Eight composers. Nine works. One evening. CF2 brings together music by Stella Sung, Erik Branch, Daniel Crozier, Skye Neal, Nick Scout, Rebekah Todia, Jeremy Umlauf, and Charlie Griffin. Featuring clarinetist Jessica Speak, cellist Abby Collins, and pianist Hannah Sun at Timucua’s white house.
From a teenage prize-winner from Portland to a UCF Pegasus Professor, from jazz to elegies to musical daydreams, The Tidal Pull of Moonbeams will be an evening of memorable new music and first-rate performances. Come hear what Central Florida composers are writing right now.
In-person and livestream tickets available. Discounted tickets are available for members, students, teachers, frontline workers, veterans, and seniors.
Free parking on Summerlin Ave. and at Wadeview Park.
Please bring a bottle of wine or non-alcoholic beverage to share.
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Sunday, August 24, 2025 | 7:30 PMTimucua Arts Foundation
Join us for an evening of rich language, expressive music, and vibrant cross-cultural collaboration, where poetry and composition meet in a shared celebration of the Hispanic diaspora.
This second installment features all newly penned works by local composers setting iconic poems by remarkable poets from Nicaragua, Cuba, Argentina, Peru, and Chile. Featuring texts by Rubén Darío, Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, José Martí, Alfonsina Storni, César Vallejo, Gabriela Mistral, and Vicente Huidobro, the concert pairs expressive new music with readings and cultural commentary, creating a rich, bilingual artistic experience.
Performers from OCCO, VoxO, and CF2: Keri Lee Pierson (soprano) Emily Heumann (mezzo-soprano) Julia Gessinger (violin) Kristine Griffin (piano) Troy Gifford (guitar)
Poems will be recited in both Spanish and English by Charlie Griffin (OCCO/CF2) and Thamara Bejarano, with cultural context provided by Bejarano (Open Scene Orlando).
The evening’s program brings to life the words of celebrated Latin American poets, each reimagined in new musical settings by composers from Central Florida. These vivid, contemporary interpretations, featuring combinations of voice, piano, guitar, and violin, create an intimate and expressive tapestry of sound and verse.
NICARAGUA Rubén Darío’s Sonatina, set by Gerald Law II for mezzo-soprano and guitar, opens the program with a dreamlike portrait of a young princess longing for a life beyond her royal surroundings.
CUBA Al partir by Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda is a poignant farewell to Cuba, filled with longing and sorrow, and is set by James Hall for soprano and piano. Orlando maverick composer Keith Lay offers a bold setting for soprano and piano of José Martí’s iconic Yo soy un hombre sincero, a powerful declaration of honesty, openness, and personal resolve.
ARGENTINA Alfonsina Storni’s Dulce tortura is a stirring depiction of conflicted desire and emotional complexity. Eric Heumann sets this poem for mezzo-soprano and piano, revealing both its sensuality and its quiet anguish.
PERÚ In Los Heraldos Negros, César Vallejo gives voice to deep spiritual and existential pain. Paul Austin Sanders’s setting for mezzo-soprano and piano draws out the poem’s dark gravity and unanswered questions of suffering.
CHILE Gabriela Mistral’s Hallazgo, a lyrical discovery of love, is set by Bob Walker Jr. for soprano, mezzo, and guitar, striving to capture the poem’s brief, luminous intimacy. Two works by Vicente Huidobro close the program: Días y noches te he buscado…, a symbolic search for truth and selfhood, set by Mark Piszczek for mezzo-soprano and piano; and Altazor, Canto I (fragment), an excerpt from Huidobro’s avant-garde masterpiece, set by Troy Gifford for soprano and guitar, evoking themes of flight, dislocation, and transcendence.
CF2 champions the creation and performance of new music by Central Florida composers, while Open Scene fosters artistic exchange across cultures and disciplines, amplifying the voices of Latin America. This shared vision makes Songs of the Hispanic Diaspora II a resonant and meaningful artistic gathering.
Experience contemporary chamber music at its finest when Performing Arts Matter presents the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra and Central Florida Composer Forum in “OCCO Deconstructed: Landscapes of Shadow and Light.” Hear music by award-winning composers performed by small ensembles of OCCO’s outstanding musicians.
The program includes Alex Burtzos‘ “King | Cawdor,” depicting the emotional turmoil of political power; Sharon Omens‘ “Thoroughfare,” contrasting urban loneliness and natural connectedness; Troy Gifford‘s energetic string quartet works “Lumina” and “Lacerta”; Dan Crozier’s haunting “Nocturne” for cello and piano; and Christian Yom’s “Sansori,” merging traditional Korean music and lush strings. The evening concludes with Charlie Griffin‘s “Cambiando Paisajes,” a piano trio work inspired by Latin rhythms.
With passionate performances and thought-provoking new music, this evening of shadow and light is not to be missed. Experience contemporary music as it was meant to be heard – live on stage.
The performers for this event are: Jamie Clark – Cello Nora Lee Garcia – Flute Julia Gessinger – Violin Elliot May – Bass Haley Rhodeside – Harp Jazmin Skipper – Bassoon Jessica Speak – Clarinet Hannah Sun – Piano Anabel Tejada – Viola Andreas Volmer – Violin
