Performing Arts Matter

Celestial Light: New Music for Choir, Brass, Timpani & Organ

Presented by Voices of Orlando, Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra, Central Florida Youth Chorus, Central Florida Composers Forum, and Performing Arts Matter

Sunday, September 14, 2025 | 2:00 PM | Cathedral Church of Saint Luke | $30 Suggested Donation

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Orlando, FL — On Sunday, September 14, audiences are invited to step into the glow of Celestial Light, a concert of music that explores radiance, memory, and transcendence. Performed in the soaring space of the Cathedral Church of Saint Luke, this collaboration brings together Voices of Orlando, members of the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra, organist Michael Petrosh, and the Central Florida Youth Chorus under the direction of Julie Simmons.

The program features a blend of choral and instrumental works by living composers, including local Central Florida Composers Forum members William Ayers, Charlie Griffin, and Enrique Ynaty. Together with music by Jonathan Dove, Mark Kilstofte, Pasquale Tassone, Michael Petrosh, Jacob Lack, and Julianna Hinton, the concert offers a rich palette of sound, from shimmering stars to solemn reflections to jubilant praise.

Highlights include:

  • O quam dulcis by William Ayers — evoking the comfort of a warm library on a cold day, as singers voice words of wisdom discovered among the shelves.
  • The Crown of Joy by Charlie Griffin — a moving homage to J.S. Bach for choir, organ, and timpani.
  • Lux Aeterna by Enrique Ynaty — a luminous meditation on eternal light.
  • four o’clock in the afternoon by Julianna Hinton — a powerful new work preserving the testimony of Armenian Genocide survivor Guleeg Haroian.
  • Everyone’s Voice by Mark Kilstofte — setting Siegfried Sassoon’s poetry, reminding us that “the singing will never be done.”
  • Flight Paths by Jacob Lack — inspired by Malcolm Arnold, a buoyant piece that imagines planes dancing across the sky.
  • Lauda Anima Mea Dominum by Pasquale Tassone — a majestic setting of Psalm 145 for choir, organ, brass, and timpani.

With brass quintet, timpani, organ, and two local choral groups, Celestial Light celebrates music’s power to lift us, comfort us, and connect us.

Celestial Light
Sunday, September 14, 2025 | 2:00 PM
Cathedral Church of Saint Luke
130 North Magnolia Ave, Orlando, FL
$30 Suggested Donation

Presented by Voices of Orlando, Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra, Central Florida Composers Forum, Central Florida Youth Chorus, and Performing Arts Matter.

More info: occo.music | voxomusic.org | cfcomposers.org | pamatter.org
For press inquiries: 321-303-1404

By Charlie Griffin, ago

Songs from the Hispanic Diaspora II

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.

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The Central Florida Composers Forum (CF2) and Open Scene Orlando return to Timucua Arts Foundation for Songs of the Hispanic Diaspora II: a powerful continuation of last season’s collaborative celebration of Latin American poetry and contemporary music, in collaboration with musicians from the Orlando Contemporary Chamber Orchestra (OCCO) and VoxO, and presented by Timucua Arts Foundation and Performing Arts Matter.

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.

Composers:
Troy Gifford · James Hall · Eric Heumann · Gerald Law II · Keith Lay · Mark Piszczek · Paul Austin Sanders · Bob Walker, Jr.

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.

By Charlie Griffin, ago

OCCO-Deconstructed: LANDSCAPES OF SHADOW AND LIGHT at Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts, August 19 at 8 pm

Blue Bamboo Center For The Arts — 1905 Kentucky Ave, Winter Park, FL. Saturday, August 19, 2023 @ 8PM. Tickets are $25.

Get your tickets now, from the Blue Bamboo website

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

By Charlie Griffin, ago