of Orlando and Central Florida.

About Echoes & Encores

Join OCCO for a memorable evening of contemporary chamber music at the Blue Bamboo Center for the Performing Arts. Best of OCCO: Echoes & Encores brings together a vibrant, carefully curated selection of pieces by living composers, ranging from delicate representations of stillness to works of visceral, kinetic intensity.

This special program highlights favorite works by some of Central Florida’s finest compositional voices – including a new commissioned overture by OCCO’s founder, Jamie Wehr – alongside competition-winning works that have muscled their way to Orlando from national and international stages.

Program Guide

Act I

• Jamie Wehr – Prelude to a Dream
  • The Piece: This work is a personal reflection on aspiration and longing, focused on the quiet resolve required to follow a beautiful, distant dream even when the path forward remains uncertain.
  • The Composer: Wehr founded the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra in 2017, laying the groundwork for its ongoing mission to champion new music in Central Florida.
    
• Matthew Browne – Writer’s Room (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGBa9kjNlW8)
  • The Piece: This chaotic composition aims to evoke the frantic atmosphere of a television writers’ room, constantly introducing and abandoning wild ideas as a deadline rapidly approaches.
  • The Composer: Based in Colorado, Dr. Browne earned his DMA from the University of Michigan and is an award-winning composer whose witty works strive to astonishingly blend humor and relentless rhythmic energy.
    
• ChanJi Kim – Dear Umma
  • The Piece: This deeply personal composition explores distance and maternal connection by weaving an expressive Korean folk tune through lyrical lines and gentle dissonance.
  • The Composer: Dr. Kim is a native of Korea who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Florida and serves as a Professor of Music and Chair of the Performing and Visual Arts Department at Eastern Florida State College.
    
• Troy Gifford – Milonga Abandonada
  • The Piece: Serving as a heartfelt homage to the traditional music of Argentina, this piece synthesizes elements of Latin and classical styles into an expressive interpretation of the dance form.
  • The Composer: Dr. Gifford is an award-winning guitarist and composer who earned his doctorate from the University of Miami and currently serves as the chair of the music department at Valencia College.
    
• Jeremy Umlauf – Hero of our Time
  • The Piece: This narratively driven work is an abstract medley for a hypothetical Legend of Zelda video game, using original music to convey overarching themes of adventure and courage.
  • The Composer: An eclectic Orlando-area creator who received his Master of Arts in Music from the University of Central Florida, Umlauf frequently draws creative inspiration from spending time in Florida’s rich fisheries.

Act II

• Billy Waldman – Villanelle (https://youtu.be/UzFHnegpocM)
  • The Piece: Drawing on traditional French traditions, this light, dance-like sextet shifts smoothly between a pastoral elegance and lively, syncopated movement.
  • The Composer: Born in 2006, Waldman is a Los Angeles-based pianist and composer currently studying at the University of Southern California who won the 2024 National Young Composers Challenge at Steinmetz Hall.
    
• Alex Burtzos – RAGE (https://youtu.be/FWn5_Zk9Xj8)
  • The Piece: This intense chamber work acts as an expression of generational discontent, borrowing heavily from the heavy metrical language of metal music and incorporating a historical 1789 letter by Thomas Jefferson.
  • The Composer: Dr. Burtzos is a New York and Orlando-based composer, the founder of the ICEBERG New Music collective, and currently serves as the Endowed Chair of Composition Studies at the University of Central Florida.
    
• Charlie Griffin – Looking up at Perfect Silence at the Stars
  • The Piece: Inspired by a Robert Frost poem, this expansive work captures the wide range of emotions and moods that arise when contemplating the beauty of the night sky and our connection to the cosmos.
  • The Composer: Holding a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, Dr. Griffin is an experienced educator who founded the Central Florida Composers Forum in 2011 to actively support local music creators.
    
• Robin Haigh – FILTH (https://youtu.be/2mj3kH6TZT8)
  • The Piece: Originally commissioned for a high-energy German concert project, this amplified, gritty piece uses abrasive timbres and extreme dynamics to capture an unconventional EDM-inspired vibe.
  • The Composer: Haigh is an internationally recognized Irish/British creator whose unique, multi-stylistic music has earned prestigious accolades, including an Ivor Novello Award.